COLIN WALDRON 

Date and Place of Birth 22nd June 1948 - Bristol   Transfers to and from Burnley from Chelsea - October 1967 (£30,000) released - May 1976   First and Last Burnley Games Southampton (a) - 28th October 1967   Liverpool (a) - 27th March 1976   Other Clubs Bury, Chelsea ---------------------------------------- Manchester United, Sunderland, Tulsa Roughnecks, Atlanta Chiefs, Rochdale, Philadelphia Fury, Atlanta Chiefs

Burnley Career Stats

Profile by Tony Scholes

In the summer of 1967 Burnley bought Frank Casper from Rotherham. Signing a player from another club was almost unheard of and it was the first time we'd done so in the 1960s indeed since Alex Elder had signed from Glentoran in 1959.

We were still getting used to the idea when manager Harry Potts swooped again for Chelsea defender Colin Waldron in October. The Bristol born Waldron had started his career with Bury but such was his form that he was soon being chased by the top clubs.

He had played just twenty league games for the Shakers in the summer of 1967 when he was the subject of bids from both Liverpool and Chelsea. He spoke with the two managers Bill Shankly and Tommy Docherty, but somewhat in feat of Shankly he opted for London and Chelsea.

He had the task of phoning the Liverpool boss to tell him his decision and the response was pure Shanks who said he was pleased because he wasn't good enough.

It wasn't the best of times for him at Stamford Bridge and just four months later Burnley shelled out £30,000 to bring him to Turf Moor and he went straight into the first team. Such was his form and his attitude that despite being so young he was appointed club captain and led the Clarets to the semi-final of the League Cup in the 1968/69 season but missed out on the vital games with an injury.

It wasn't all plain sailing though. He asked for permission to open a restaurant in Whitefield with his former Bury team mate Colin Bell. It was initially refused but after some persuasion chairman Bob Lord allowed him to do it. It cost Waldron, he was banished from the first team and lost the captaincy.

But better days were ahead when Jimmy Adamson took over from Harry Potts as manager and immediately restored him to the team. Waldron was very much an 'Adamson man'. He had a dislike for Harry Potts and once the change had been made he was once again a regular, so much so that no other player made more appearances for Burnley under Adamson's management.

From the spring of 1970 to the beginning of 1976 he was first choice and was in the Burnley side that was relegated in 1971 and the one that returned to the First Division two years later and went to an FA Cup Semi-Final and missed out on European qualification by one point.

He formed a formidable partnership with another former Chelsea defender Jim Thomson with Mick Docherty and Keith Newton on the flanks. In four successive seasons he missed only seven league games and his form surely took him close to international honours. He also chipped in with a few goals and scored the winner in the 1974 Charity Shield.

When Martin Dobson signed for Everton in August 1974 he once again became club captain as the Clarets stormed to the top end of the table and gave it a real go for the title until injuries brought a run of bad results towards the end of the season.

However, the end was on the horizon. Adamson was sacked in January 1976 and suddenly there was no future for Waldron and other members of the squad. Despite struggling he was left out of the side that finally left the top flight for the last time and it was no surprise when he was released at the end of the season.

Waldron was snapped up by Tommy Docherty again, this time at Manchester United, but he played only occasionally for them and when Adamson was appointed manager of Sunderland he was soon on his way to Roker Park.

He was only there for a year before being released at the age of 29 and he then played for a number of clubs in America as well as having one last spell in English football at Rochdale when former Burnley team mate Doug Collins was manager.

Finishing bottom of Division Four he then played again in America before returning to the Burnley area and becoming a bookmaker in Nelson, and that's where you'll still find him today offering the odds on the Clarets amongst other things.

Signing players from other clubs is now commonplace for the Clarets but back in 1967 the signings of Casper and Waldron were big news. Both proved to be good signings for the Clarets and Waldron went on to play over 350 league and cup games for us.