Just for interest I took a look at who finished where in the divisions above us. Some surprising results !
Division 1
Everton Champs
Norwich 5
Wimbledon 6
Luton 7
Coventry 10
Oxford 18
Leicester Man City Villa relegated

Division 2
Old ham 3
Rovers 12
Shrewsbury 18
Brighton last

Division 3
Bournemouth Champs
Wigan 4
Blackpool 9
Chester 15
Bury 16
Fulham 18
Bolton 21

Division 4
Preston 2
Wolves 4 lost in play offs to Aldershot !
Aldershot 6
Orient 7 missed play offs by 1 point
Swansea 12
Halifax 15
Hereford 16
Rochdale 21
Burnley 22

Think that shows just how bad we were and just how amazingly well we have done since. Puts things in perspective. UTC

As my old mate Alan Beecroft always used to say: "We were there on merit."

Over and above our beating Orient on the last day, I seem to recall that we were 'saved' by Lincoln having an unbelievably bad second half to their season; about 10th with thirty-odd points at Christmas, then only another ten points in the rest of their games.

AfloatinClaret wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 23, 2021 5:41 pm

Over and above our beating Orient on the last day, I seem to recall that we were 'saved' by Lincoln having an unbelievably bad second half to their season; about 10th with thirty-odd points at Christmas, then only another ten points in the rest of their games.

We finished above Torquay as well. So it wasn't all Lincoln. But you're right about them being bad - from memory, they beat us in early January and were 8th.

I’m most definitely not one of those who uses the fourth division days as a stick to beat people with....

But when you see comments on threads, this season in the Premier League, calling out our “worst performance ever, bar none”, I can only assume that they were a long way off a tadpole in their father’s loin!

Everton were Champions, but Trevor Steven ran off the pitch to listen to the clarets and how we were doing. Says a lot.

Wolves beaten in Div 4 play offs by Aldershot !!

DCWat wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 23, 2021 6:12 pm

I’m most definitely not one of those who uses the fourth division days as a stick to beat people with....

But when you see comments on threads, this season in the Premier League, calling out our “worst performance ever, bar none”, I can only assume that they were a long way off a tadpole in their father’s loin!

They ought to be made to watch endless replays of Rochdale & Hereford stuffing us on the almost-empty Turf!

Can't remember ever being as low as coming away from Scunthorpe a few days before the Orient game. For me, that was it. We were as good as down

AfloatinClaret wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 23, 2021 5:41 pm

Over and above our beating Orient on the last day, I seem to recall that we were 'saved' by Lincoln having an unbelievably bad second half to their season; about 10th with thirty-odd points at Christmas, then only another ten points in the rest of their games.

Not forgetting that Lincoln were the away team at the Bradford fire on the last day of the 84-85 season. Their two main stands were closed because of the new fire safety rules banning the use of wooden stands. They suffered back to back relegations in the two seasons that followed. Some people have linked it with the psychological effects of the fire on the players but there was clearly a massive financial impact too.

RalphCoatesComb wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 23, 2021 7:19 pm

Can't remember ever being as low as coming away from Scunthorpe a few days before the Orient game. For me, that was it. We were as good as down

It was Crewe on the Monday. As low as it is possible to feel driving home from Gresty Road that evening.

Herts Clarets wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 23, 2021 7:27 pm

It was Crewe on the Monday. As low as it is possible to feel driving home from Gresty Road that evening.

Scunthorpe was a few days before then.

I wouldn't to go to Crewe. For me, we were already down

robclaret wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 23, 2021 6:30 pm

Everton were Champions, but Trevor Steven ran off the pitch to listen to the clarets and how we were doing. Says a lot.

If you look at the Everton team pic immediately after their game, Trevor is missing for that very reason.

RalphCoatesComb wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 23, 2021 7:19 pm

Can't remember ever being as low as coming away from Scunthorpe a few days before the Orient game. For me, that was it. We were as good as down

We lost at Scunthorpe close to the end but it was Crewe five days before. The lowest I’ve ever been as a Burnley fan.

ClaretTony wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 23, 2021 8:54 pm

We lost at Scunthorpe close to the end but it was Crewe five days before. The lowest I’ve ever been as a Burnley fan.

It was the end. Doom, DOOM I tell thee.

Luckily we got in a pub near Sandbach after.

I thought we were down after the Crewe game, I have never been as desolate in all my days supporting Burnley, Crewe had nothing to play for and didn't really have to try that night, shameful

I like to think we stayed up because the police dog bit the Torquay player.

But hey. Just look at us now. I still can’t believe I get to watch Burnley live every week on National tv here in the States.

