Mid Pennine Arts moves beyond the gallery to celebrate Pennine Lancashire’s heritage
MID PENNINE Arts has announced the launch of a new programme of high-profile contemporary art, featuring commissions of new work sited at spectacular locations around some of Pennine Lancashire’s many beautiful heritage venues.
Contemporary Heritage’s first installation is set to be on show at Towneley Hall, Burnley for a year from 11th September 2010. The launch date has been chosen to coincide with the Heritage Open Days national campaign (Thursday 9 – Sunday 12 September 2010), which celebrates fantastic architecture and culture by offering FREE access to properties that normally charge for admission. (Towneley Hall offers free entrance for Burnley residents at any time).
Contemporary Heritage is a partnership project with Arts Council England and Lancashire County Council. It will celebrate the unique elements of heritage sites across Pennine Lancashire. Mid Pennine Arts will commission artists of national and international standing to create new works in response to the history, stories, architecture, or collections of Pennine Lancashire venues. The artworks will connect visitors to the past of the venues and provide what organisers are describing as “a new way of seeing” the history we often take for granted.
Contemporary Heritage sees the Mid Pennine Arts move from a gallery based programme in a single location, to an ambitious vision taking in venues throughout Pennine Lancashire. The project will make a significant contribution to raising the profile of Pennine Lancashire as a cultural destination for heritage attractions and outstanding contemporary site-specific art.
Mid Pennine Arts Creative Director Nick Hunt said: “We invite everyone who supported the Mid Pennine Gallery to join us on this new adventure. From September 2010, we will use the whole of Pennine Lancashire as our gallery, and in doing so will highlight some of our best assets. We believe that this bold, new work will provide a terrific counterpoint to some of our heritage treasures, and will attract a new, wider audience to explore the splendours of Pennine Lancashire.”
- ENDS -
Notes to Editors
If you require further information, images or would like to interview Nick Hunt, Creative Director or Rebecca Keating, Visual Arts and Projects Officer from Mid Pennine Arts please call Julian Jordan from BrandSpankin’ on 01282 878 301 or email julian@brandspankin.co.uk
http://www.midpenninearts.org.uk
About Mid Pennine Arts
Mid Pennine Arts is an independent Pennine Lancashire arts development charity which brings art, people and places together to transform perceptions and lives.
Although we operate primarily in Pennine Lancashire; we are also currently delivering projects in Todmorden, Preston, Lancaster and Wyre. We provide a strategic overview of the arts and work in partnership with local service providers and regeneration organisations to develop best practice in arts consultation projects. We have a diverse range of projects at any one time and work with a large network of high quality, independent artists.
We have an education department that works extensively with all the primary, secondary and further education establishments in Pennine Lancashire.
Mid Pennine Arts Charity registration number 250642
Showing posts with label Burnley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Burnley. Show all posts
Wednesday, 21 July 2010
Thursday, 18 February 2010
Lancashire's Longest Doodle on tour!
There are a few dates we thought we'd share with you in case you felt the creative urge to help with Lancashire’s Longest Doodle and at the same time raise some money for Pendleside Hospice.On the 25th March Function Factory, an East Lancs based theatre company will be taking the doodle to the ACE Centre in Nelson. (http://www.functionfactorytheatre.co.uk)
Pendleside Hospice are also taking the Doodle out to various local supermarkets. It will be at Tesco in Burnley on the 5th and 6th March, Asda in Colne on the 12th and 13th March and at Asda in Burnley on the 21st and 22nd May. Come along and show your support and have a doodle at the same time.
Friday, 30 October 2009
Owen Coyle: man for all seasons
Here's a version of a feature piece based on an interview I did with Owen Coyle, Burnley's manager. It's for the imminent edition of Scruples magazine - a contract publishing job we do for the Barrowford menswear outlet (You can see last year's here - http://bit.ly/1wGyPt)
****
The global media glare and the intense pressure of the Premiership has seen some managers wilt. Yet Burnley’s young manager, Owen Coyle, thrives on it. When he came for his made-to-measure suit, we asked what makes Owen Coyle tick?
COYLE breezes into Scruples, still in his training kit from the morning’s session. It’s only a few days after the derby defeat to bitter local rivals, Blackburn Rovers, but if you’d expected Coyle to be licking his wounds, think again.
“March can’t come round quickly enough,” he comments in reference to the Turf Moor return fixture.
