I've had a request from a Coventry fan called Kevin Shannon who is writing a book on Tommy Hutchison.

If you have any memories of him, met him while he was at Burnley, anything that could be useful, please post them on this thread.

When I had the temerity to critise John Bond and his mania for signing ex City players I was told via then Chairman and Hutchinson our then captain to take my support elsewhere
I was always critical of the Bond regime and happy when they all left. I did explain in reply that I would be still here after they had long gone ,following my team,as I have .Dark days indeed that make be appreciate our time in the Sun and all our games in the Premier league.

Good player who looked after himself well but who never got the credit he deserved from the Burnley faithful. We could do with someone who could cross the ball half as well as him at the moment.

We've had far better Wade Elliot and Glen Little to name but two

A very dear friend of mine, who has long passed away, used to live very close to him in Coventry. For away games one of Hutchison's friends would drive to the away venue in Tommy's Jaguar car. It meant Tommy did not travel back on the coach-instead they sampled a number of the countries best "drinking establishments " on the way home.

A young Hutchison was in a different class to either of those two. We saw him when he was past his best but he was still a class act.

Culmclaret wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 06, 2022 5:00 pm

A young Hutchison was in a different class to either of those two. We saw him when he was past his best but he was still a class act.

Couldn't agree more, excellent for Blackpool, Coventry and Man City and I thought he was a real class act at Burnley in those two years.

I saw him play on the left wing for Blackpool v Arsenal in an early Cup game when I was at Polytechnic in London, and he was virtually unplayable, and against one of the best teams in England at the time. Think fairly soon after he was snapped up. was a handful in his day with his dribbling skills

Wade Elliot put us back in the big time so to me will always be a true Burnley legend.

One of the most underrated players of his generation. Without doubt Hutchinson for me was the highlight of some very dark times for us at Burnley. Would I take Hutchinson at his best tomorrow? In a heartbeat. I still remember how disappointed I was that Burnley didn’t give him the player manager job he wanted, yet he still scored one of the goals on the final weekend to do his bit to keep us up.

Absolutely love the guy. About time he got some recognition.

You can't compare Hutchinson to Little or Elliott. At his best Hutchinson was a far better player, he was very good when he played for us in the third tier, both Elliott and Little played for us at a higher level, so as Burnley players they were better than Hutchinson was as a Burnley player

Woodleyclaret wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 06, 2022 4:48 pm

We've had far better Wade Elliot and Glen Little to name but two

What a bizarre comment. We have had far better than Elliot and Little as well.

My dad and I met him a few times at away games, always fantastic with us.

I was sad when he left us, like elwaclaret stated, could have been Player Manager instead of Buchan. If I remember rightly, Reeves would have been part of it.

Wonderful player, left foot, right footed winger. My best memories are those cross field balls from one wing to the other that find the man.
Played well into his forties too.

Burnley Ace wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 06, 2022 6:22 pm

What a bizarre comment. We have had far better than Elliot and Little as well.

If anyone reminded me of Tommy Hutchinson, it was Glenn Little. His close control in a tight spot was incredible, and at times mesmerising. But, Tommy Hutchinson played at the highest two levels from 1968-1982. And continued to play until his mid fourties’. When Swansea decided to part ways with their player Manager AFTER he left us he was retained as a player….

A well known Burnley fan once pointed out to Hutchison that he had had a poor game that afternoon (was in one of the suites after the match I think). Hutchison wasn't appreciative of his negative comments and proceeded to grab him by his collars, shove him up against the wall and explain that he didn't value the opinion of this particular fan - in quite a forceful manner.
Forgotten what the outcome was in the end but I bet the the fan was rather shocked.

Another player who our fans regularly spell his name wrong.

Dave Thomas's book on the Bond season is coming out soon,

Fabulous footballer at his best, virtually unstoppable. Sadly his best days were behind him when he landed in Burnley. Could still deliver wonderful crosses but they started coming in from deeper positions. Along with Kevin Reeves the only two ex-City players that earned their corn.