ClaretTony wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 23, 2021 8:54 pm

The lowest I’ve ever been as a Burnley fan.

Beat you to it, by a week or so

Burnley 22nd in Div 4 matched only by Luton 7th in Div 1!!! Crikey!!

I was 14. Had major knee surgery a few weeks before game. My dad had said we could go to last home game. Very rare occurrence, but he said on the Tuesday we could not attend, he had to work. I did a runner on Friday night saying I was staying at a friends.
Got the train next day. Sat in the CFS, at full time, dont know how ended up sat on pitch. Crying my eyes out, in a lot of pain, but mainly relief.
Would not swap that day for anything in the world! Had to have operation re done mind!

Don't know if it's true or another urban myth around that day but the police chief going into the Orient dressing room at HT and saying something along the lines of "if you win I can't guarantee we can get you out of here safely" probably helped

My favourite factoid about that day, was that an ex-player who wanted to be our player- manager Tommy Hutchinson scored to help us, and Lincoln’s player manager turned up in a Burnley shirt the season after Peter Daniel.

Crewe away was the lowest I’ve ever got at a football match... the only time I’ve ever cried at a football match. But looking back it’s like a movie where you know the twist... in a way I’m so glad I was one of the last stand of Burnley Football Club, it made us even more proud then and continues to be fundamentally proud now when the hooray Henry’s tell us we’re crap... we know what crap really looks like.

Very interesting this, great post. Note all the positions are decided by one thing, results on the pitch. No correlation to historical prestige, size of club and finances. Nowadays every club seems to have it's place, the top 6, the also rans, the dog fighters, the Championship big guns and yo-yo clubs etc etc.

I don't remember all these lowest points as I seemed to just drift through that season. There had been what I wrongly thought were many 'lowest points' on the way down to the Fourth Division so perhaps I was just numbed. Even when we beat Orient I wasn't 'up in the stars', just, 'oh well, we may have survived as a club'. In fact I wasn't impressed with the club as it started squealing about how we were a founder member of the Football League and it wasn't right that we should be relegated to the non league in the first season of that relegation being possible. We knew the rules like everyone else and as has been mentioned, we were in that position on merit.

I actually had an interesting day. I was a groundsman, looking after sports pitches. On the day before the game I strolled around and ended up at a bowling green where, as it happens, Jimmy Adamson was playing. I then went on to the cricket club and spoke to the groundsman. We had a look at his square. There were yellow marks all over it and I asked him 'is this some sort of fungus?' 'No' he said, 'I was applying fertiliser with a spreader that I knew was defective but still used it'. This meant that some areas had been over fertilised and were damaged as a result. OK, but then we came to a big dead patch. 'Is this a fungus', I asked. 'No, it's where I was rolling the wicket and a bottle of weedkiller fell off the back and spilled its contents!!! I wasn't impressed. I looked after a council pitch which was better then this. Then after the game, for the only time, like many others we went on the pitch. From the stand it looked in pretty good condition but on the pitch itself you could see how sparse the grass really was. Anyway, a good day overall!

As always, for me the question is 'what would have happened had we been relegated?'

groove wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 24, 2021 9:02 am

Nowadays every club seems to have it's place, the top 6, the also rans, the dog fighters, the Championship big guns and yo-yo clubs etc etc.

I think that's spot on and a club has to seriously over or under achieve to move any distance away from its place. I suspect we've overachieved for such a long period now that we've actually moved our place upwards from probably a mid to lower Championship club to somewhere a bit higher.

I remember the numb feeling approaching the Orient match as if everything was lined up against us. The talk around town about people going on to attend the last rites, including coming from overseas. Even John Kettley included this at the end of his lunchtime weather forecast. I had been convinced for weeks that we were doomed but trudged on painfully to the match.

Fortunately we survived, god knows how. I found myself after the match walking round the pitch like some weird dream with tears rolling down my face, as were many others.

It all seems so different now, just hope we never ever get to that state again.

The Current Premier League teams and their final position in the Football League Table in 1987

Division One

1 - Everton (C)
2 - Liverpool
3 - Spurs
4 - Arsenal
11 - Manchester United
12 - Southampton
14 - Chelsea
15 - West Ham
17 - Newcastle
20 - Leicester City (R)
21 - Manchester City (R)
22 - Aston Villa (R)

Division Two

4 - Leeds United
6 - Crystal Palace
9 - Sheff Utd
15 - West Brom
22 - Brighton (R)

Division Three

18 - Fulham

Division Four

4 - Wolves
22 - Burnley