Despite being born in Bradford (salaam aleikum) I am a Burnley supporter. My Dad was a Scot, and he liked watching a classy side - the nearest was Burnley, actually geographically nearer than (2nd div) Leeds.
When I was a lad, Bradford PA were a force to be reckoned with - Kevin Hector up front was a major task for any defence, served by old stager Ray Charnley on the wing. And, a lot of the time, I could watch Burnley one week and PA the other (or watch a RL game). But Avenue needed to sell Hector to survive. Sometimes I went to watch Bradford City, but the skill level was only worth a laugh - when your star player is Charlie Rackstraw, there's not much to be said (more famous as a model in the Grattan catalogue than as a footballer).
Wots it all about? The player manager of Avenue was Laurie Brown - ex-Arsenal, on a good day he was brilliant, a real midfield maestro, and a brilliant coach. When Avenue went to the wall, Laurie went to Man U as a coach. When Tommy Docherty left Man U, he took Laurie's wife with him ...
Burnley had survived in the top flight for many years by scouting out young players and coaching them to international stardom. The most notable case was Martin Dobson - rejected by Bolton Wanderers as a "too slow" inside right, Burnley took him in and transmogrified him into the best centre-HALF in England.
When his leg was broken in a 1969 pre-season friendly, they turned him round to being a world-class midfield player. He went to Everton ..
But a lot of Burnley's players went to Manchester. John Connelly and Willie Morgan are obvious examples, and Burnley needed the money.
The annoying thing was that Man U decided to pinch the Burnley youth policy around 1968, with the result that they got the cream of the nation's talent from then on. Burnley was the FIRST centre of excellence, coaching from real internationals (just the team filling in) and the best place to develop your talent. But then, Man U stepped in - and given the choice, impressionable teenagers went for the glamour. Burnley could not compete, although they still found a few good players that had slipped through the scouting network, egs. Peter Mellor and Tony Morley.
I'm just old enough to remember the Munich disaster, and the amazing recovery that the Busby Babes made out of the mess. They were lucky to have those quality players to throw into the battle. Face it, before the aeroplane crashed Duncan Edwards had to play anywhere else on the pitch but in his natural place as centre forward, because Tommy Taylor was not going to renounce his No 9 shirt. After the mess, no Edwards, no Taylor - the team was forced to rely on the unknown Bobby Charlton, and his team-mates ...
Even then, Man U did not strengthen their youth policy - So Burnley were still able to find good players to "sell on", like Ralph Coates, David Thomas, Leighton James and Bryan Flynn - and the aforementioned Connelly and Morgan.
But when Man U improved their youth policy, it was the death knell for Burnley.
THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT POINT FOR DOMAINERS TO UNDERSTAND - IT IS NOT JUST ABOUT FOOTBALL, IT IS ABOUT ENTREPRENEURSHIP.
Burnley established the first football coaching "centre for excellence". Man U copied "the method", and used their "glamour factor" to attract the better youth players - did Steve Coppell, George Best, David Beckham and the Neville brothers play for Burnley?
Truth is that Man U were attracting good players to join their youth teams, from the 50s upwards. Around 1968, they adopted the Burnley coaching model, and have not regretted it.
OTOH Burnley have been in the doldrums for 40 years - but they do appear to be bouncing back.
Burnley established their techniques, but they did not have the "glam factor" of Man U.
Man U took those techniques and expanded them, at the expense of Burnley.
Other clubs began to exploit those methods - and Burnley were the losers.
Frankly, Burnley could have attracted the better youth players IF they had pointed out the advantages of "similar quality coaching, you will be sold and you will get a big slice of the transfer fee" - but they wanted to keep that slice, and they "lost the plot" in the process. Burnley had the best scout network ...
Real Entrepreneurs know when to give a slice of the profit away ...
