Planet Swans ArchivesBloody hell I see the Derby "Next Up" stirred some raw emotion in the fans of Darby County (are you watching darlings?) so let's see if we can get the same reaction from the Burnley fans as we look ahead to the weekend visit.
I would have to say it may prove difficult as Burnley is as non descript a kind of football club as you could get. Two league titles and an FA Cup make them massively bigger than Cardiff City but not quite in the league of Huddersfield Town which gives you some idea as to the rank of the football club. Home to the mills of this world – Cotton, Heather and Paper you get the picture of a typical Northern Town where they all get their flat caps on and head off to t'mill for the day before coming home to a big helping of hot pot and a glass of stout. Welcome to the North West of England.
Sundays will of course be spent walking on t'moors working off the Sunday lunch of Roast Beef and Lancashire Pudding (commonly known as Peter Kay) – so eaten because of the inability of the North West folk to eat anything from the other side of the penines.
Burnley were founder members of the Football League back in 1888 having been founded some time before that (I can't be arsed to look up the rest of it!) and in all that time they have managed to win just two league titles meaning it's roughly one every 60 years which means there is hope yet even for small clubs like Liverpool.
The football club have their share of celebrity fans as well. John Kettley – who obviously invented the kettle and is a weatherman you know is one of them whilst Eric Knowles – the Uncle of snooker player Tony and presenter of the antiques roadshow (more commonly known as Cardiff City) also counts himself as a fan. Ginger Coronation St child star Chesney is also a fan although he more readily admits to being ginger rather than a Burnley fan and Zack Dingle from Emmerdale is another who classes himself as a Burnley fan whilst he is not following Manchester United
Players who have played for both sides include motormouth Leighton James, super winger (!) Bradley Maylett and singer Sir Cliff Richard (think about it) whilst a further co–incidence comes when you realise that both sides were saved from the Conference on the last day of the season – Burnley were saved when a dog bit a players leg whilst the Swans were saved when a fat bloke bit Exeter City.
As you can see I am getting desperate for material now and even more so since the cotton mills shut down. Paper mills of course aren't so necessary because of the evolution of the internet so I guess from here that much like Heather Mills I haven't got a leg to stand on…….
And that is that for now – I wonder if Burnley fans will take the time to expand on the idea like those lovable Darby rogues or whether they will realise that a sense of humour can still be instilled even if your football club is totally shit.
Back on Monday when it's Cardiff City – boy will I look forward to that….