The positivity and enthusiasm of the man is infectious and clearly he’s cast a spell over Burnley’s players, staff and supporters. That magic has seen a middling championship side transformed to a team that went on a superb run, culminating in May’s championship play-offs, a swashbuckling display in the victory over Reading, and a trip to Wembley to blunt the Blades of Sheffield United in the final.
As Wade Elliott’s wonder goal hit the back of the net that afternoon, the realisation that Premiership football was coming to Burnley started to dawn on the club’s supporters – and they were still pinching themselves as the season started with home victories over the giants of Manchester United and Everton. That’s some testament to the power of Coyle’s positivity and charismatic leadership – but where did it all start?
“I was at Dumbarton when I was thirteen - I had a chance to sign for Dundee United, but my family felt that it would be best for me to serve my apprenticeship at Dumbarton and it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I was just allowed to just develop without any pressure.”
For youngsters coming into the game there’s a high failure rate, so what is it in the make-up of those that succeed?
“There are a lot of elements – ability, desire, hunger and getting the right break at the right time. When kids at sixteen are cast aside, one of two things happens - they either say well it’s natural or they try and go and get careers at other clubs.
“We have sixteen youth team players and fortunately we’ve taken 5 first year professionals on this year - and that’s not common place. So one thing I always say to young players at our club in particular is that this is a job of work and you’re privileged to be doing this. So, don’t let failure be through lack of effort.
“If we decide you’re not to be a first team player, let it be because you’ve worked your socks off and we just don’t think you’re quite good enough. It’s the most difficult part of football, I know we lose games and this and that, but when you have to relinquish the dreams of young players and tell them there’s no contract there for them, for me that’s a really difficult part of the job.”
Regarding his own motivation, it’s interesting to hear Coyle comment on what helped see him through.
“First and foremost I had a very good upbringing and a tremendous support system. I’ve got five brothers and two sisters, so when it’s going well, you never get carried away or you get a clip round the ear and they make sure you remain grounded.”
Family is a recurring theme and it clearly informs his thinking. He cites coming from The Gorbals in Glasgow, where his mother still lives, as a profound influence and he goes back as often as possible. It certainly gave him a notion of overcoming the odds and succeeding – themes he frequently returns to.
“I played weighing 10 stones, which is unheard of as a striker. I knew I was playing against bigger, physical players. So I had to find ways of overcoming and getting the better of my opponent and hopefully I made the most of what I had.”
It’s been a long journey for the kid from The Gorbals, who dreamt of emulating his idol, Liam Brady. His playing career saw him enjoy highlights such as playing for the Republic of Ireland in 1994 against Holland, knowing how much it meant to his Irish parents; he was co-manager at Falkirk when they won the Scottish first division title – he was still playing at the time and scored a hat trick on the day; and, scoring in the play-off final for Bolton in 1995, to see them promoted to the Premiership.
“And I have to say the achievement as a manager at Burnley totally surpassed the achievements as a player winning at Wembley, no doubt about that,” he adds.
For somebody so keen to play the game there must have been difficulties in the transition to manager – even this season he’s turned out for Burnley’s reserves! In addition to that, there are a range of different responsibilities.
“As a player you know that if you do well the manager’s going to pick you. As a manager, you’re not only responsible for eleven players and the team, you’re responsible for a whole town - particularly at this club.
“I absolutely love everything about the town. Most of my career was in Scotland and you’d see buses leaving to support Celtic or Rangers from every part of the country. I love the fact that the first day I was in the job, I went through the town centre and all I saw was Burnley tops. You didn’t see Man U or Liverpool. And I thought to myself, this is my type of place.
“I believe when you walk through the front doors of a place, you know if there’s an atmosphere conducive to a good working environment. And I felt that the first day I walked in at Turf Moor - so I’m big on that, I’m big on atmosphere, trying to build a family club. So, as a manager - as opposed to being a player - I think that it’s important not to just represent your club but your town well.”
“We have an unbelievable fan base – when Turf Moor’s full as it invariably is now, it’s the best possible atmosphere. I mean I’ve played at Wembley and all these 60,000 and 70,000 capacity stadiums, but I’m telling you when Turf Moor’s at capacity, it’s the best atmosphere you’ll find in football. And that’s been driving us on.
“We’re now in the Premier league and our town’s population is less than Old Trafford’s capacity. But we’re in there and we made it and we don’t want to give it up. Burnley’s support in terms of percentage of population… we’ve got the biggest support in the world. Nearly one in four comes out to watch us - no other place has that, we’ve got an unbelievable fan base."