HollandsPies wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 06, 2022 7:14 pm

Another player who our fans regularly spell his name wrong.

By quite a few on this thread too

Saw him once in a home game against Wigan.

I think we lost the game, but remember the way in which he won a penalty: went into the box and tapped his own back heel with his own foot.

I later tried that a few times with success myself

I was working in the sponsors lounge after one game Tommy came in ordered 2 pints of lager and passed one to Roger Hansbury along with the comment don't drop that always found him pleasant with a very dry sense of humour. During the week he was always talking to the apprentices after training offering advice and encouragement

ClaretTony wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 06, 2022 7:45 pm

By quite a few on this thread too

Lol, yes quite right. Think the East Lancs accent is to blame for most, like mine

Woodleyclaret wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 06, 2022 4:42 pm

When I had the temerity to critise John Bond and his mania for signing ex City players I was told via then Chairman and Hutchinson our then captain to take my support elsewhere
I was always critical of the Bond regime and happy when they all left. I did explain in reply that I would be still here after they had long gone ,following my team,as I have .Dark days indeed that make be appreciate our time in the Sun and all our games in the Premier league.

that's not good at all, imagine telling a supporter to take his support elsewhere!
that said, he was one player that looked very committed when we had him, clearly skilled, and put in a shift. Pity the same cannot be said of his Man city colleagues at the Turf.
Obviously he was an excellent city player, famous for his great OG in the cup final, although he had made up for it by scoring at the right end.

Wile E Coyote wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 06, 2022 11:06 pm

that's not good at all, imagine telling a supporter to take his support elsewhere!
that said, he was one player that looked very committed when we had him, clearly skilled, and put in a shift. Pity the same cannot be said of his Man city colleagues at the Turf.
Obviously he was an excellent city player, famous for his great OG in the cup final, although he had made up for it by scoring at the right end.

Having met him and spoken to him several times, I would suggest his sense of humour, dry & sarcastic, has flown right over Woodleyclaret’s head.

ClaretTony wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 06, 2022 11:09 pm

Having met him and spoken to him several times, I would suggest his sense of humour, dry & sarcastic, has flown right over Woodleyclaret’s head.

Its all about context I suppose, if you met him and thought well of him and his sense of humour You would understand his ways, But I know I wouldn't take kindly to being told what Woodleyclaret said happened.
I don't know Woodley either, but you get my point.

Wile E Coyote wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 06, 2022 11:20 pm

Its all about context I suppose, if you met him and thought well of him and his sense of humour You would understand his ways, But I know I wouldn't take kindly to being told what Woodleyclaret said happened.
I don't know Woodley either, but you get my point.

I very much doubt he spoke to anyone like that

A fantastic servant for us in the context of an undistinguished era. Gave his all and had real class in the way he conducted himself, and real quality as a player. A shining light in a relatively dark era.

Tommy Hutchinson with an N I think!

lewishamclaret wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 06, 2022 11:42 pm

Tommy Hutchinson with an N I think!

Tommy Hutchison with just the one N at the end of his surname.

ClaretTony wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 06, 2022 11:27 pm

I very much doubt he spoke to anyone like that

unless you have reason to think otherwise Tony, its akin to suggesting the supporter was being cavalier with the truth, and if you weren't present, then that is unfair to the lad.
Its similar to someone dismissing your account of a meeting with someone, and it being discredited based only on their view.

Wile E Coyote wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 07, 2022 12:54 am

unless you have reason to think otherwise Tony, its akin to suggesting the supporter was being cavalier with the truth, and if you weren't present, then that is unfair to the lad.
Its similar to someone dismissing your account of a meeting with someone, and it being discredited based only on their view.

I have every reason to believe what I’ve written on the subject

Way past his best when he signed for us, but more often then not he was the best player on the pitch, he could turn on a sixpence and put in a superb cross, it must have been awesome seeing him live when he was at his peak.

