JOHN DEARY 

Date and Place of Birth 18th October 1962 - Ormskirk   Transfers to and from Burnley from Blackpool - 18th July 1989 (£30,000) to Rochdale - 30th January 1995   First and Last Burnley Games Rochdale (a) - 19th August 1989 sub: replaced Roger Eli   Notts County (a) - 14th January 1995 sub: replaced by Liam Robinson   Other Clubs Blackpool ---------------------------------------- Rochdale

Burnley Career Stats

Profile by Tony Scholes

In the summer of 1989 Burnley were rebuilding after another disappointing fourth division season. Although there had never been a thought of being relegated we had finished in the bottom half of the league and the season had also seen us change manager just about half way through.

New boss Frank Casper had recruited Mick Docherty from Blackpool as his number two and it was Docherty's influence that led to the signing of the Seasiders' midfielder John Deary on a Bosman transfer.

Sam Ellis had just been replaced as Blackpool boss by Jimmy Mullen and the Clarets stepped in despite at the time being a division lower. Back then Bosman signings still required a transfer fee, fixed by a tribunal if the clubs didn't agree, and Deary cost us £30,000.

We hadn't signed a player surplus to requirements or a player who had struggled to compete at a level higher than us, but a regular first team player. Aged 26, he had made his league debut for Blackpool as an 18-year-old as Alan Ball's team suffered relegation in the 1980/81 season and a year later he'd established himself in a team that had to apply for re-election to the Football League.

But they won promotion in 1985 and he'd completed four seasons in Division Three as a regular in the side and he joined Burnley having already played over 300 league games. On the surface this looked as though it could be a good signing. At the time I was working between Preston and Blackpool and the Blackpool fans I spoke to were horrified at the news and felt we'd got a very good player.

Good player or not, he could only make the Burnley bench on the opening day of the season as we lost 2-1 at Rochdale. He came on during that game for another new signing Roger Eli but being on the bench was not a taste of things to come.

He made one other substitute appearance that season but they were his only appearances from the bench in five seasons as he became a regular in the first team midfield. His initial partner was Joe Jakub, but when Joe moved to full back he established a successful partnership with Andy Farrell.

John Deary very quickly became a fans favourite at Turf Moor and it really was no surprise. Here we had a midfielder who loved a battle. He was a tough competitor in that midfield area and his tackling did on some occasions get him into a bit of bother with referees leading to the odd suspension here and there.

But he wasn't just a tackler, he wasn't just a defensive midfielder, he was also a player who liked to get forward to support the attack and he certainly weighed in with his fair share of goals. He'd netted over 40 for Blackpool and that sort of goalscoring prowess continued in a claret and blue shirt.

He only found the net twice in his first season and it shows just how far the club have come when you note that those goals were scored against Maidstone and York, and it wasn't to be the only goal he was to score against York.

The 1989/90 season was no more successful for us than the previous one but then we finally started to move forward. He was a massive influence on the side that reached the play offs in 1991 but a year later many nominated him as their player of the season as we finally won promotion out of the basement division.

He missed just two games as we won promotion, both encounters against Hereford. He scored six league goals that season and I'm certain the one most will remember was the last of those six at Bootham Crescent on the night we went to York in our thousands.

We were on top but a goal down and when Robbie Painter broke through it was John Deary who was there to hit the ball home from close range to bring us level. He even found time to take revenge on York goalkeeper Dean Kiely who had taken a kick at Painter. He got a yellow card for that but who cared.

Deary's influence didn't diminish after promotion by any stretch of the imagination. Having played in the higher division previously he took promotion in his stride and for the next two years continued in that midfield alongside Farrell, and sometimes Adrian Randall or, after his signing in 1993, Warren Joyce.

As we stormed to Wembley in 1994 he missed out in only three games because of suspension and he turned in a top performance at Wembley as we defeated Stockport to move into the second tier of English football, then under the name of Division One.

By now John Deary was 31-years-old but I'm still never so sure why Jimmy Mullen, the manager who had sold him at Blackpool, decided that it was time for him to be replaced.

He did play occasionally in the following season, and when he did he was still in good form. But he didn't play often enough and I always believed that he should have been in the side more. On a horrible January day in 1995 we lost 3-0 at Notts County. That day he came on as a sub for Liam Robinson and it proved to be his last game for the Clarets.

Following that game he was sold to Rochdale for £25,000 and there's no doubt for me that they got themselves a bargain. He'd added over 200 league appearances for Burnley to add to the 300 plus for Blackpool and he played over fifty times for 'Dale before moving on to Southport.

There should have been one last big day for him with the Sandgrounders when they reached Wembley in the FA Trophy but he had to pull out with a heart problem and at that point he retired from the game. The good news is he's in full health now.

think if you asked Burnley fans of the period 1989 to 1995 about John Deary there won't be too many negatives, just a lot of support for a player who became a massive fans favourite almost from the start. He was undoubtedly one of Frank Casper's best signings.