1959–60 Burnley F.C. season

Burnley
1959–60 season
Chairman England Bob Lord
Manager England Harry Potts
First Division Champions
FA Cup Quarter-finals
Top goalscorer League: John Connelly (20)
All: John Connelly (24)
Highest home attendance 52,850 v Bradford City
(23 February 1960)
Lowest home attendance 20,327 v Arsenal
(19 March 1960)
Average home league attendance 26,978

The 1959–60 season was the 78th season in Burnley Football Club's existence, and their thirteenth consecutive season in the top flight. Under manager Harry Potts they became champions of England for only the second time, and as of 2018 for the last time. The Clarets also reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, where they were knocked out by local rivals Blackburn Rovers in a replay, preventing a possible historical 20th century double for Burnley.

Background

After winning the First Division title in 1920–21, Burnley struggled heavily in the following seasons. Their fate changed after the ending of World War II, when Burnley got promoted back to the top flight and reached the FA Cup final in the 1946–47 season. It was the beginning of a long unbroken top flight spell of 24 seasons during which, more often than not, they would finish in the upper reaches of the league table.

Underlying this were the appointments of manager Alan Brown in 1954 and chairman Bob Lord in 1955, which saw The Clarets become one of the most progressive clubs in the upcoming decade.[1][2][3] They were one of the first teams to build a training ground and became renowned for their youth policy and scouting system, which yielded many young players over the years such as club legend Jimmy McIlroy and John Connelly.[1][4]

Former Burnley player Harry Potts was appointed the club's manager in 1958. After foundations were laid by Brown and Lord, Potts forged a young team revolving around the midfield duo of Jimmy Adamson and playmaker Jimmy McIlroy. The style of play was striking as well, Potts often employing the at the time unfashionable 4–4–2 formation and it is believed he introduced Total Football to English football.[5][6][7]

1959–60 season

The pinnacle of a strong period in the club's history came in the 1959–60 season. Burnley, a young team with several internationals, endured a tense season in which major forces Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers were the other protagonists in the chase for the league title. The Clarets, who never led the table until this last match was played out, ultimately clinched the championship on the last day of the season in a must-win game at Maine Road, Manchester with a 2–1 victory against Manchester City with goals from Brian Pilkington and Trevor Meredith.[8][9]

Potts only used eighteen players throughout the whole season, as 21-year-old academy graduate John Connelly became Burnley's top scorer with 20 goals.[5] The title-winning squad costed just £13,000 in transfer fees spent on only two players — £8,000 on McIlroy in 1950 and £5,000 on left-back Alex Elder in 1959.[4] The other players of the squad each came from the Burnley youth academy.[10]

Squad and league statistics

Source:[11]

Age of players at the start of the 1959–60 season indicated in brackets in italics

Squad

League statistics

League appearances

Pos. Player League matches played
1 England Jimmy Adamson 42
= England Brian Miller 42
= England Ray Pointer 42
4 England John Angus 41
= Scotland Adam Blacklaw 41
= England Brian Pilkington 41
7 England Jimmy Robson 38
8 England John Connelly 34
= Northern Ireland Alex Elder 34
10 Northern Ireland Jimmy McIlroy 32
11 Scotland Bobby Seith 27
12 England Tommy Cummings 23
13 England Ian Lawson 8
14 England Trevor Meredith 7
15 England Billy White 6
16 England Gordon Harris 2
17 England Jim Furnell 1
= Northern Ireland Billy Marshall 1

League goalscorers

Pos. Player League goals scored
1 England John Connelly 20
2 England Ray Pointer 19
3 England Jimmy Robson 18
4 England Brian Pilkington 9
5 Northern Ireland Jimmy McIlroy 6
6 England Ian Lawson 3
= England Trevor Meredith 3
= England Brian Miller 3
9 England Billy White 2
10 England Jimmy Adamson 1
= Own Goals 1

Matches

Source:[12]