Coyle clearly takes his responsibility to the town and area very seriously – he wants success for the team, but expresses a wish that it can have a ‘trickledown effect’, create positive headlines about the place and help with moves towards regeneration.
“There’s a perception that Burnley’s some sort of back water, well it’s not. Anybody that gives us the time of day, both in terms of the club and the town and surrounding areas will see that there are a lot of not only nice people, but quality businesses.
“We’ve all known difficult times, so I think when you have a chance to be in the limelight for whatever reason, one you don’t give it up and two you look to maximise that. It irks me that people who have never set foot in Burnley want to write us off - and it’s the same with the football team, they’ve never seen us play, but they want to write us off. So all I can say is, if it’s the football or if it’s the area, come and see the quality that’s on show - I think it’s important everybody recognises that.
“In all things, I want to be the very best I can be. And equally I want the very best for this football club. First priority is to maintain premier league status, and put a plan in place that will serve the club well for years to come.
“Who’d have thought I’d be offered the Celtic job and turn it down? Celtic’s my team and they’ll always be my team because that’s what I grew up with, but I recognise we’re in the best league in the world and we’ve got a fantastic football club - that gave me the platform.
“Brendan (Flood) and the Chairman saw enough in me to see I was the right person to take the club forward and I respected that and I said that in the summer that it was important that I showed loyalty to the club.
“I want Burnley to flourish and I want to be the manager who does that.
“I believe I can take this club on and with the right backing - not meaning to put the Chairman and Brendan under any pressure - but come January we’ll obviously need money to push things on and give us another kick again. But if it does put pressure on them, then so be it,” he jokes.
“We all we want the best for Burnley Football Club and I want to make sure we make a real go of this and we’ll leave no stone unturned in our efforts.”
****
The global media glare and the intense pressure of the Premiership has seen some managers wilt. Yet Burnley’s young manager, Owen Coyle, thrives on it. When he came for his made-to-measure suit, we asked what makes Owen Coyle tick?
COYLE breezes into Scruples, still in his training kit from the morning’s session. It’s only a few days after the derby defeat to bitter local rivals, Blackburn Rovers, but if you’d expected Coyle to be licking his wounds, think again.
“March can’t come round quickly enough,” he comments in reference to the Turf Moor return fixture.
The positivity and enthusiasm of the man is infectious and clearly he’s cast a spell over Burnley’s players, staff and supporters. That magic has seen a middling championship side transformed to a team that went on a superb run, culminating in May’s championship play-offs, a swashbuckling display in the victory over Reading, and a trip to Wembley to blunt the Blades of Sheffield United in the final.
As Wade Elliott’s wonder goal hit the back of the net that afternoon, the realisation that Premiership football was coming to Burnley started to dawn on the club’s supporters – and they were still pinching themselves as the season started with home victories over the giants of Manchester United and Everton. That’s some testament to the power of Coyle’s positivity and charismatic leadership – but where did it all start?
“I was at Dumbarton when I was thirteen - I had a chance to sign for Dundee United, but my family felt that it would be best for me to serve my apprenticeship at Dumbarton and it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I was just allowed to just develop without any pressure.”
For youngsters coming into the game there’s a high failure rate, so what is it in the make-up of those that succeed?
“There are a lot of elements – ability, desire, hunger and getting the right break at the right time. When kids at sixteen are cast aside, one of two things happens - they either say well it’s natural or they try and go and get careers at other clubs.
“We have sixteen youth team players and fortunately we’ve taken 5 first year professionals on this year - and that’s not common place. So one thing I always say to young players at our club in particular is that this is a job of work and you’re privileged to be doing this. So, don’t let failure be through lack of effort.
“If we decide you’re not to be a first team player, let it be because you’ve worked your socks off and we just don’t think you’re quite good enough. It’s the most difficult part of football, I know we lose games and this and that, but when you have to relinquish the dreams of young players and tell them there’s no contract there for them, for me that’s a really difficult part of the job.”
Regarding his own motivation, it’s interesting to hear Coyle comment on what helped see him through.
“First and foremost I had a very good upbringing and a tremendous support system. I’ve got five brothers and two sisters, so when it’s going well, you never get carried away or you get a clip round the ear and they make sure you remain grounded.”
