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It’s an all Lancashire tie this year that sees Blackpool make their first visit to Turf Moor since last century, only just though because they were here on Sunday 14th November 1999 for a Second Division game that the Clarets won 1-0 with a goal from Micky Mellon.
Since then we have gone our separate ways and at the end of that season as the Clarets were promoted Blackpool went down into the basement division along with Cardiff, Scunthorpe and Chesterfield. During that season they had parted company with manager Nigel Worthington but new boss Steve McMahon couldn’t keep them up.
A year later they were celebrating in Cardiff as they won their 2nd Division place back with a play off victory over Leyton Orient, the first play off final to be played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Last season they re-established themselves in the higher league with a comfortable 16th place finish.
The major change at Blackpool though since our last meeting is Bloomfield Road itself with half of the ramshackled old ground having been replaced with new stands. The ground had for quite some time been an embarrassment for the club and they are now well on the way to having a more than respectable football stadium.
This season they have made a more than acceptable start to the season and after seven games find themselves in sixth place in the table having lost only once on the opening day of the season. That defeat came at Bristol City and was somewhat controversial with two Blackpool players, Martin Bullock and Lee Collins, both sent off by referee Mick Fletcher.
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That home win against Tranmere almost got off to a disastrous start when they conceded a penalty in the very first minute when former Claret and ex-Blackpool player Micky Mellon was brought down. Goalkeeper Phil Barnes saved the kick and three second half goals from Keith Southern, John Hills and Scott Taylor saw them pick up another win.
Taylor is the leading scorer with three goals this season and Peter Clarke, on loan from Everton, has two. The The Blackpool team against Tranmere included Paul Dalglish who trained with the Clarets for a time during pre-season and their full line up was Phil Barnes, Simon Grayson, Tommy Jaszczun (John Murphy 31), Ian Hughes (Chris Clarke 34), Richie Wellens, Peter Clarke, Scott Taylor, Paul Dalglish, Danny Coid, Keith Southern, John Hills, Subs not used: Michael Theoklitos, John O’Kane, Richard Walker.
The Clarets will be looking to make progress in the Worthington Cup more than ever this season, a cup run could bring in much needed funds.
He played for both
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He joined us in the summer of 1989 from Blackpool, his only previous club, at the age of 26. He had played over 300 league games for the Seasiders and scored 43 goals. He was in my view one of Frank Casper’s best ever signings for the Clarets alongside Steve Davis.
We got him for just £30,000, decided by a tribunal, and he was to prove a major loss at Blackpool and in particular for the manager who sold him, Jimmy Mullen.
He soon won a place in the Burnley side that was still struggling in the 4th Division and was a very important member of the side that finally won its way out with the championship in 1992. He missed just two games that season and played alongside either Andy Farrell or Adie Randall as the Clarets proved too strong for most clubs in midfield.
Deary took the step back up with some ease and remained a regular over the next two seasons as we finally reached the First Division with the Wembley win against Stockport.
This was to be his first opportunity to play at this level but astonishingly manager Jimmy Mullen was already preparing to sell him again. Deary found it difficult to claim a regular place in the starting line up with the likes of Alan Harper and Jamie Hoyland having been signed to play in midfield.
By January he was no longer to be considered at all and Mullen sold him for the second time, this time to Rochdale for £25,000. He had made 215 league appearances for Burnley and scored 23 goals.
He ended his league career with Rochdale and then moved on to Southport where he came close to another Wembley appearance in the FA Trophy Final. Illness prevented him from playing and also ended his playing career.
He recently won a place in the Clarets Mad team of the last ten years, pipping Bally to the midfield place, that’s how highly he was rated by the Burnley fans.
Last time in the League Cup
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The first leg was played at Blackpool and the Clarets played extremely well and were somewhat unfortunate to only come away with a 2-2 draw. Goals from Peter Mumby and Winston White enabled us to come back to the Turf with a good chance of going through. Gary Briggs and Andy Garner replied for Blackpool.
It was not to be though and in a disappointing 2nd leg performance we went down 1-0 when Chris Pearce misjudged a long range effort from Mark Bradshaw for the only goal of the game. It was an uneventful sort of game in what had become a very eventful day for myself. To be honest it is difficult to recall much other than Pearce’s error.
Blackpool went on to beat Barnsley on penalties in the next round before going out 3-0 at Exeter in Round Three. Later in the season they put the Clarets out of the FA Cup with a 1-0 3rd Round victory at Bloomfield Road, becoming the first club to knock us out of both competitions in the same season. This has been done just once since, by Liverpool, in 1994/95 season.
John Deary played against the club he had just left and Blackpool included two players who were later to play for the Clarets, David Eyres and Steve Morgan. The teams for the two games were as follows:
At Blackpool:
Blackpool: Steve McIlhargey, Dave Burgess, Steve Morgan, Ian Gore, Gary Briggs, David Eyres (Chris Thompson), Colin Methven, Craig Madden, Andy Garner, Russell Coughlin, Alan Wright.
Burnley: Chris Pearce, Ian Measham, Ray Deakin, Roger Eli, Mark Monington (John Deary), Mark Harris, Winston White, Peter Mumby, Brendan O’Connell, Joe Jakub, Andy Farrell.
At Burnley:
Burnley: Chris Pearce, Roger Eli, Ray Deakin, Andy Farrell (Neil Grewcock), Mark Monington, Mark Harris, Winston White, Peter Mumby (Tony Hancock), Brendan O’Connell, Joe Jakub, John Deary.
Blackpool: Steve McIlhargey, Dave Burgess, Steve Morgan, Ian Gore, Gary Briggs, Colin Methven, Alan Wright, Russell Coughlin, Craig Madden, Andy Garner, Mark Bradshaw.