THE GLENTORAN CONNECTION
Tony Armstrong

The links between Burnley Football Club and Glentoran Football Club were firmly established in the very early history of the two clubs. Both football clubs were founded in 1882 when Queen Victoria was on the throne. Both clubs have their roots firmly established in working class backgrounds. Glentoran describe themselves as "The Pride of East Belfast," similarly Burnley could be described as the "Pride of East Lancashire".

In 1914 Glentoran won the Irish Cup and Burnley won the then English Cup (F.A. Cup). The first record of links between the two clubs came at the start of the 1894/95 season when, in March, Tom Morrison, the Glens' right winger, was transferred to Turf Moor from the Oval. He made his Burnley debut just two weeks before Ezekiel Johnston, the Glens' goalkeeper. This connection between the two great clubs has already spanned the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and will soon extend into the twenty-first.

The present Clarets squad includes Glenn Little, one of the Glens' most admired players of recent years. Glenn was transferred to Turf Moor in November 1996. The Glens on the other hand are currently managed by ex-Claret Tommy Cassidy. Numerous other players have had links with both clubs. Those I have found are outlined below.

YEAR PLAYER CLUB TO
1894 Tom Morrison Glentoran Burnley
1894 Ezekiel Johnston Glentoran Burnley
1895 Tom Morrison Burnley Glentoran
1895 Ezekiel Johnston Burnley Glentoran
1897 Tom Morrison Glasgow Celtic Burnley
1903 Tom Morrison Manchester Utd Burnley
1906 Tom Morrison Burnley Glentoran
1914 James J. Lindsay Glentoran Burnley
1922 Billy Emerson Glentoran Burnley
1925 Billy Emerson Burnley Glentoran
1950 Jimmy McIlroy Glentoran Burnley
1959 Alex Elder Glentoran Burnley
1962 Sammy Todd Glentoran Burnley
1980 Tommy Cassidy Newcastle Utd Burnley
1983 Paul Dixon Burnley Glentoran
1986 Mark Caughey Hibernian Burnley
1996 Ian Duerden Burnley Glentoran (loan)
1996 Glen Little Glentoran Burnley

Tom Morrison, nick-named "Ching" was first transferred to Turf Moor in February 1894 from Glentoran as a 20 year old right winger. He made his debut just two weeks before his colleague Ezekiel Johnston. He made his international debut for Northern Ireland against England in 1895. This period was not the most successful of his three spells at Turf Moor, as he was dismissed by the Club for misconduct some nine months later. He returned to Glentoran for a while. However, he later re-signed for Burnley in 1897, this time from Glasgow Celtic.

He scored on his Burnley debut in a 3:1 victory over Derby County in front of 4,500 spectators. This was a relegation year for the Clarets, but "Ching" was instrumental in the side winning the Second Division Championship the following season by establishing magnificent partnerships with Jimmy Ross and Will Toman. He was Burnley's first Irish international. He moved to Manchester United but returned to Burnley for a third time as trainer/coach in 1903. He played once more, his final appearance being against Leicester Fosse in 1906. He moved back to Glentoran in a coaching capacity, thus continuing his long association with these two clubs.

The other Glentoran player at Burnley was Ezekiel Johnston, the Glens' goalkeeper for four seasons prior to the start of the 1894/95 season. He was then transferred to Turf Moor in 1894 towards the end of the season, suggesting somewhere along the line that there were already other links between the clubs. In his first season he made only one appearance, on 23 March 1894 against Sheffield Wednesday in front of an almost capacity crowd of 10,000 spectators. The following season he made further appearances against teams such as Aston Villa, Everton, Preston North End, Small Heath and Stoke. He had a reputation of being a somewhat eccentric character often ending up playing as a centre forward and was prone to erratic acts of madness. He was transferred back to the Glens in the 1895/96 season. During his time at Turf Moor he played alongside Tom Morrison, the other Glentoran youngster in the same Burnley team. Burnley were not yet known as the Clarets, as they played in blue and white stripes. They were christened the "Royalites", after Prince Albert watched them play at Turf Moor 1886 (the first member of the Royal Family to do so).

James J. Lindsay moved from Glentoran to Burnley in the close season of 1914. Burnley were F.A. Cup holders, having defeated Liverpool at Crystal Palace in what became known as the "Royal Cup Final". This final was the last one to be played at Crystal Palace and was the first ever final to be watched by a reigning monarch, King George V. Lindsay would have been one of the first players to wear the famous Claret and Blue shirts, as Burnley had only just changed to these colours from their green strips around the 1910/11 season. His home debut was against Everton, against whom Burnley recorded a 1:0 victory. Lindsay played in the Burnley sides that finished in second place in the First Division in 1919/20 and in the following 1920/21 season when Burnley won their first ever Football League Championship. This was also the season of "The Remarkable Record," which saw Burnley go on their famous 30-match unbeaten run, a record which still stands to this present day. He made 80 appearances for the Clarets and scored 21 goals. He moved back to Larne in 1923.