Family is a recurring theme and it clearly informs his thinking. He cites coming from The Gorbals in Glasgow, where his mother still lives, as a profound influence and he goes back as often as possible. It certainly gave him a notion of overcoming the odds and succeeding – themes he frequently returns to.
“I played weighing 10 stones, which is unheard of as a striker. I knew I was playing against bigger, physical players. So I had to find ways of overcoming and getting the better of my opponent and hopefully I made the most of what I had.”
It’s been a long journey for the kid from The Gorbals, who dreamt of emulating his idol, Liam Brady. His playing career saw him enjoy highlights such as playing for the Republic of Ireland in 1994 against Holland, knowing how much it meant to his Irish parents; he was co-manager at Falkirk when they won the Scottish first division title – he was still playing at the time and scored a hat trick on the day; and, scoring in the play-off final for Bolton in 1995, to see them promoted to the Premiership.
“And I have to say the achievement as a manager at Burnley totally surpassed the achievements as a player winning at Wembley, no doubt about that,” he adds.
For somebody so keen to play the game there must have been difficulties in the transition to manager – even this season he’s turned out for Burnley’s reserves! In addition to that, there are a range of different responsibilities.
“As a player you know that if you do well the manager’s going to pick you. As a manager, you’re not only responsible for eleven players and the team, you’re responsible for a whole town - particularly at this club.
“I absolutely love everything about the town. Most of my career was in Scotland and you’d see buses leaving to support Celtic or Rangers from every part of the country. I love the fact that the first day I was in the job, I went through the town centre and all I saw was Burnley tops. You didn’t see Man U or Liverpool. And I thought to myself, this is my type of place.
“I believe when you walk through the front doors of a place, you know if there’s an atmosphere conducive to a good working environment. And I felt that the first day I walked in at Turf Moor - so I’m big on that, I’m big on atmosphere, trying to build a family club. So, as a manager - as opposed to being a player - I think that it’s important not to just represent your club but your town well.”
“We have an unbelievable fan base – when Turf Moor’s full as it invariably is now, it’s the best possible atmosphere. I mean I’ve played at Wembley and all these 60,000 and 70,000 capacity stadiums, but I’m telling you when Turf Moor’s at capacity, it’s the best atmosphere you’ll find in football. And that’s been driving us on.
“We’re now in the Premier league and our town’s population is less than Old Trafford’s capacity. But we’re in there and we made it and we don’t want to give it up. Burnley’s support in terms of percentage of population… we’ve got the biggest support in the world. Nearly one in four comes out to watch us - no other place has that, we’ve got an unbelievable fan base."
Coyle clearly takes his responsibility to the town and area very seriously – he wants success for the team, but expresses a wish that it can have a ‘trickledown effect’, create positive headlines about the place and help with moves towards regeneration.
“There’s a perception that Burnley’s some sort of back water, well it’s not. Anybody that gives us the time of day, both in terms of the club and the town and surrounding areas will see that there are a lot of not only nice people, but quality businesses.
“We’ve all known difficult times, so I think when you have a chance to be in the limelight for whatever reason, one you don’t give it up and two you look to maximise that. It irks me that people who have never set foot in Burnley want to write us off - and it’s the same with the football team, they’ve never seen us play, but they want to write us off. So all I can say is, if it’s the football or if it’s the area, come and see the quality that’s on show - I think it’s important everybody recognises that.
“In all things, I want to be the very best I can be. And equally I want the very best for this football club. First priority is to maintain premier league status, and put a plan in place that will serve the club well for years to come.
“Who’d have thought I’d be offered the Celtic job and turn it down? Celtic’s my team and they’ll always be my team because that’s what I grew up with, but I recognise we’re in the best league in the world and we’ve got a fantastic football club - that gave me the platform.
“Brendan (Flood) and the Chairman saw enough in me to see I was the right person to take the club forward and I respected that and I said that in the summer that it was important that I showed loyalty to the club.
“I want Burnley to flourish and I want to be the manager who does that.
“I believe I can take this club on and with the right backing - not meaning to put the Chairman and Brendan under any pressure - but come January we’ll obviously need money to push things on and give us another kick again. But if it does put pressure on them, then so be it,” he jokes.
“We all we want the best for Burnley Football Club and I want to make sure we make a real go of this and we’ll leave no stone unturned in our efforts.”
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
De...de...de...de...
