Turf Moor was once a place of mystery to many football fans, particularly those who only saw football through the TV eye of Match of The Day, on late Saturday evenings. For five years, BBC cameras were banned by then Burnley FC Chairman, Bob Lord and it was the only ground in the country not open to televised match highlights. Even rickety Layer Road, then home of Colchester United and Pompey’s Jungle Boy, Ray Crawford, was better known around the country, because of regularly repeated highlights of Colchester’s ousting of Leeds United from the FA Cup 5th Round in 1971. Bob Lord could only see bad things coming from televising football and it is thanks to him that we have a Saturday 3 o’clock embargo on live English footy on telly, protecting the traditional Saturday afternoon kick-off, for what it is worth.
After the embargo on BBC TV cameras at Turf Moor was lifted, the mystery and mystique of the place still held for me. It was the ground where Ray Pointer became famous, before he came to Pompey. Pointer, who won the League Championship with Burnley in 1960, was a hero of mine during my earliest visits to Fratton Park with my grandad. So, on 22nd April 1995, I jumped into my young family’s Peugeot 106 and drove north for a vital relegation battle between Pompey and The Clarets. Besides being the first-time I bumped into Northern Blues super-fan, Barry Thompson, the day featured a penalty lashed home by John Durnin and the best goal I have ever seen scored by a centre-back. I may have mentioned it before, but do look up Kit Symons exchanging passes with Deon Burton on the halfway line and his solo sprint that ended with our centre-back rounding the Burnley keeper, Marlon Beresford, before sliding the ball home for our second goal. The 2-1 win spared Pompey relegation in 1995. You can find five minutes of the match highlights online one hour and 39 minutes into the ‘Burnley FC End of Season Review 1994/95’.
What I recall specifically of the afternoon, was The Long Side. This was a terrace that ran the full length of the field, like our famous North Terrace. Away fans were caged towards the Cricket Ground end, separated from Burney fans by the police, steel railings and netting hanging from the rafters to stop stuff being hurled between supporters. Over the top of the Bob Lord Stand opposite, snow was lying on the hilltops and a marrow-chilling wind carrying sleet, howled down the pitch. Before the game, I was asked a few questions about our chances of beating the drop by Radio Solent’s roving reporter, (I was very hopeful we would win), before getting an excellent fish and chip lunch. I then joined Barry and Ian, another Hereford and Worcester based Pompey fan, in a local Working Men’s Club for a very sociable chat with claret and blue clad locals. In 1960 Burnley became the smallest town to ever win England’s top football division and it is still a town as proud of its football club, as we are of ours. In 1995 it seemed to me that every corner shop, petrol station, bus, taxi and local business had claret and blue as corporate colours. The number of locals wearing club replica shirts seemed far greater than I had previously seen anywhere else during my travels.
Football in 1995 was beginning to change, with the recommendations of the Taylor Report gradually being implemented. The FA, hand-in-hand with SKY TV, had turned the tables on The Football League and held all the cards at the top table of English football. Grounds were being turned into all-seater stadia, so to visit Burnley and stand on the Long Side was a chance to see how football used to be, for better or worse. As so many of we Pompey fans know, travelling to away games, meeting fans of the other team who also attend matches, remains one of life’s greatest pleasures. So, thank you to all the Burnley fans who have made it to the game this afternoon. Football and Fratton Park needs you too.
Claret and Blue Blues
I woke up one morning, snow on the ground
Jumped in the Peugeot and headed Up North
M1, M6 empty all the way
On an expedition seeking legendary turf
At Blackburn, after what seemed an age
I had to turn over the road atlas page
To find the turn off to Burnley’s Turf Moor
To set my tired eyes on that mythical stage
Streets painted with Claret and Blue
Kerb stones, zebra crossings and traffic lights
Buses and taxis, factory chimneys too
Is this Burnley? Well, blow me! Who knew?
Frost on the windscreen
Snow on The Pennines, sleet in the wind
We are Portsmouth! Three hundred miles from home
Seeking one more vital league win
Johnny Lager and Kit Symons confidently scored
McLouglin and Knightsie (The Legend in goal)
Dug in deep to help Pompey survive
While Burnley, unluckily, slipped into decline
I woke up one morning, snow on the ground
Jumped in the Peugeot and headed Up North
M1, M6 empty all the way to the proud old town
On my last-ditch expedition to the historic turf
Chris Perry
n.b. This article was first published in the Portsmouth FC matchday magazine v Burnley FC on 1st February, 2025
