“Star” players who came to Burnley in their twilight years. There are some obvious ones, but I’ll start with two “million pound” players - Steve Daley and Kevin Reeves

Gazza

Crouch.
Gazza naturally.
Waddle- but I'm not sure if he ever played for us, got a feeling he did make a few appearances early in his tenure.

I thought Kevin Reeves was good till he got injured btw

Chris Woods

Wrighty

tiger76 wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 05, 2022 10:40 am

Crouch.
Gazza naturally.
Waddle- but I'm not sure if he ever played for us, got a feeling he did make a few appearances early in his tenure.

Made 32 appearances

Daley was crap, Reeves absolute quality and his partnership with Billy Hamilton really took off. I believe that if Reeves stayed fit all season then we would look back on the John Bond era in a different way. Another good oldie from that era was Tommy Hutchison, you could tell he had been a top player even approaching his 40th birthday.

randomclaret2 wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 05, 2022 10:41 am

I thought Kevin Reeves was good till he got injured btw

With Reeves available all season we would have been promoted

Goobs wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 05, 2022 10:42 am

Made 32 appearances

Blimey was it that many that shocks me.

Mike Summerbee
Tommy Cassidy
Mitchell Thomas

All did well for us. Cassidy in a great midfield with Trevor Steven

tiger76 wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 05, 2022 10:45 am

Blimey was it that many that shocks me.

Let's be honest most of that season was forgettable. Tried himself in various positions including as sweeper. Things improved towards the end of the season when (I think) he played less and Little came back into the team.

Gordon Cowans
Alan Harper
Andrew Cole

It's all about opinions but I think most consider Ian Wright and Mitchell Thomas to have been big successes.

Gazza is the stand out for me.

ClaretPete001 wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 05, 2022 10:56 am

It's all about opinions but I think most consider Ian Wright and Mitchell Thomas to have been big successes.

Gazza is the stand out for me.

Totally agree on Ian Wright, without him we might not have gained automatic promotion that season, and would have to have endured the lottery of the play off's.

Most of the names mentioned so far quite clearly DONT fit into the category of the OP.

Made 32 appearances
Also scored one goal

Gerry Gow

Waddle that is!

Joey Barton? Can't remember how old he was, could be too young to be considered twilight.

So are you saying Barton wasn't a good player?

bobinho wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 05, 2022 10:59 am

Most of the names mentioned so far quite clearly DONT fit into the category of the OP.

Not necessarily doesn't exclude players who were good.

Tony Ellis

Nick Pickering. I think he was only in his early 30s so I’m not sure about old, but I don’t think he played again after his spell with us so certainly ‘the twilight of his career’.

Mike Summerbee admitted in his autobiography that coming to Burnley was a big mistake on his part.

Tony Waiters goalkeeper towards end of his career. Remember an absolute stunning save against Coventry on the Turf probably in 1970 or 71, think Peter Mellor was out with an injury.

Joe Hart......

Tall Paul wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 05, 2022 11:13 am

Not necessarily doesn't exclude players who were good.

As I said, most of the ones mentioned WERE good.

The OP says “not necessarily goodies” which led me to think he wanted a list of players who WEREN'T good.

bobinho wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 05, 2022 11:56 am

As I said, most of the ones mentioned WERE good.

The OP says “not necessarily goodies” which led me to think he wanted a list of players who WEREN'T good.

Not necessarily...

David Unsworth
David May

Tbf, it’s probably harder to name a player than came in his twilight years and performed better than anywhere else he’d played. Alexander wasn’t far off tbf

A bit ambiguous on my part. “Not necessarily” applies to some oldies but not others. The list could be either.
Willie Donachie
Keith Newton
A supreme example of a “not necessarily” bad one

welsbyswife wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 05, 2022 11:05 am

So are you saying Barton wasn't a good player?

I think some people are struggling with the premise of the thread.

David Holt - I thought he was good.
Joe Gallagher - well...
Malcolm Waldron - was good but not really for us.
Jon Walters - was definitely good but never had a chance 'cos of injuries.
Roger Hansbury - .....
Alan Taylor - I thought he was OK but inconsistent.
Then there were the returnees - Billy Rodaway, Leighton James.... they did a job but....
Martin Dobson on his return - excellent.
... and of course the ultimate 'goody' - Graham Alexander. Has to be one of the best signings

Kevin Ball was approaching 36 when we signed him after getting promoted in 2000. I thought he was excellent for those two seasons as we finished 7th twice in a row.

Dennis Tueart.

Neil Whatmore