Yesterday afternoon I interviewed Burnley manager Owen Coyle for the Scruples Menswear publication that we produce. (Have a look at last year's here http://bit.ly/1wGyPt)He was as candid as ever - and besides the usual charm and intelligence we've all come to expect, it really struck me how professional and accomplished he is when facing the media. In a previous life I was a journalist and I can honestly say he's amongst the very best people I've interviewed. He wipes the floor with some of the chinless chief executives or vacuous vocalists I've dealt with in my time. It just goes to show, you can have all the media training in the world, but if you've got a set of values that you're passionate about and you've got a bit of personality, it can go a long way.
He was happy to chat for a while afterwards and even offered words of comfort for us Clarets who are still feeling the post-derby blues. He pointed out that Burnley completed nearly four times as many passes as our rivals - a stark indication of our different approach to the game. Referring to the return fixture, he said that March can't come quickly enough. Indeed!
When the publication comes out - in just over a week - we'll put the full transcript of Owen's interview up here.
Saturday, 17 October 2009
Caught in a Bubble
Tomorrow sees the resumption of hostilities in the oldest derby game in world football – Blackburn Rovers versus Burnley.
I’m one of only 3,000 Burnley fans being allowed to travel to the game, which has been designated a ‘bubble fixture’, where extraordinary police powers are invoked as a supposed means to maintain order and reduce the likelihood of violence and disorder.
This means I’ll have to be at Turf Moor, Burnley’s ground, at shortly after 9am tomorrow, to travel to Ewood Park, Blackburn’s ground, for a 1pm kick-off. The journey is just 11 miles – and our convoy of 60 coaches will take on the short journey down the M65 to get us inside the ground 2 – 3 hours before the game starts. Blackburn pubs won’t be opened before the game and there will be a massive police presence. It’s incredibly draconian and it places enormous inconvenience upon ordinary decent supporters of both clubs (the return fixture at Turf Moor is subject to the same measures) but, let’s face it, there is some history...
I’m not entirely sure where the rivalry and animosity originally comes from – but it’s a lot more than just your average local rivalry, like those that form the basis of so many other derby games. I’ve heard people say that the rivalry dates back to the civil war or the reformation – where the towns were on different sides. I’ve heard its origins were sectarian – blue and white Blackburn were supposedly a protestant club - there was certainly an imported Presbyterian Scottish element to their early history, as they were the first club to embrace ‘professionalism’ in the nineteenth century. Meanwhile Burnley’s roots may well have been more Catholic – the town saw huge Irish immigration in the nineteenth century, as its mushrooming population growth was fuelled by the ‘potato famine’ and the industrial revolution – some of my own forebears were amongst this wave of immigrants. Indeed, before we adopted our famous Claret & Blue, between 1900 and 1910 Burnley wore green shirts. I’ve also heard that as the towns industrialised, disputes arose about goods moving up and down the Leeds Liverpool canal. Burnley people alleging that Blackburn took the best cotton off the barges before they got to Burnley.
The industrial revolution however, saw football progress into a mass sport – and then as today, Lancashire was at the forefront. Both Burnley and Blackburn were amongst the founder members of the world’s first football league in 1888 and this is what arguably makes the East Lancashire Derby between these two mill towns the oldest in world football.
In the post war era, despite being champions of England 50 years ago, Burnley and its football club went into decline – the process hastened by the abolition of the maximum wage for players - a move which was bound to tilt the game in favour of the city clubs over the town clubs, due to their generally greater resources.
By the early 1980s both clubs were pale shadows of what they had once been, but the rivalry was as intense as ever – an article from the Guardian in 2000 comments:
“Burnley have not beaten their bitter rivals since 1979. In 1982-83 Blackburn achieved a league double over the Clarets with Simon Garner scoring twice at Ewood Park in April in a 2-1 victory. The visiting Burnley fans responded by throwing a smoke bomb on to the pitch and a bottle at the Rovers goalkeeper Terry Gennoe before tearing down the roof of the Darwen End. When Garner slotted home the decisive penalty, the travelling support tried to burn the stand down, despite being in it at the time, as a full-scale riot erupted.”
In the years that followed that notorious game, Burnley’s demise was complete as we had to win our last game of the season in 1987 to stay in the football league. As we began to claw our way back a few years later, we were beaten in the Fourth division play-offs by Torquay. As the dismal second leg petered out, a light aircraft buzzed Turf Moor with a banner trailing behind it – “Staying down 4 Ever – Love Rovers. Ha ha ha.”
I was in the Cricket Field Stand that night and if I’d had access to a shoulder launched anti-aircraft device I would have used it.