Billy Emerson moved to Burnley in March 1922 as Glentoran's most capped international player. He spent three season at Turf Moor and then, like colleagues before him, moved back to the Oval. He made his home debut against Cardiff City in front of 30,000 spectators. The game was a draw. He linked up with James J. Lindsay in the 1921/22 season. Both men played in the same team which contained arguably Burnley's most famous defence, George Halley, Tommy Boyle and Willie Watson. Perhaps Emerson's contribution to this side has not received the recognition it deserves. He made 45 appearances for the Clarets before moving back to the Oval in September 1924.

Jimmy McIlroy is undoubtedly a Burnley legend. Probably the best loved, the most skilful and the most famous player ever to wear Claret and Blue. No words can effectively describe his impact on Burnley either as a football club or as a town. Jimmy still lives in Burnley and occasionally writes for the local paper. He is still talked about today. The majority of fans want one of the new stands at Turf Moor named after him. He moved to Burnley from Glentoran in 1950, after a season and a half with the Glens. He made his league debut away at Sunderland in front of 39,000 fans. He went on to feature in 497 appearances for Burnley and scored 131 goals. During his time with Burnley the club embarked on it's golden era, as the Clarets became the major force in domestic soccer. Jimmy Mac experienced winning the League Championship in the 1959/60 season; finishing as the First Division "runners up" in the 1961/62 season; playing in the quarter finals of the European Cup, the 1962 FA Cup final, other League and FA Cup semi-finals, and was second only to Burnley's Jimmy Adamson as Player of the Year in 1962. As a testimony to his status in International football he was chosen in a representative British side versus the Rest of Europe in 1956. He went on to become Burnley's most capped international player, making 51 appearances for Northern Ireland.

Alex Elder was transferred from Glentoran to Burnley in January 1959 as a young 18-year old defender. This is yet another period in Burnley's history when two ex-Glentoran players, Elder and McIlroy, were in the same side. Elder made his debut against Preston North End marking the legendary Tom Finney. He impressed so much that he made the defensive position his own, being rewarded with a League Championship winner's medal in his first season with the Clarets. He went on to make a total of 330 appearances and to score 17 goals. Alex was made club captain in 1965. He was with Burnley during the golden era and played in the 1962 FA Cup final. He was capped a total of 34 times for Northern Ireland.

Sammy Todd joined Burnley from Glentoran as a 17 year old defender/midfield man in 1962 as the third ex-Glentoran player at Turf Moor in the sixties. He made his league debut against Tottenham Hotspur at Turf Moor in the 1963/64 season, Burnley recording a 7:2 victory over Spurs. He made a total of 118 appearances for Burnley scoring one league and one League Cup goal. He was capped a total of 11 times for Northern Ireland.

Tommy Cassidy moved from Glentoran to Newcastle United and joined the Clarets from the Magpies. He was with the Clarets from the 1980/81 season until 1982/83, making 93 appearances and scoring a total of 8 goals. He made his home debut on the first match of the 1980/81 season, scoring Burnley's only goal in a 1:1 draw with Newport County, Burnley's first ever League game outside of the top two divisions. In the same Burnley team were Billy Hamilton, Martin Dobson, Trevor Steven and Brian Laws. Cassidy played in the 1983 FA Cup quarter-final against Sheffield Wednesday, scoring Burnley's only goal in the 1:1 draw at Turf Moor. However, Burnley lost the resulting replay 5:0. He was also a member of the Third Division Championship squad of 1981/82, and was a Northern Ireland international, being capped 24 times and appearing in the 1982 World Cup in Spain, along with Burnley's Billy Hamilton. Tommy is the current Glentoran manager.

Paul Dixon was with Burnley from 1978 to 1983. Paul make 32 appearances and scored one goal for the Clarets. He joined Glentoran in 1983 where he played for the Glens 93 times and scored 3 goals.

Mark Caughey was loaned to Burnley from Hibernian from February to March 1987, making 8 appearances in what was the most dire season in Burnley's long history. This was the season of the "Orient Game". His League debut was made against Halifax Town at the Shay in front of just 1,735 supporters. He later spent a season with Glentoran.

Ian Duerden is currently on the fringe of the Burnley team and is a very exciting prospect. Last season, 1996/97, he played two games for the Glens when he was on loan from the Clarets.

Glen Little was transferred to Turf Moor in November 1996 for a fee of �100,000. He is still greatly admired by all Glentoran supporters, especially after scoring a stunning winning goal against Glenavon in the 1996 Irish Cup Final. He initially came on loan to the Glens from Crystal Palace. During his time with Glentoran he scored 26 goals in only 75 appearances, and won both the Young Footballer of the Year and Glentoran Player of the Year awards. Glen Little's transfer deal to Burnley has culminated with Burnley visiting the Oval in East Belfast on two occasions for pre-season friendlies prior to the 1996/97 and 1997/98 campaigns. During the 1996/97 season, the Dundonald Glentoran Supporter's Club brought 29 of their members over to Turf Moor to see where Glen had come to and saw Burnley beat Millwall 1:0. A strong link between the fans of both clubs has now been built, with regular contact between each other.

Finally, Dino Maamria, a former Under-21 Tunisian international, joined Glentoran last season. He has made only a few appearances for the Glens. Dino lives in Burnley and has connections with Turf Moor.

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