Burnley FC Youth Academy – Part 1
For many years Burnley’s youth system was the envy of the football world as player after player came off the conveyor belt to play first team football.
Never was it more evident than in 1960 when Burnley were crowned Football League Champions for the second time in the club’s history. The championship winning season saw only three players feature who had been signed from other clubs, and none had played for other Football League clubs.
The club continue to confirm that the emphasis is very much on youth and bringing players through the system into the first team.
Burnley Football Club officially recognises that the first players to come through the youth system to the first team were Tommy Lawton and Ken Ashbridge in the 1935/36 season.
This feature will show all those from 1936 to the current date who have graduated through the youth system at Burnley Football Club and gone on to play for the first team.
Below are numbers 1 to 25, players who debuted for the first team from 1936 to 1955.
No | Name | Debut | Last Game | League | Cups | Total | |||||
Opponents | Date | Opponents | Date | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
1 | Tommy Lawton | Doncaster Rovers (h) | 28/03/1936 | Doncaster Rovers (a) | 28/12/1936 | 25 | 16 | – | – | 25 | 16 |
2 | Ken Ashbridge | Manchester United (a) | 13/04/1936 | Manchester United (a) | 13/04/1936 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 |
3 | Len Martindale | Swansea Town (h) | 30/10/1937 | Blackpool (a) | 21/08/1950 | 69 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 73 | 2 |
4 | Freddy Taylor | Norwich City (h) | 06/11/1937 | WestBromwich Albion (h) | 14/09/1946 | 49 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 50 | 7 |
5 | George Bray | Luton Town (h) | 01/10/1938 | Stoke City (a) | 29/09/1951 | 241 | 8 | 18 | 1 | 259 | 9 |
6 | George Knight | Millwall (h) | 25/02/1939 | Barnsley (a) | 16/09/1946 | 9 | 2 | – | – | 9 | 2 |
7 | Peter Kippax | Stoke City (a) | 05/01/1946 | Huddersfield Town (h) | 01/05/1948 | 32 | 6 | 11 | 1 | 43 | 7 |
8 | Harold Mather | Stoke City (a) | 05/01/1946 | Leicester City (h) | 05/09/1954 | 301 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 329 | 0 |
9 | Harry Potts | Coventry City (h) | 31/08/1946 | Charlton Athletic (h) | 14/10/1950 | 165 | 47 | 16 | 3 | 181 | 50 |
10 | Harold Spencer | Coventry City (h) | 31/08/1946 | West Bromwich Albion (h) | 14/09/1946 | 4 | 1 | – | – | 4 | 1 |
11 | Harold Rudman | Barnsley (a) | 16/09/1946 | Cardiff City (a) | 25/08/1956 | 71 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 75 | 0 |
12 | Jack Knight | Chesterfield (h) | 05/04/1947 | Aston Villa (a) | 06/11/1948 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 5 |
13 | Tommy Cummings | Manchester City (a) | 18/12/1948 | Bolton Wanderers (a) | 22/08/1962 | 434 | 3 | 45 | 0 | 479 | 3 |
14 | Tommy Henderson | Stoke City (a) | 12/09/1949 | Fulham (a) | 15/10/1949 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 2 | 0 |
15 | Roy Stephenson | Liverpool (a) | 10/04/1950 | Portsmouth (a) | 03/03/1956 | 78 | 27 | 2 | 1 | 80 | 28 |
16 | Jimmy Adamson | Bolton Wanderers (a) | 10/02/1951 | Blackpool (a) | 22/02/1964 | 426 | 17 | 60 | 1 | 486 | 18 |
17 | Tony Hapgood | Middlesbrough (a) | 01/09/1951 | Stoke City (a) | 29/09/1951 | 7 | 2 | – | – | 7 | 2 |
18 | Albert Cheesebrough | Manchester United (h) | 11/04/1952 | Newcastle United (h) | 25/04/1959 | 142 | 35 | 16 | 5 | 158 | 40 |
19 | Brian Pilkington | Tottenham Hotspur (a) | 27/09/1952 | Swansea Town (h) | 18/02/1961 | 300 | 67 | 40 | 10 | 340 | 77 |
20 | Doug Winton | Wolverhampton Wanderers (h) | 29/11/1952 | Wolverhampton Wanderers (h) | 15/11/1958 | 183 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 198 | 1 |
21 | David Cargill | Tottenham Hotspur (a) | 16/09/1953 | Sheffield United (a) | 11/02/1956 | 5 | 0 | – | – | 5 | 0 |
22 | Bobby Seith | Manchester United (a) | 03/10/1953 | Sheffield Wednesday (h) | 02/04/1960 | 211 | 6 | 27 | 0 | 238 | 6 |
23 | Colin McDonald | Aston Villa (a) | 10/04/1954 | West Ham United (h) | 14/03/1959 | 186 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 201 | 0 |
24 | Jimmy Scott | Manchester United (a) | 05/03/1955 | Manchester United (a) | 12/04/1961 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
25 | David Smith | Tottenham Hotspur (h) | 16/04/1955 | Manchester United (a) | 12/04/1961 | 99 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 108 | 1 |
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