The first goal arrived in the seventh game, the first win four games later. By mid-November the loyalty of the fans, for which Chris Waddle had shown scant regard, was irrecoverably lost when he criticised the entire home support in a row over the barracking given to the hapless Lee Howey who had turned in yet another sub-standard display. 'Premier Passions' was awaited with nearly as much anticipation in North-East Lancashire as it was on Wearside. Our worst fears were realised.

Whilst Bobby Saxton was graphically and passionately explaining where Aston Villa had got a stranglehold on the game ("They're fuckin' you up the arse!"), Waddle sat in the corner seemingly dreaming about days gone by in the sausage factory. Similarly in the preparation for the final game at Wimbledon. Surely, as the senior player in the squad, Peter Reid was looking to Waddle for some leadership and inspiration. Instead he gave the impression that he didn't really give a damn. Maybe Reid would get sacked thus creating the managerial opening that he so craved?

Reid obviously felt badly let down. Many Burnley fans felt that he exacted some retribution by shafting Waddle for �250,000 to secure the services of Lee Howey. By the end of August Waddle had blown all his pocket money and had no room to manoeuvre as none of his big-money signings had made any impact whatsoever. To be fair to Waddle a tremendous run of results in the last quarter of the season, enabled us to survive by the skin of our teeth on the last day of the season. For reasons that have still to be fully publicised, Waddle left 'by mutual consent' soon afterwards. Few tears were shed.

Don't get me wrong. Burnley bear Sunderland no animosity. It is just ironic how Burnley's relationship with Sunderland and the North-East has turned full circle. In 1960 Burnley were First Division Champions. The manager was Harry Potts (from Hetton), the team was captained by PFA Player of the Year, Jimmy Adamson (Ashington). The side also included John Angus (Amble), Tommy Cummings (Castledown) Jimmy Robson (Pelton) and England striker Ray Pointer (Cramlington). As a mark of gratitude the Championship trophy was put on display in the area.

With limited resources the Clarets had to depend on developing their own talent. Under manager Alan Brown (from Corbridge) a scouting network was developed in the North-East which formed part of the best youth development programme in England. Burnley recruited these players from under the noses of Sunderland, who were at that time in Division Two, and Newcastle, who joined them a year later.

Throughout the 1960s and 70s the policy continued. The list of North-Eastern talent that progressed through the ranks at Turf Moor is almost endless: Arthur Bellamy (Blackhill), Ian Brennan (Easington), Ralph Coates (Hetton), Ray Hankin (Wallsend), Les Latcham (Stanley), Brian Laws (Wallsend), Dave Merrington (Newcastle), Brian O'Neil (Bedlington), Derek Scott (Gateshead), Trevor Steven (Berwick), Kevin Young (Sunderland).

Inevitably, the financial shift towards the bigger clubs took its toll and cutbacks led to Burnley's scouting system being denied the funding required to sustain such remarkable success. By the mid-1970s Burnley had ceased to be a major force in English football. Jimmy Adamson, the manager who dubbed Burnley the 'team of the 1970s' before presiding over the first relegation for 23 years was forced out by player power and ended up as Sunderland manager late in the decade.

Being a mere slip of a lad, I wasn't travelling too far afield to see the Clarets in action then, but my uncle went to Roker Park for a Division Two match right at the start of the 1977/78 season and got me a programme. There was a team photograph on the front. In addition to Adamson, Dave Merrington was his assistant, Stan Ternent was head coach, the captain was

Colin Waldron and Mick Docherty and Doug Collins were also on the playing staff. In the space of a few short years the roles had been reversed. The Sunderland side, which was a lot stronger than Burnley's by then, were essentially Adamson's main men from Turf Moor.

The 1980s were Burnley's darkest decade. John Bond, the most hated man ever to set foot inside Turf Moor dismantled what was left of the youth policy. The few good youngsters that were left were discarded (Lee Dixon was allowed to leave on a free) and Sunderland fans will shed no tears in the knowledge that Tony Norman was shown the door without ever making a first team appearance. In their place we saw players of an age and fitness level that suggested

Sanatogen were about to become the new club sponsors.

As this downward spiral continued a succession of ex-Rokerites, who had no doubt performed admirably in the red and white, were put out to graze on the Turf. Namely: Wayne Entwistle, Gary Rowell and Peter Daniel. The worst by far of these was Nick Pickering. He may have been a decent player but by the time he arrived at the Turf he had given up. He was, in short, a tub of lard. The Burnley Email Group recently ran a 'worst ever team' competition. Despite intense competition, Pickering remained the only ever present. My abiding memory is of him 'warming-up' as a substitute to a backdrop of: 'Pickering, lose a stone, Pickering, Pickering, lose a stone' cascading down from the Longside.

The most recent transfer exchanges between the two clubs have again seen the Clarets come out second best. John Mullin was regarded within the club, and indeed in most informed footballing circles, as one of the brightest young prospects in the North of England. Yet he was never given a decent run in the side, Jimmy Mullen (manager at the time) preferred lumbering dinosaurs Tony Philliskirk and John Gayle to the smaller, quicker and more skilful Mullin. When he moved to Roker for a reported �40,000 most supporters thought the local paper had missed a '0'off the figure. But no. Mullen re-invested the cash in Ian Helliwell, no surprise really that Mullen was hounded out soon afterwards following an unfortunate incident involving his wife's dress and a cigarette lighter in a Chinese restaurant.

Which brings us nicely back to Waddle. In a desperate last throw of the dice he brought Mullin back to the Turf on loan last March. He played very well but as usual found goals hard to come by. In a crucial local derby against Blackpool, Mullin was denied a blatant penalty by referee Kevin Lynch who awarded a free kick when the challenge by the 'donkey lasher's' defender threw up more white dust than a Liam Gallagher hayfever attack. Mullin 'pushed' Lynch and was immediately red carded and subsequently banned for the last three games of the season. At the time he was apparently available on a free. However, he returned to Roker, Waddle left Turf Moor, Lee Clark broke his leg and the rest, as they say, is history.

Waddle's legacy was to leave six first team players out of contract (whilst ensuring that his cronies who now graced the lower echelons of the Pontins League with the reserves were well looked after). New manager Stan Ternent (yes another ex-Rokerite, from Gateshead) spent most of the pre-season re-negotiating contracts, he managed to secure five of the six. The one that got away? You guessed it, �1.2 million rated player-of-the-Year, central defender Gerry Harrison.

So Burnley started this season with little prospect of much change from last, Sunderland are surely bound for a return to the Premiership this time, with Mullin and Harrison safely under contract , joined recently by former team-mate Andy Marriott. The Clarets' saving grace has been the form of leggy winger Glen Little who has single-handedly kept our heads above water. No prizes for guessing which club, on the recommendation of their newly-appointed 'assistant manager' Adrian Heath (who brought Little to Turf Moor from Glentoran), are favourites to sign him, emphasising that the fortunes of these two clubs, who seem to share so much common ground, have over the past 30 years or so been completely reversed.

Oh, and by the way 'Waddle Stop Us Now' tee shirts aren't much in evidence this season.

Jez Wilson

November 1998