Shortly after that Jack Walker started pumping his millions into Blackburn and the club who had Margaret Thatcher as their honorary vice president, ascended to the pinnacle of English football ‘winning’ (buying) the title in 1995. Meanwhile, we were being relegated to the third tier after an inauspicious one season stay in the second. It was a loathsome period. We were well and truly in the doldrums and Blackburn were firmly ensconced in the happy, shiny world of the Premiership with all its millions. Many Burnley fans – myself included – blame them in part for the hideous parody the game has become...where hyper-spending has artificially created a playing field that is less even than it has ever been - the uglification of the beautiful game. Blackburn were undoubtedly complicit in starting that ball rolling – and helped sell the soul of the game for the one bite of the cherry it gave them in ’95.
The two clubs last met in the league in 2000 when we were humiliated by 0 – 2 and 5 – 0 reverses. In truth that season we were a third tier team punching above its weight in the Championship, whilst they were a Premiership outfit in all but name - they had their multi-millions and we had a brass buttons budget. Our manager at the time, Stan Ternent described the expectations of Burnley fans as 'wanting champagne football on beer money'.
Our only subsequent meeting was in the FA Cup in 2005 - a 0 – 0 draw at Turf Moor was followed by a 2 – 1 defeat at Ewood, but at least this time our pride was intact after a very creditable performance against a much superior squad.
However, since then things have changed. Blackburn’s turgid, functional, clatter-ball, lack of style has seen them become firmly established as a lower Premiership also ran. Meanwhile, with a modicum of (by current day standards) modest investment and the appointment of the charismatic and inspirational Owen Coyle as manager, Burnley have gelled into a team that has become renowned for easy-on-the-eye football that is both entertaining and effective. That culminated in a superb run during the spring that saw Burnley make the championship play-offs, and a swashbuckling display at Reading saw us then go to Wembley to blunt the Blades of Sheffield United.
As Wade Elliott’s wonder goal hit the back of the net that afternoon, I picked up my son, Jack and we went absolutely mad. It’s not lost on me that Jack’s namesake – my Grandad, who went to school just 300 metres from Turf Moor – took me to my first game along with my Dad, when I was just five years old. As the final whistle blew that day at Wembley I held both my kids aloft – Jack and Ella – both in their Burnley kits and I felt as proud as punch. I don’t mind admitting that my bottom lip had a bit of a wobble. I could barely believe we were back in the big time – there have been points when I didn’t believe I’d live to see the day.
No sooner had the initial celebrations died down than we were chanting: “Bring on the Bastards!” And, despite the presence in the Premiership of world class teams Like Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United – the first fixture I looked for when this season’s list was released was Blackburn, aka "Bastard Rovers".
So, tomorrow, at last, we meet the old enemy. I have to say, I know a good number of Rovers fans – friends, acquaintances and business associates. All of them decent sorts - but tomorrow that goes out of the window. As I’m taken in a quasi-military operation to Ewood, I’ll be wishing for one thing only – that they have their most awful day in thirty years of football and I have my best.
To outside observers, it may seem parochial - a fixture caught in a timewarp, but the old cotton mill derby stirs the passions like no other. For those of us in the Claret corner of East Lancashire, this is the first time for thirty years we meet Blackburn with more than just hope. This time we know we’ve got as good a chance as we’ve had in a generation. I can barely describe how much I want this result. It would mark a right of passage and confirm – Burnley are back!
BRING ON THE BASTARDS!!!!
I’m one of only 3,000 Burnley fans being allowed to travel to the game, which has been designated a ‘bubble fixture’, where extraordinary police powers are invoked as a supposed means to maintain order and reduce the likelihood of violence and disorder.
This means I’ll have to be at Turf Moor, Burnley’s ground, at shortly after 9am tomorrow, to travel to Ewood Park, Blackburn’s ground, for a 1pm kick-off. The journey is just 11 miles – and our convoy of 60 coaches will take on the short journey down the M65 to get us inside the ground 2 – 3 hours before the game starts. Blackburn pubs won’t be opened before the game and there will be a massive police presence. It’s incredibly draconian and it places enormous inconvenience upon ordinary decent supporters of both clubs (the return fixture at Turf Moor is subject to the same measures) but, let’s face it, there is some history...
