As part of his ongoing research into the history of football in Burnley, Steve Tate is presenting an illustrated history of the town’s early relationship with its football club. From Burnley CC trying to establish a football team eight years before Burnley FC even existed to eventual fallouts over land between the two clubs and loads more besides, the talk will be of interest to Burnley residents and BCC members alike.
‘A Football Town Trail’ - A Live Talk by steve tate, on behalf of Burnley Civic Trust
What: An illustrated talk on the early history of Burnley FC and how it was formed
Where: Burnley Town Hall
When: 6.30PM, Thursday 17th September
Cost: Free, no booking required
Steve has asked to mention that roadworks around the town hall “mean an extra few minutes should be factored into travel time.” He mentioned this whilst (I think somewhat begrudgingly) sharing a few extra insights into the talk, the wider project and some of the interesting stories he’ll be sharing from his research this coming Thursday…
Paul: What's the talk called?
Steve: 'A Football Town Trail'. It's in the form of a 'virtual' walk around the town and its connections with BFC. It’s less about early results or matches and that sort of thing and more of a social history of the people and events around the football club’s formation and early years.
What's the core message?
It’s an illustrated talk on the early history of Burnley FC that might interest fellow cricket club members. Part of the talk examines the cricket club's efforts to create the town's first football club, eight years before Burnley FC was founded.
So was the cricket club already at Turf Moor when they explored forming a football club, or somewhere else?
Yes, the cricket club had been at Turf Moor for many years before trying to establish a football club.
And was the cricket club involved in what ultimately became the football club we know today? I understand that Burnley Rovers was formed elsewhere and didn't play at Turf Moor?
At first, yes, the cricket club was involved. That's part of the story - it’s difficult to summarise in a few words but the talk tells the tale. It's a story involving rugby and association football, with the cricket club at its centre.
I know the football club eventually bought some land off the cricket club, but didn’t that come later?
That's not straightforward either! All the football club’s land was rented from the cricket club at first and it was a shared enterprise eventually, but then fallings-out meant the two clubs became more distinct.
What's one of the interesting stories in the talk that people might not know?
Oh, so many! One that I like is that two or three years after its formation in 1882, the football club was fielding an entire side made up of Scottish professionals.
I thought you had to be amateur?
Yes. But it's a complicated story.
Sounds interesting… What else does the talk cover?
A lot of the talk is about the people who founded the football club during the 1880s and 1890s. There isn’t a lot on actual matches or that sort of thing. It's more of a social history of the people and events around the football club from various parts of the town - and the cricket club is a big part of that.
The talk itself is part of a bigger picture. It’s part of the research I'm doing into the history of football in the area from the 1500s… But that's for another day.
If you can make it, be sure to catch Steve’s talk on Thursday and wish him well down at the club on Sunday where he’ll be enjoying the trophy presentation from his usual spot on the balcony.