The Longside Reference

So near and yet so far, Stan Ternent's finest season as Burnley manager, in my opinion. One goal just one goal stopped Burnley reaching the play-offs, a second season seventh placing was impressive.

But the drama of this season would live long, the money was rolling in ITVDigital were selling the Championship and the football league, and paying through the nose for the privilege, but in true mothers saying "Their eyes were bigger than their bellies", it just didn't add up, and at the end of the season before they had to pay out the dividend, they went Bust ! But although we knew this was happening, no one really knew the implications.

Stan in turn made great strides forward making Burnley a real Promotion prospect. £1mil was spent on an Injured Robbie Blake, £500k on Dimi Papadopoulos, Republic of Ireland International and a true left sided player Alan Moore came in, former Man utd trainee came in on loan at the end of the season from Forest, scoring 5 goals in 8 games, but the signing that would reignite the Clarets, was Paul Gascoigne arguably the best England player of many a decade, signing on loan from Everton.

It was a great time to support Burnley, Winning games scoring goals, signing big players, taking thousands of fans on the road, Burnley were becoming a force!

Right until the last game of the season, Coventry we won with a solitary goal from Gareth Taylor, but one more goal could have made the next few years so much easier, Burnley and Norwich City went into the last day of the season tied on 72 points, Millwall and Birmingham could have also missed out if results had been different. But it wasn't to Be for Burnley, as Norwich won 2-0, that second goal condemned the Clarets to miss out on the play-offs for another year.

I could not do this season justice, But Edward Lee and Phil Whalley do, in their book "The Pride and The Glory"(Above) they report match by match the entire season, a season not to forget.