I’m not entirely sure where the rivalry and animosity originally comes from – but it’s a lot more than just your average local rivalry, like those that form the basis of so many other derby games. I’ve heard people say that the rivalry dates back to the civil war or the reformation – where the towns were on different sides. I’ve heard its origins were sectarian – blue and white Blackburn were supposedly a protestant club - there was certainly an imported Presbyterian Scottish element to their early history, as they were the first club to embrace ‘professionalism’ in the nineteenth century. Meanwhile Burnley’s roots may well have been more Catholic – the town saw huge Irish immigration in the nineteenth century, as its mushrooming population growth was fuelled by the ‘potato famine’ and the industrial revolution – some of my own forebears were amongst this wave of immigrants. Indeed, before we adopted our famous Claret & Blue, between 1900 and 1910 Burnley wore green shirts. I’ve also heard that as the towns industrialised, disputes arose about goods moving up and down the Leeds Liverpool canal. Burnley people alleging that Blackburn took the best cotton off the barges before they got to Burnley.
The industrial revolution however, saw football progress into a mass sport – and then as today, Lancashire was at the forefront. Both Burnley and Blackburn were amongst the founder members of the world’s first football league in 1888 and this is what arguably makes the East Lancashire Derby between these two mill towns the oldest in world football.
In the post war era, despite being champions of England 50 years ago, Burnley and its football club went into decline – the process hastened by the abolition of the maximum wage for players - a move which was bound to tilt the game in favour of the city clubs over the town clubs, due to their generally greater resources.
By the early 1980s both clubs were pale shadows of what they had once been, but the rivalry was as intense as ever – an article from the Guardian in 2000 comments:
“Burnley have not beaten their bitter rivals since 1979. In 1982-83 Blackburn achieved a league double over the Clarets with Simon Garner scoring twice at Ewood Park in April in a 2-1 victory. The visiting Burnley fans responded by throwing a smoke bomb on to the pitch and a bottle at the Rovers goalkeeper Terry Gennoe before tearing down the roof of the Darwen End. When Garner slotted home the decisive penalty, the travelling support tried to burn the stand down, despite being in it at the time, as a full-scale riot erupted.”
In the years that followed that notorious game, Burnley’s demise was complete as we had to win our last game of the season in 1987 to stay in the football league. As we began to claw our way back a few years later, we were beaten in the Fourth division play-offs by Torquay. As the dismal second leg petered out, a light aircraft buzzed Turf Moor with a banner trailing behind it – “Staying down 4 Ever – Love Rovers. Ha ha ha.”
I was in the Cricket Field Stand that night and if I’d had access to a shoulder launched anti-aircraft device I would have used it.
Shortly after that Jack Walker started pumping his millions into Blackburn and the club who had Margaret Thatcher as their honorary vice president, ascended to the pinnacle of English football ‘winning’ (buying) the title in 1995. Meanwhile, we were being relegated to the third tier after an inauspicious one season stay in the second. It was a loathsome period. We were well and truly in the doldrums and Blackburn were firmly ensconced in the happy, shiny world of the Premiership with all its millions. Many Burnley fans – myself included – blame them in part for the hideous parody the game has become...where hyper-spending has artificially created a playing field that is less even than it has ever been - the uglification of the beautiful game. Blackburn were undoubtedly complicit in starting that ball rolling – and helped sell the soul of the game for the one bite of the cherry it gave them in ’95.
The two clubs last met in the league in 2000 when we were humiliated by 0 – 2 and 5 – 0 reverses. In truth that season we were a third tier team punching above its weight in the Championship, whilst they were a Premiership outfit in all but name - they had their multi-millions and we had a brass buttons budget. Our manager at the time, Stan Ternent described the expectations of Burnley fans as 'wanting champagne football on beer money'.
Our only subsequent meeting was in the FA Cup in 2005 - a 0 – 0 draw at Turf Moor was followed by a 2 – 1 defeat at Ewood, but at least this time our pride was intact after a very creditable performance against a much superior squad.
However, since then things have changed. Blackburn’s turgid, functional, clatter-ball, lack of style has seen them become firmly established as a lower Premiership also ran. Meanwhile, with a modicum of (by current day standards) modest investment and the appointment of the charismatic and inspirational Owen Coyle as manager, Burnley have gelled into a team that has become renowned for easy-on-the-eye football that is both entertaining and effective. That culminated in a superb run during the spring that saw Burnley make the championship play-offs, and a swashbuckling display at Reading saw us then go to Wembley to blunt the Blades of Sheffield United.
