Clarets to get a Pointer towards goalscoring

Last Updated : 07-Apr-2006 by

Only six players have ever hit over 100 goals for us, and our special guest at the game tomorrow is one of the six, Ray Pointer. Only George Beel stands above him with Ray hitting the net 118 times in 223 league appearances, and he didn't take penalties.

The Northumberland born Pointer made his debut in 1957, just days before his 21st birthday, but it was in the following season that the goalscoring really started and went on for four years.

He hit an amazing 27 goals in just 37 league games in 1958/59 seasons as the Clarets prepared for the big season to follow and his striker partner Jimmy Robson was just as prolific. That figure of 27 has been beaten just once in post war football, by Willie Irvine in 1966.

An injury curtailed his Burnley career and he moved on to Bury, Coventry and then Portsmouth where he finally hung up his boots at the age of 36 but not before an emotional return to Burnley. We beat Portsmouth 4-0 that night, destroyed them with a master class from Frank Casper, but the reception the Blonde Bombshell Pointer received as he led Pompey out was nothing short of amazing.

He won England caps, scored in the game that saw us qualify for the 1962 World Cup in Chile, his Burnley team mate John Connelly got the other goal, but like so many more of our players his international appearances were strangely limited.

There'll be goals tomorrow, there's no doubt about that – as we welcome back Ray Pointer.