Football League First Division

Key
Results
Date Opponents Result Goalscorers Attendance
22 August 1959 Leeds United (A) 3–2 Connelly, Pointer, Pilkington 20,233
25 August 1959 Everton (H) 5–2 Connelly (2), Robson, Pointer, Pilkington 29,165
29 August 1959 West Ham United (H) 1–3 Connelly 26,756
2 September 1959 Everton (A) 2–1 Pointer (2) 39,416
5 September 1959 Chelsea (A) 1–4 Connelly 36,023
8 September 1959 Preston North End (H) 2–1 Pointer, Robson 29,195
12 September 1959 West Bromwich Albion (H) 2–1 Robson, Pilkington 23,907
15 September 1959 Preston North End (A) 0–1 27,299
19 September 1959 Newcastle United (A) 3–1 Connelly (2), McIlroy 38,576
26 September 1959 Birmingham City (H) 3–1 Connelly, McIlroy, Pointer 23,848
3 October 1959 Tottenham Hotspur (A) 1–1 Miller 42,717
10 October 1959 Blackpool (H) 1–4 Robson 28,104
17 October 1959 Blackburn Rovers (A) 2–3 Pilkington, Douglas (o.g.) 33,316
24 October 1959 Manchester City (H) 4–3 White (2), Pointer, Pilkington 28,653
31 October 1959 Luton Town (A) 1–1 Pointer 15,638
7 November 1959 Wolverhampton Wanderers (H) 4–1 Pointer (2), Connelly, Robson 27,793
14 November 1959 Sheffield Wednesday (A) 1–1 Robson 18,420
21 November 1959 Nottingham Forest (H) 8–0 Robson (5), Pointer (2), Pilkington 24,349
28 November 1959 Fulham (A) 0–1 29,582
5 December 1959 Bolton Wanderers (H) 4–0 McIlroy (2, 1 pen.), Connelly, Pointer 26,510
12 December 1959 Arsenal (A) 4–2 Connelly (3), Adamson (pen.) 26,056
19 December 1959 Leeds United (H) 0–1 17,398
26 December 1959 Manchester United (A) 2–1 Robson, Lawson 62,673
28 December 1959 Manchester United (H) 1–4 Robson 47,696
2 January 1960 West Ham United (A) 5–2 Connelly (2), Lawson (2), Pilkington 25,752
16 January 1960 Chelsea (H) 2–1 Robson (2) 21,916
23 January 1960 West Bromwich Albion (A) 0–0 23,512
6 February 1960 Newcastle United (H) 2–1 Pointer, Robson 26,998
27 February 1960 Bolton Wanderers (A) 1–2 Connelly 28,772
1 March 1960 Tottenham Hotspur (H) 2–0 Connelly, Pointer 32,992
5 March 1960 Blackburn Rovers (H) 1–0 Robson 32,331
19 March 1960 Arsenal (H) 3–2 Miller, Connelly, Pointer 20,327
30 March 1960 Wolverhampton Wanderers (A) 1–6 Pointer 33,953
2 April 1960 Sheffield Wednesday (H) 3–3 Miller, Connelly, McIlroy (pen.) 23,123
9 April 1960 Nottingham Forest (A) 1–0 Pointer 24,640
15 April 1960 Leicester City (H) 1–0 Connelly 23,777
16 April 1960 Luton Town (H) 3–0 McIlroy (pen.), Pointer, Robson 20,893
18 April 1960 Leicester City (A) 1–2 Meredith 24,429
23 April 1960 Blackpool (A) 1–1 Meredith 23,753
27 April 1960 Birmingham City (A) 1–0 Pilkington 37,032
30 April 1960 Fulham (H) 0–0 30,807
2 May 1960 Manchester City (A) 2–1 Meredith, Pilkington 65,981

Final league position

Pos Team Games played Won Drawn Lost Goals for Goals against Points
1 Burnley 42 24 7 11 85 61 55
2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 42 24 6 12 106 67 54
3 Tottenham Hotspur 42 21 11 10 86 50 53

