1959–60 Burnley F.C. season


The 1959–60 season was the 78th season in Burnley Football Club's existence, and their thirteenth consecutive season in the top flight. Under manager Harry Potts, they were crowned champions of England for the second time, and as of 2020 for the last time. The team also reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, in which they were knocked out by local rivals Blackburn Rovers in a replay, preventing a possible historical 20th century double.

Background

In the 1950s, Burnley became one of the most progressive clubs around. Underlying this were the appointments of manager Alan Brown in 1954, and in 1955, chairman Bob Lord, later described as "the Khrushchev of Burnley" as a result of his authoritative attitude. On account of manager Alan Brown and Lord, Burnley became one of the first clubs to construct a purpose-built training centre, which opened its doors in July 1955, while most teams trained on public parks or at their own grounds. Gawthorpe was built on the outskirts of the town and as well as using paid labour, manager Brown helped to dig out the ground himself. Brown also "volunteered" several of his players to help out. Further, Burnley became, after foundations were again laid by Lord and Brown, renowned for their youth policy and scouting system, which yielded many young players over the years such as Jimmy Adamson, Jimmy McIlroy, and John Connelly. In his relatively short spell at the club from 1954 to 1957, Brown also introduced short corners and a huge array of free kick routines, which were soon copied across the land. In 1958, former Burnley player Harry Potts was appointed manager. The team became mainly revolved around the midfield duo of one-club man Jimmy Adamson and playmaker Jimmy McIlroy. Potts often employed the, at the time unfashionable, 4–4–2 formation and he introduced Total Football to English football in his first managerial seasons at Burnley.

The season

The pinnacle of a strong period in the club's history came this season. Burnley, a young team with several internationals, endured a tense season in which Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers were the other protagonists in the chase for the league title. The team ultimately clinched their second First Division championship on the last day of the season with a 2–1 victory at Manchester City, with goals from Brian Pilkington and Trevor Meredith. Although the team had been in contention all season, Burnley had never led the table until this last match was played out. Potts only used eighteen players throughout the whole season, as John Connelly became Burnley's top scorer with 20 goals. The Lancastrians' title-winning squad only cost £13,000 in transfer fees — £8,000 on McIlroy in 1950 and £5,000 on left-back Alex Elder in 1959. The other players all came from the Burnley youth academy. The town of Burnley became the smallest to have an English first tier champion, since it counted 80,000 inhabitants. After the season finished, Burnley went to the United States to participate in the inaugural international football tournament in North America, the International Soccer League.

Player details

Source:
FW = |Forward, MF = |Midfielder, GK = |Goalkeeper, DF = |Defender

Matches

Source:

Football League First Division

;Key
;Results
DateOpponentsResultGoalscorersAttendance
22 August 1959Leeds United 3–2Pilkington, Connelly, Pointer 20,233
25 August 1959Everton 5–2Connelly, Pilkington, Pointer, Robson 29,165
29 August 1959West Ham United 1–3Connelly 26,756
2 September 1959Everton 2–1Pointer 39,416
5 September 1959Chelsea 1–4Connelly 36,023
8 September 1959Preston North End 2–1Pointer, Robson 29,195
12 September 1959West Bromwich Albion 2–1Robson, Pilkington 23,907
15 September 1959Preston North End 0–127,299
19 September 1959Newcastle United 3–1McIlroy, Connelly 38,576
26 September 1959Birmingham City 3–1Pointer, McIlroy, Connelly 23,848
3 October 1959Tottenham Hotspur 1–1Miller 42,717
10 October 1959Blackpool 1–4Robson 28,104
17 October 1959Blackburn Rovers 2–3Pilkington, Douglas 33,316
24 October 1959Manchester City 4–3Pilkington, Pointer, White 28,653
31 October 1959Luton Town 1–1Pointer 15,638
7 November 1959Wolverhampton Wanderers 4–1Pointer, Robson, Connelly 27,793
14 November 1959Sheffield Wednesday 1–1Robson 18,420
21 November 1959Nottingham Forest 8–0Robson, Pilkington, Pointer 24,349
28 November 1959Fulham 0–129,582
5 December 1959Bolton Wanderers 4–0Pointer, Connelly, McIlroy 26,510
12 December 1959Arsenal 4–2Adamson, Connelly 26,056
19 December 1959Leeds United 0–117,398
26 December 1959Manchester United 2–1Robson, Lawson 62,673
28 December 1959Manchester United 1–4Robson 47,696
2 January 1960West Ham United 5–2Lawson, Pilkington, Connelly 25,752
16 January 1960Chelsea 2–1Robson 21,916
23 January 1960West Bromwich Albion 0–023,512
6 February 1960Newcastle United 2–1Robson, Pointer 26,998
27 February 1960Bolton Wanderers 1–2Connelly 28,772
1 March 1960Tottenham Hotspur 2–0Pointer, Connelly 32,992
5 March 1960Blackburn Rovers 1–0Robson 32,331
19 March 1960Arsenal 3–2Pointer, Miller, Connelly 20,327
30 March 1960Wolverhampton Wanderers 1–6Pointer 33,953
2 April 1960Sheffield Wednesday 3–3Connelly, McIlroy, Miller 23,123
9 April 1960Nottingham Forest 1–0Pointer 24,640
15 April 1960Leicester City 1–0Connelly 23,777
16 April 1960Luton Town 3–0Pointer, Robson, McIlroy 20,893
18 April 1960Leicester City 1–2Meredith 24,429
23 April 1960Blackpool 1–1Meredith 23,753
27 April 1960Birmingham City 1–0Pilkington 37,032
30 April 1960Fulham 0–030,807
2 May 1960Manchester City 2–1Pilkington, Meredith 65,981

League table

FA Cup

DateRoundOpponentsResultGoalscorersAttendance
9 January 1960Round 3Lincoln City 1–1Pointer 21,693
12 January 1960Round 3 ReplayLincoln City 2–0McIlroy, Pilkington 35,456
30 January 1960Round 4Swansea Town 0–029,976
2 February 1960Round 4 replaySwansea Town 2–1Robson 37,040
20 February 1960Round 5Bradford City 2–2Connelly 26,244
23 February 1960Round 5 replayBradford City 5–0Pointer, Robson, Connelly 52,850
12 March 1960Round 6Blackburn Rovers 3–3Pilkington, Pointer, Connelly 51,501
16 March 1960Round 6 replayBlackburn Rovers 0–253,892

Aftermath

The following season, Burnley played in European competition for the first time, in the European Cup, beating former finalists Reims, before losing to Hamburger SV in the quarter-finals. The club finished fourth in the league, and lost the FA Cup semi-final to Tottenham, who became the first English club in the 20th century to win the double. Burnley finished the 1961–62 season as runners-up to newly promoted Ipswich Town and had a run to the FA Cup Final, where a Jimmy Robson goal, the 100th FA Cup Final goal at Wembley, was the only reply to three goals from Tottenham. Jimmy Adamson was, however, named Footballer of the Year in English football after the season ended. Burnley also had, due to their success in this period, several players with international caps, including, for England Ray Pointer, Colin McDonald, and John Connelly, for Northern Ireland Jimmy McIlroy and for Scotland Adam Blacklaw.
Nonetheless, although far from a two-man team, the controversial departure of McIlroy to Stoke City and retirement of Adamson coincided with a decline in fortunes. Even more damaging was the impact of the abolition of the maximum wage in 1961, meaning clubs from small towns, like Burnley, could no longer compete financially with teams from bigger towns and cities. The club managed, however, to retain a First Division place throughout the decade finishing third in 1965–66, with Willie Irvine becoming the league's top goal scorer that season.