Hutchison was a good player for us but of course this was in the third and fourth divisions.

The big problem that alienated many fans was that he was immediately given the captaincy by Bond from fans favourite Martin Dobson. Bond later explained that, along with quite a few other assumptions he made when he first arrived, he thought Dobson was past it and wouldn't get much game time. He was of course proved wrong on this and other early thoughts (such as Overson being injury prone) but the damage with Burnley fans was done.

There was an incident with the London Clarets newsletter during the 1984/85 season (the season after Bond when we were managed by John Benson) where someone wrote an article against Hutchison's captaincy and for the first time that season, about October 1984, this newsletter had found its way to the Burnley dressing room and Hutchison (we used to send it to the manager and captain and had continued to send it to Dobbo until he left the previous season, but had only just then started sending it to Hutchison - that too may say something of the animosity to him). He read the newsletter, and this negative article, just before a home game (we were struggling at that time) and responded by complaining in the local paper, on the lines of 'we are trying our best and then to read this negativity just before going out to play was not helpful'. A storm in a teacup but illustrated the frustrations at the time. Amongst other criticisms of Hutchison was that after a difficult home game and lots of booing he responded by sticking two fingers up at the Burnley fans.

For myself I enjoyed his contributions to the club and it wasn't his fault we were plunging further down the league. He just represented an obvious target for our frustrations.

Hipper wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 07, 2022 8:59 am

There was an incident with the London Clarets newsletter during the 1984/85 season (the season after Bond when we were managed by John Benson) where someone wrote an article against Hutchison's captaincy

Wasn’t Derek Scott captain in 1984/85?

Scott was captain from January onwards in 84/85. Hutchison was captain first half of season.

Bump - any other comments

Superb player! Even had a few matches as sweeper if I remember correctly.

XDS wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 06, 2022 8:11 pm

I was working in the sponsors lounge after one game Tommy came in ordered 2 pints of lager and passed one to Roger Hansbury along with the comment don't drop that always found him pleasant with a very dry sense of humour. During the week he was always talking to the apprentices after training offering advice and encouragement

Interesting you mention his work with the apprentices. I went to a Wolves Burnley reserve match and Hutchison was amongst the Burnley coaching staff in the dugout.

Totally left field this one but here goes;

I remember the 1970-71 relegation season as an 11 year old. It was the first season when I regularly attended Burnley games at the Turf. I only missed 1 game all season and that was because my brother and I had to go to stay at our grandma's in Poulton-le-Fylde which is a few miles from Blackpool who were our opponents that weekend. I was disappointed that I missed what was one of the most vital games of the season and only consoled by the fact that we won 1-0 and saw Paul Fletcher score his first Burnley goal on MOTD. The next day (despite no doubt having a bit of a sulk) grandma took us on the bus to Stanley Park in Blackpool where we settled to have a picnic in the sunshine. As we were sat there we spotted a tall lanky feller with two considerably smaller older people walking along towards us. I nudged my brother and said "I know who this is" and grandma quickly found a pen and paper as we legged it over to Tommy Hutchison who was having a relaxing stroll with his parents. He signed our paper and before he handed it back to us I couldnt resist asking him "guess where we come from?". He looked at us with a serious face and said "go on then, where?" When I told him "Burnley" he grimaced and made as if to tear the paper up. His mum and dad were quite suited that we were chatting to them and were quite jovial. Tommy was great too, although he did have a quite serious disposition about him. We were over the moon as young boys to have met him and looked out for him in the papers and on TV thereafter. Thought he was brilliant at Burnley and a class above most of those in the third division at that time.

Happy memories.

I travelled on the Merthyr team coach a couple of times when he was with them. On one of those, someone must have mentioned that I was a supporter of the opposition. That happened once a year when Merthyr played at Boston united while both were in the conference. Usually I was on the supporters coach depending on numbers. he came over and gnarled something in scottish at me. I had no idea what, but a few of the others told him that I was a regular for any other game during the season.
Thankfully, the game ended in a draw.
He liked a few and probably recognised me from the bar anyway, but I suspect that he drank less than Colin Loss.... .

