Interview, February 1996
A young Brian Laws (centre) walks off at White Hart Lane after the
Clarets' 4-1 demolition of Spurs in 1983. Pictured also are Trevor Steven (left) and Billy Hamilton (right)(LET)
A young Brian Laws (centre) walks off at White Hart Lane after the
Clarets' 4-1 demolition of Spurs in 1983. Pictured also are Trevor Steven (left) and Billy Hamilton (right)(LET)
What happened when John Bond came to the club?
A big clearout started - I don't know whether I was the first to come out or not - but he started to clear out when he brought his own players. If your face didn't fit, then it was out. I was very disillusioned when John Bond came to the club, and I certainly haven't changed my mind since that he was the wrong person for the job.
He had his big time thoughts, and he'd come from a big club, and he tried to make Burnley into a big time club in a very short space of time. And it failed miserably and it cost the club dearly. Burnley Football Club wasn't run like that, it was a family club.
Did you think the squad was short of depth for the return to the Second Division in 1982?
No, because we were all young players. In fact, the average age was 24, something like that, and that was even when Martin Dobson was playing! So we had a very very young side, and that gives you four or five years of building a new structure and bringing the youth through, because you've already got a good side and a good youth policy in the club. So there was a real chance for the club to get back to where it used to be.
But didn't the youth of the first team squad mean that there was a lack of quality in reserve?
Yes, maybe so, you could be right on that. But there was certainly money in the club that they could have gone out and bought some.
Do you think that the 1982-83 side were good enough to stay up?
Yes, the quality was there. Each individual player, and as a team, were good enough. It was just that we did very well in the Cups that year and the financial gains the club made were enormous, and in itself could have kept the club in business for many years to come. You'll find that a lot of clubs who have success in the cups find that it detracts from their actual league form. Burnley weren't just the only ones - it happened to many clubs. I remember Brighton getting to a Cup Final and being relegated in the same year.
The players that did go down were definitely good enough to go back up. It only needed the addition of a couple of players. But then all of a sudden John Bond comes in and just disperses everybody. But we only needed two faces in certain areas and we would have been certainly a very hard team to beat then.
Do you think everything that happened subsequently could be traced back to that summer - the clearout and the change in manager.
Well, to be honest with you, I've got no sympathy for John Bond. I don't hold no grudges, but I've got no sympathies for him. What happened to Burnley I firmly, firmly lay on his shoulders.
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