As Wade Elliott’s wonder goal hit the back of the net that afternoon, I picked up my son, Jack and we went absolutely mad. It’s not lost on me that Jack’s namesake – my Grandad, who went to school just 300 metres from Turf Moor – took me to my first game along with my Dad, when I was just five years old. As the final whistle blew that day at Wembley I held both my kids aloft – Jack and Ella – both in their Burnley kits and I felt as proud as punch. I don’t mind admitting that my bottom lip had a bit of a wobble. I could barely believe we were back in the big time – there have been points when I didn’t believe I’d live to see the day.
No sooner had the initial celebrations died down than we were chanting: “Bring on the Bastards!” And, despite the presence in the Premiership of world class teams Like Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United – the first fixture I looked for when this season’s list was released was Blackburn, aka "Bastard Rovers".
So, tomorrow, at last, we meet the old enemy. I have to say, I know a good number of Rovers fans – friends, acquaintances and business associates. All of them decent sorts - but tomorrow that goes out of the window. As I’m taken in a quasi-military operation to Ewood, I’ll be wishing for one thing only – that they have their most awful day in thirty years of football and I have my best.
To outside observers, it may seem parochial - a fixture caught in a timewarp, but the old cotton mill derby stirs the passions like no other. For those of us in the Claret corner of East Lancashire, this is the first time for thirty years we meet Blackburn with more than just hope. This time we know we’ve got as good a chance as we’ve had in a generation. I can barely describe how much I want this result. It would mark a right of passage and confirm – Burnley are back!
BRING ON THE BASTARDS!!!!
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Burnley Networking Event
I spoke this evening at an event at HIX Burnley, that was organised by Kate Mayers of Burnley and Pendle Enterprise Trust. I spoke about networking as part of your marketing plan for SMEs. Also speaking was Andy Cooke from Positive Solutions. It was an excellent event and the majority of attendees were in start up mode, so Andy and I had to think on our feet as we got some pretty interesting interjections. All the attendees stayed back for a good hour or so after the event, which is a fair indication taht they got something from it.
Wednesday, 10 June 2009
We had a stand at last week's BeConnected event at Turf Moor, Burnley and as part of the event we gave away a free £500 marketing mentoring session which was won by Chris Hoy, the Technical Director of Securstor24 (http://www.securestor24.com/). We're looking forward to helping Securestor plan how to build awareness, generate leads and ultimately make more money! If you'd be interesting in a mentoring session, give us a call (01282 878 301).
Securestor have got a really good proposition offering secure data storage for SMEs. It's definitely worth checking their site as it gives a very thorough appraisal of what's available and at what price. Secure data storage is an absolute must - a first step that every business should consider as part of their disaster recovery/business continuity plan.
Securestor have got a really good proposition offering secure data storage for SMEs. It's definitely worth checking their site as it gives a very thorough appraisal of what's available and at what price. Secure data storage is an absolute must - a first step that every business should consider as part of their disaster recovery/business continuity plan.
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
The morning after the night before
Following last night's heroics that saw Burnley make the final of the Championship play-offs, I'm a tad hoarse and slightly worse for wear!
Nevertheless, we'll be 'circulating' today as we attend Pendle employers forum at lunch time and this evening there's a meeting of the Pendle Community Enterprise Board.
Nevertheless, we'll be 'circulating' today as we attend Pendle employers forum at lunch time and this evening there's a meeting of the Pendle Community Enterprise Board.
Tuesday, 12 May 2009
BrandSpankin' enters the blogmosphere!
Welcome to the BrandSpankin' Blog for all things connected with Marketing, Graphic Design, Web and Media Relations - all with an East Lancs twang. And just now and then, we might ski 'off-piste' and comment on this, that or the other.
Just a few things for starters:-
- We're keeping our fingers crossed for Burnley who play Reading tonight in the second leg of the Championship play offs. Come on you Clarets.
- Before that we'll be in attendance at the Chamber of Commerce event at Stanley House in Mellor.
In the meantime, I'm just off to try to claim parliamentary expenses on my Prince Albert...
www.brandspankin.co.uk
Just a few things for starters:-
- We're keeping our fingers crossed for Burnley who play Reading tonight in the second leg of the Championship play offs. Come on you Clarets.
- Before that we'll be in attendance at the Chamber of Commerce event at Stanley House in Mellor.
In the meantime, I'm just off to try to claim parliamentary expenses on my Prince Albert...
www.brandspankin.co.uk
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