Always had time for an autograph and gave me and my mate complimentary tickets for games on a few occasions.

Hipper wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 21, 2022 3:30 pm

Interesting you mention his work with the apprentices. I went to a Wolves Burnley reserve match and Hutchison was amongst the Burnley coaching staff in the dugout.

We went to a Middlesbrough-Burnley reserve game. it will have been his second season and Hutch was one of the staff in the Dugout at Ayresome park

Tommy Hutchison’s story has been published this week. It is a called Hutch Hard Work and Belief.
He arrived at Burnley at quite a tumultuous time for the club and I think some Burnley fans weren’t best pleased that he replaced Martin Dobson as captain.
In the book he details the trials and tribulations, first playing under John Bond and then John Benson.
Below is an extract from the Burnley part of the book.

“The appointment of Bond was a departure from the norm for Burnley. In the past they had employed managers who had a historic link to the club as a player or coach. To take someone as high profile as John, someone who was regularly in the national media, was something new. Bond was enthusiastic and full of confidence when I arrived. He felt that this was a club with bags of potential and he could restore it to its former glories. Certainly, I was impressed by the infrastructure.
Turf Moor was a good, traditional stadium and the training ground was a huge and well-cared-for complex on a par with Coventry and much better than what had been available at Maine Road. It looked as if the estate that the training ground was built on had once been something akin to Downton Abbey. There was a huge mansion-like building that stood next to the training pitches.
Halfway through the first season, before a game against Oxford in the cup, I was interviewed on the TV by Ian St John, the former Liverpool player turned TV presenter, a lovely, funny chap. I stood with my back to the mansion as he talked to me. As the interview ended, he wished me all the best for the game. I thanked him, nodded over my shoulder at the big house and said, ‘Right-o. I suppose I’d better go and see if the wife’s back from the shop yet. They’ve done really well with the club houses here.’ He had a laugh at that and they got me to do it again so they could tag it on the end of the interview.
Bond’s recruitment was based on bringing in tried-and-trusted faces. Arriving were Gerry Gow, Kevin Reeves, Willie Donachie, later Denis Tueart and Steve Daley, all with Bond at Man City, and goalkeeper Roger Hansbury who he had at Norwich. John Benson would again be Bond’s assistant.”

Excerpt From
Hutch, Hard Work and Belief
Tommy Hutchison and Kevin Shannon
This material may be protected by copyright.

If you would like to buy a copy of the book, signed by Hutch, then please use the link below. (Tommy and myself are selling the book
for £18 + P and P. as opposed to £25 in bookshops/Amazon).

if you would like to buy the book. Please use the link below.

'Hutch' order form

Those who saw Tommy play might recall the way his long legs seemed to stretch even further when he collected the ball or controlled it while running and turning. An excellent player!

Hutchmagic wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 18, 2022 10:28 pm

if you would like to buy the book. Please use the link below.
'Hutch' order form

Good luck with the book but your “link” didn’t appear.

Link please Hutchmagic

Thanks for letting me know. I will try to sort it now!

Woodleyclaret wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 06, 2022 4:42 pm

When I had the temerity to critise John Bond and his mania for signing ex City players I was told via then Chairman and Hutchinson our then captain to take my support elsewhere
I was always critical of the Bond regime and happy when they all left. I did explain in reply that I would be still here after they had long gone ,following my team,as I have .Dark days indeed that make be appreciate our time in the Sun and all our games in the Premier league.

Reeves and Hutchison were the best players in the team.

Apologies
Hopefully the link below works

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIp ... w/viewform

Hutchmagic wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 19, 2022 11:07 am

Apologies
Hopefully the link below works

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIp ... w/viewform

Ordered, thanks

Wokingclaret wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 19, 2022 11:17 am

Ordered, thanks

Hi Thanks for buying the book. I hope you enjoy the read!