FA Cup

Date Round Opponents Result Goalscorers Attendance
9 January 1960 Round 3 Lincoln City (A) 1–1 Pointer 21,693
12 January 1960 Round 3 Replay Lincoln City (H) 2–0 McIlroy (pen.), Pilkington 35,456
30 January 1960 Round 4 Swansea Town (A) 0–0 29,976
2 February 1960 Round 4 replay Swansea Town (H) 2–1 Robson (2) 37,040
20 February 1960 Round 5 Bradford City (A) 2–2 Connelly (2) 26,244
23 February 1960 Round 5 replay Bradford City (H) 5–0 Pointer (2), Robson (2), Connelly 52,850
12 March 1960 Round 6 Blackburn Rovers (H) 3–3 Pilkington, Pointer, Connelly 51,501
16 March 1960 Round 6 replay Blackburn Rovers (A) 0–2 53,892

Aftermath

Burnley, only using eighteen different players throughout the league season, had the fewest number of players representing them compared to other clubs that season. Two-thirds of The Clarets' league goals were scored by only three players, Connelly, Pointer and Robson. They also won the league with one of the lowest post-war point tallies (55) and one of the smallest goal differences (+24). Further, they had one of the worst defensive records (61 goals conceded) among league champions. Burnley had an average home attendance of 26,978, approximately a third of the population of the town of Burnley.[4]

After winning the league title, Burnley were invited to participate in the inaugural international football tournament in the United States and North America, the International Soccer League.[13] By winning the title, The Clarets became only the third English club to compete in the European Cup in the 1960–61 season, after Wolves and Manchester United. They would eventually reach the quarter-finals.[14]

Over the following seasons, Burnley would come close to a third First Division title win. In 1961–62, only two wins in the last thirteen league matches saw them handing the title over to newly promoted Ipswich Town.[15] They lost the FA Cup Final that season too, thus claiming the wrong double, although Jimmy Adamson was named Footballer of the Year in English football in one of his last seasons as a professional football player.[16]

It proved to be one of the last highlights in the upcoming decades, as a very controversial departure of McIlroy to Stoke City, the retirement of Adamson and the abolition of maximum wage coincided with a decline in fortunes, although Burnley would retain their First Division place throughout the decade.

References

Specific
  1. 1 2 "The Khrushchev of Burnley". 20 December 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  2. ↑ Hopcraft, Arthur (2013). The Football Man: People & Passions in Soccer. Aurum Press Ltd. ISBN 978-1781311516.
  3. ↑ "John Connelly life story: Part 1". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 Quelch, Tim (2015). Never Had it So Good: Burnley's Incredible 1959/60 League Title Triumph. Pitch Publishing. ISBN 9781848186002.
  5. 1 2 "Burnley, Total Football and the pioneering title win of 1959/60". These Football Times. 27 February 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  6. ↑ "Obituary: Harry Potts". The Independent. 22 January 1996. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  7. ↑ Murray, Scott (2017). The Title: The Story of the First Division. Bloomsbury Sport. ISBN 978-1472936615.
  8. ↑ "'We weren't jumping around, we'd only won the league' – Burnley legend on the day the Clarets were crowned Kings of England". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  9. ↑ LTD, Digital Sports Group. "Manchester City v Burnley - The Championship, 2nd May 1960 - Clarets Mad". www.clarets-mad.co.uk. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  10. ↑ "Great Reputations: Burnley 1959–60 – a good year for claret". Game of the People. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  11. ↑ "Burnley FC » Squad 1959/1960". Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  12. ↑ "Burnley FC » Fixtures & Results 1959/1960". Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  13. ↑ "David and Goliath and Burnley". NBC SportsWorld. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  14. ↑ uefa.com. "UEFA Champions League 1960/61 - History - Burnley – UEFA.com". UEFA.com. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  15. ↑ "Burnley match record: 1962". www.11v11.com. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  16. ↑ "Burnley legend Jimmy Adamson dies at 82". BBC Sport. 8 November 2011. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
General
  • Quelch, Tim (2015). Never Had it So Good: Burnley's Incredible 1959/60 League Title Triumph. Pitch Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1909626546.
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