View from the opposition – Burnley
A bit about you:
Name: John Kettley, Weather Broadcaster and Consultant – Sport Nut!
Current home town: Lincoln but brought up in Todmorden, West Yorkshire on the right side of the border (but only 9 miles from Burnley)
Birthplace: Halifax
How long have you supported your team? Since I first noticed they were quite good beating Nottm Forest 8-0 in Division 1, circa 1959?
Overview of your club
Prudent in the Bob Lord days but had to be run as a business, hence good players were lost early. Last twenty to thirty years have been hard, almost lost to non-league in 1987, but the ITV Sport deal was crippling losing the club several million pounds a few years ago which they are now just recovering from. The Club is run brilliantly in my opinion considering the size of the town and the big clubs nearby.
As a Trust member also I admire the hard work of such organisations and the will to have a voice.
Favourite thing about your home ground: Home from home – much changed since it looked more like Filbert Street. Now a fine stadium.
Favourite match played by your team & why: Smashed Leeds 5-1 in 1969? when Revie was in charge and Leeds were the team hated by everybody it seemed.
Favourite player of all time who played for your club: Leighton James will always have a huge following but there were many at the time. Previously Jimmy McIlroy was a genius……
About our forthcoming match against you:
Your favourite current player in your squad and why?
Players to watch now include new boy Kendrick, George Boyd as ever and Andre Gray who is learning his trade now at the highest level.
What do you think of the summer transfer activity both in and out of your club?
Third promotion to the Premier League has brought welcome money to our 'small town club' and I am thrilled to see Sean Dyche has now gone into the transfer market in a big way, hopefully shrewd buys with Kendrick from Derby.
How do you think you'll do against us? 2-1 to Leicester sadly but early days