Director's Tale

Dave Thomas

Description

A Director's Tale is the story of Burnley Football Club in the early 1980s, a time of short-lived success and then turmoil. With special access to the diaries of director Derek Gill, Dave Thomas brings you the unvarnished inside story, revealing what went on behind the scenes amid conflict with chairman John Jackson and manager John Bond. These were torrid times involving, at first, a surprise promotion, then a relegation, then John Bond's departure and another relegation. This was a group of men who were all competent and professional in their own fields - Jackson was a barrister, Gill an accountant - but they became a toxic mix in the boardroom. The Bond season has gone into the Turf Moor history books as one of the most damaging. His name is much derided in Burnley today, but he was only a part of a bigger problem. The Gill diaries provide a unique opportunity to see - warts and all - the workings and machinations of boardroom politics. This is a story of failure and acrimony.

Sujets

• Diaries
• Lancashire
• Lancastre

Informations

• Publié par: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 28 mars 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781801502382
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2022
Pitch Publishing
A2 Yeoman Gate
Yeoman Way
Durrington
BN13 3QZ
www.pitchpublishing.co.uk
Dave Thomas, 2022
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Any oversight will be rectified in future editions at the earliest opportunity by the publisher.
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A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library
Print ISBN 9781801500722
eBook ISBN 9781801502382
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Contents
Acknowledgements
Foreword by John Helm
1. The background
2. Meet the cast
3. A triumphant whirlwind season
4. What could possibly go wrong?
5. The trauma of relegation
6. How John Bond came to Burnley
7. Phil Whalley and Martin Dobson speak
8. Growing tensions
9. A warning of what is to come
10. Goodbye Mr Bond
11. John Bond states his case
12. What the papers said
13. A shameful relegation
14. The boardroom soap opera
15. A scapegoat is needed
16. Resignation and reflections
17. Four days from receivership
18. Saved from the brink
19. More from the press
20. Recollections
Postscript
Photos
Acknowledgements
IN TELLING this story I have been able to dip into various books, including:
No Nay Never Volumes One and Two , Dave Thomas
Bob Lord of Burnley , Dave Thomas and Mike Smith
Mud, Sweat and Shears , groundsman Roy Oldfield s revealing book
From Roy s story I confess I have taken much of his account of the 1984/85 season verbatim. That seems reasonable since we wrote the book together and there seemed little point in simply re-arranging the words.
I have also consulted the following:
BFC and Me , Paul Fletcher
Clarets Chronicles , Ray Simpson
Forever and Ever , Tim Quelch
The Forgotten Fifteen , James Bentley
He s Here, He s There: The Gerry Gow Story , Neil Palmer
Got to be There , Dave Burnley
Local reporter Peter Higgs of the Burnley Express and Evening Star wrote several of the articles used. I have also reproduced an article from the Lancashire Telegraph setting out Martin Dobson s thoughts.
Edward Walton of Burnley Civic Trust helped enormously with photographs.
The extensive personal diaries of director Derek Gill give immense details of the period and are crucial to this book. Gill wrote his recollections of his time at the club in 1987, in longhand, then committed them to print on his personal computer during his Tenerife holidays. He inserted more comments in 2005 prompted by the publication of No Nay Never Volume One . They are what they are, personal diaries, and as such give what some might feel is a one-sided view of things. It has to be noted that chairman John Jackson, so often mentioned, is no longer here to give his responses. I was, however, in touch several times with his daughter Rebekah.
I write detailed diaries myself and have done so for many years. I know full well that what you write down is very much geared to yourself and your own interpretation of things. If we write our opinions of other people, they can be none too flattering. If only John Jackson had kept a diary; that too would have been fascinating.
Club programmes from the John Bond season were invaluable. His candid and blunt programme notes tell his story and express his thoughts perfectly.
It surprises me that there is no existing biography of John Bond. This book does not give the complete picture but at least gives some insight into him and his career. The general picture of him at Burnley is not too favourable; he is seen by many as a disaster. And yet that is not the complete picture, as this book will show. He was only part of the problem. A substantial one, it s true, a square peg in a round hole, but as his tenure progressed the boardroom became more and more toxic as the blame game began. Dante s Inferno comes to mind, where the sign over the gates to Hell reads Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here . Much the same could be said of the doorway into the Burnley boardroom.
Why did I ever come to Burnley? Bond once said in a TV interview.
