Livesey talks to Flood

Last updated : 20 June 2007 By Tony Scholes
The interviewer was one of us, Tony Livesey, and there had been snippets the previous evening on BBC NW television. It probably needed a Burnley fan to ask the questions that Burnley fans wanted answering.

The new name at Turf Moor is Brendan Flood who became a director just before Christmas, but it didn't take long before his was the name on everyone's lips with rumours that Burnley Football Club were set to move into a new era.

It's no longer rumour; Flood has started to outline some of his plans for Burnley and Turf Moor and had a lot to tell Livesey. "I've always wanted Burnley FC to be part of me, it is part and parcel of my life, and becoming a director seemed a natural thing at the point where you think able to do something to make a difference," he said.

But what does that mean, is he like Abramovic with a host of yachts etc? "I don't have a yacht, I don't have a helicopter and I don't have a jet, so I can't sell them to buy a player. I live a very normal lifestyle and my yacht is getting involved at Burnley Football Club.

"If I carry on running my business I can put together enough money each year to help the club progress and that's what I'm intending to do. That's my commitment. I want to be involved as long as I've got good health, and that will hopefully be twenty to thirty years. The immediate plans to get a good entertaining team and we are doing our best to do that now. Steve Cotterill is determined to fill the missing links. He's been out there shopping and is very careful who he goes for.

"Off the pitch, we want the stadium to be in line with the modern stadiums of today befitting a club who may one day be in the Premiership. We need to get the infrastructure right for the club to get there and stay there. If it happened within two or three years that would be fantastic, but we have to be sure the whole show is ready for it."

Is it the plan to get to the Premiership in five years, Livesey asked. "I would say in my heart of hearts I'd like that, and if not we didn't get there within ten years then I'd be disappointed, But when we get there I'd like us to stay there. For me it is not a big enough thrill to go up and come back down again. That's short term-ism, such as Barnsley and a few others. It doesn't make a great club having one season in the sun."

Is the money coming from his personal wealth? "I had to get it agreed by my wife, because I want to put a percentage of whatever I'm worth at any one time into the football club, and if my personal value increases then my commitment to the football club will increase. If it doesn't then we'll all be sat here watching us suffer.

"It is a good time for me, but my wife wants a diamond for every signing we make," he laughed. "But she has been very supportive, as she always is. I'm not here for a quick fix, I'm here for a long fix."

Brendan's arrival at Burnley came out of the blue, but had he been thinking of it for a while? "I used to be asked a lot, but I would always say no, that I'd do it when I'm retired, when I don't have a lot to do and I don't feel important I could go and feel important. But the timing felt right, and I thought I could definitely make an impact. The ingredients are right, and we're not that far off the promised land. All it needs is just a little bit of cash, a little bit of luck and a little bit of endeavour and we will do better."

Other clubs have had their moments of glory in recent years but is this our turn, asked Livesey. "It's got to be. For a lot of these clubs it is often a process of thorough analysis as to what your weaknesses are on and off the pitch and we need to be more analytical of where we are going wrong and put it right and do it in a professional way and the standards we expect of ourselves have got to be higher."

And is Steve Cotterill the man to lead us forward on the pitch? "I think this is his big, big chance. His heart is definitely in the club and he's massively ambitious. Anyone who has met Steve personally can figure that out in ten minutes, that he wants success and that he wants it at Burnley. I think he's got the brains and the willpower and with the right people around him we'll get the best out of him and he'll get the best out of the players. I'm confident that he's as good as you get and he just needs the breaks to come his way and he'll grow into it."

What are the plans for the ground? Could there be a move away from Turf Moor? "We don't want to move the ground, that would be too big a change and the location is not too bad. It is two thirds a quality product and we need to finish that third off, modernise the bits that need it, get the economy of the club better, and bring revenue in other than a Saturday afternoon.

"We are not looking at retail uses that wouldn't be appropriate. We are looking at doing a much better superstore, bringing in a broader base community and leisure focus to the stadium with some business enterprises built into it. We are working on the right mix, we've taken some consultation with the council and we've got some good feed back. We feel we are on the right lines, and we are just ironing out the right bits and pieces and should have the recipe to get on with it in three to four weeks.

"It would be significant ground development, face changing but not club changing. It will give us something comfortable for the next thirty years. The areas for improvement are obvious. The cricket field stand and the Bob Lord stand are older stands and the areas we are looking at. They are the outfacing stands and could change the face of the club.

"We want to integrate with the cricket club; we want to bring that in. If we can bring the two together and embrace that, then that would be a massively successful business for the people of Burnley and district. At other clubs hotels have worked, restaurants have worked; it is building on those themes and something that is unique to Burnley."

He's working alongside Barry Kilby now, so how is his relationship with the chairman. "He's a great guy, his heart is in the club, he's a gentleman and doesn't do anything in a rush. To be fair I'm probably an ambitious guy and he hasn't stopped me being ambitious in what I want to do. He's a good balance for me, because he's probably older and wiser in football terms. I've got to take from him as much knowledge as I can to make the right decisions and between us we can be good leaders for the club."

And the big question that every Burnley fan wanted to ask, that Tony Livesey was able to. After not being in the top league for over thirty years is it time for fans to get excited? "I'd say so although the cynics would say we've heard it all before. I'm more of the view that actions speak louder than words. If you know me, I just tend to get on with things and when it's done I'm happy to take the plaudits so I guess that would be my preference, but football is such a public game you've got to respond to the media interest so the fans can look at it and say we've someone who cares and is capable of achieving slightly more.

"We've got a good club, we have a lot to be proud of. We are all proud of Burnley and being part of Burnley. That's something that draws us here like a siren on a Saturday afternoon but we want to be entertained and if we go up doing that it would be fantastic."

He ended the interview speaking about some of his favourite players. There were Steve Kindon, Leighton James, Frank Casper and Paul Fletcher, moving on to the likes of Trevor Steven and Billy Hamilton, then the Jimmy Mullen era with Roger Eli and Mike Conroy and more recently this team coming through under Stan Ternent.

"It is now a very competitive side, and we need to go back to wing play and an entertaining club. Go back to our history in that sense and aim at the Premiership. We can make it if we work hard."

The supporters are taking it all in; it really does look as though our club is moving forward now. It looks as though there is a really positive future to look forward to. Bring it on - Come on you Clarets.