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Frank Casper was the manager who had taken us down, he had taken over from Brian Miller when things were desperate and at least took it to the last game before relegation was confirmed.
But Frank wasn’t to blame according to Burnley Express reader Harry Brooks. In a letter to the paper he was putting the blame on the newspaper’s own sports editor Peter Higgs.
He blamed Higgs for creating a false sense of security for getting starry-eyed over our 3-0 Milk Cup defeat at Liverpool and then when Higgs said Leighton James should have been re-signed Brooks described a return for James as an insult to those who cared for the club.
It didn’t look as though Frank was going to keep the manager’s job and that was confirmed when John Jackson the chairman said the manager for the following season would be an outside. Frank was clearly not going to be considered.
Meanwhile Burnley got on with its business. We elected a new Member of Parliament in Peter Pike who stood on an anti-Europe ticket. Despite the town being a Labour stronghold Pike almost missed out but secured a narrow majority to replace Dan Jones as Burnley’s representative in the House.
But the big news in Burnley appeared had nothing to do with football nor politics. It was the opening of the Alan René Concept, a new hairdressers on Keirby Walk. Burnley was about to get the area’s top stylists and it was winning massive coverage in the local press. It proved not to be the greatest of successes though and has been boarded up for years.
It certainly overshadowed the main attraction of the weekend which was the Red Rose Balloon Festival at Towneley although it was considered a success by the organisers.
On the sporting front there were wins for both the town’s Lancashire League Cricket Clubs. Brian Higgin was the match winner for Lowerhouse whilst at Burnley there was more than a win to celebrate as captain Roland Harrison reached 10,000 career runs.
But the win for Burnley at Nelson was hard fought and chasing 113 to win they needed 15 from the last over with just one wicket standing. It was achieved with a six from the last ball, hammered out of the Seedhill ground by Neil Anderson. He could never have believed that twenty years later his nephew James (then just short of his first birthday) would be England’s new bowling sensation.
But then on Friday 10th June the peace was broken by Burnley supporter Malcolm Hibbert who wrote in the Burnley Express,
"I appeal to the board of Burnley Football Club to appoint John Bond as manager. When a manager of his standing comes along you don’t think twice about it.
"So for the sake of Burnley fans appoint John Bond, because he won’t pass this way again and I feel the club need him to get Burnley back where they belong."
Bond was one of six to have been interviewed for the job and was in some circles considered to be the favourite. Although a list of the six was never publicised it did also include Ian Branfoot, Frank Burrows, Ian Duncan and Jimmy Frizzell alongside one other whose name has never been released.
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And on 14th June 1983 Burnley Football Club followed the suggestions of Malcolm Hibbert and appointed Bond who took over without a contract and at a salary of £20,000 per year.
Burnley Chairman John Jackson said, "He has experience at all levels of football and has the qualities we are looking for in a manager to take us not just back to the Second Division but right up to the First Division."
Bond himself was delighted to have been offered the job and added, "I know Burnley’s financial position they don’t owe anyone a penny – and the level at which they can live.
"I’ve got to manipulate staff and get fresh players in. If my records at other clubs is anything to go by it shouldn’t take long to put things right. I’m not using Burnley as a stepping stone.
"They’re not a big club but they could attain 20,000 gates and the status of Coventry and Ipswich."
Many of the fans were excited about the news, of that there is no doubt, they had called for a change to the old Bob Lord policy of appointing from within for some time and had got their wishes. Having said that there was disappointment when within hours of taking over he dispensed with the services of Frank Casper and brought in John Benson as his assistant.
Suddenly the whole club changed. We were in trouble almost immediately as one of Bond’s former clubs Bournemouth complained to the league when we allegedly made an illegal approach for Harry Redknapp. It came to nothing and rather than arrive at the Turf Redknapp became Bournemouth manager, stepping up from his coaching role.
We made an offer for Joe Jordan who was then playing for AC Milan and for a time it looked as if we might just get him whilst within a week of his appointment Trevor Steven had been sold to Everton although to be fair that deal had already been set up.
Sheffield United’s Terry Curran and Dennis Mortimer of Aston Villa both had talks with us within days as Bond looked to build a promotion squad. The one player who was promised was Tommy Hutchison, but then like today there were murmurs of him being too old.
An international defender, a goalkeeper from Norwich and an international striker with First Division experience would all be coming according to Bond and he had only been in the job two days. The keeper and the forward did arrive, Roger Hansbury and Kevin Reeves, but who was the defender?
One player who would not be coming to Turf Moor though was Dennis Tueart, recently released by Manchester City. Bond made it clear that he didn't want Tueart and in any case he wouldn't be casting his eye over Manchester City for his signings.
Turf Moor was never to be the same again. We didn’t owe anyone a penny then apparently but we soon would do. Burnley Football Club had changed policy and direction under the leadership of John Jackson.
On the field things started to improve and early in the New Year we were looking a good bet for promotion. It was papering over the cracks though and Burnley Football Club were heading in the wrong direction and moving quickly.
The appointment was a mistake and a serious mistake. It was made even worse when having sacked Bond in 1984 we allowed his number two, the relegation expert Benson, to take over.
Within two years Jackson had relinquished the chair to be replaced by Frank Teasdale. He paid the price for his one big mistake.