Several players contributed to this story, including Martin Dobson, Joe Gallagher, Derek Scott and Vince Overson. Former manager Frank Casper was always on hand to give his side of what went on. Like Brian Miller, Casper had no great affection for John Jackson. Again, that does not suggest that Jackson was the villain of the piece, far from it. But neither Miller nor Casper got on with him. Chalk and cheese, you might say.
Sadly, the people who could have given more insights are all gone: John Jackson, Frank Teasdale, Brian Miller, John Bond and Derek Gill. But I am grateful to Derek s sons David and Stephen for their help and support, plus John Jackson s daughter Rebekah Hipkiss, and the family of Brian Miller.
Cover design is by Duncan Olner with thanks to Mike Procter for his permission to use the painting of Turf Moor.
I am grateful to journalist and broadcaster John Helm for the foreword.
Thanks also to Phil Whalley for his contributions including: the John Jackson article in the London Clarets magazine, issue 180, April 2008; his Derek Gill interview in the same magazine, issue 165, June 2005; his John Bond interview, again in that publication, issue 159, June 2004.
Robert Smith responded to the request for help by immediately heading for his loft where he has a lifetime s collection of Burnley memorabilia, programmes and local newspapers. I collected a box full of resource material from him.
John Gibaut over in Seattle did the preliminary proofing and read-through.
My computer/technical skills are minimal. A thousand thanks to Mrs T for her knowledge.
Foreword by John Helm
I AM often asked by football fans to nominate my most memorable match; not an easy task as I have been able to attend more than 5,000 over the past 70-odd years. The quick and easy answer is Brazil versus Italy at the 1982 World Cup finals where Paolo Rossi s breathtaking hat-trick knocked out the most exciting team it has been my privilege to see. Even as a neutral observer and commentator I desperately wanted to see Zico, S crates, Falc o, der et al lift the trophy.
Yet that is not the only answer I give to the question. Saturday, 9 May 1987 still ranks as the most emotional footballing day I can recall.
I had been to Turf Moor on many occasions. My school, Salt Grammar in Shipley, used to play Burnley Grammar School annually. It was always fixed to coincide with a match at Turf Moor, hence I saw Jimmy McIlroy and Albert Cheesebrough score hat-tricks in an extraordinary 7-3 victory over Leicester City in 1957.
That was nothing compared to the drama and emotion that enveloped Turf Moor on the final day of that fateful 1986/87 season. At that time, I was working for ITV and was despatched to Turf Moor to see whether Brian Miller s side could preserve the Football League status of a club formed more than a century before.
I had not, and never have since, witnessed anything quite like that day. It was as if every one of the 15,781 people present were praying for a miracle. The only exceptions would have been the odd few supporting Leyton Orient who were supposed to be the sacrificial lambs.
Burnley s very existence seemed to be at stake.
The aforementioned McIlroy, by then working as a journalist, had hinted at extinction if the worst came to the worst, and a future in non-league football was not an acceptable or appealing option. Neil Grewcock s first-half goal eased the tension a little with scores coming in from elsewhere adding to the drama.
I was sitting with a cameraman and sound recordist within touching distance of the directors box and alerted my colleagues to the potential of unforgettable scenes at the final whistle. So, after Ian Britton s goal helped clinch the 2-1 victory, I thrust the microphone under the nose of chairman Frank Teasdale and procured one of the most emotional interviews imaginable. It was heart-wrenching, tear-jerking stuff with a background of diehard fans singing jubilantly for the first time in months.
Incredibly, my sound recordist thought we were doing a microphone test and cocked up what should have been a lead item on the evening news. Thanks pal! The following day I was interviewing disbelieving Lincoln City fans whose team had been relegated after losing to Swansea.
Well-known Burnley journalist Keith McNee sat next to me throughout the match with his back turned to the pitch. He couldn t bear to watch and tragically died soon afterwards; at least not of a broken heart which would have been the case if his beloved club had been beaten that day.
This book covers all the events during the seasons that lead up to the Orient game with the build-up involving the three key characters: John Bond, Derek Gill and John Jackson. They are events that are almost as dramatic as Ian Britton s goal and the final whistle. Had Burnley lost and been relegated that day, contrary to what Jimmy McIlroy suggested, Derek Gill would have ensured that the club continued.
I knew John Bond from his days at Manchester City and perhaps it is clear now that he was never the right man for Burnley. Overall, this is a story of club politics and failed relationships.
Dave Thomas has captured the mood of the town, researched the reasons for the demise, interviewed the men who played leading roles and covered one of the most incredible periods in the history of Burnley Foot