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Since then there has been a dearth of talent coming through the youth team until recent years, that is apart from one small period in the nineties when no fewer than four players came through to reach this milestone.
John Mullin made his league debut in 1993 and went on, in three spells for the club, to make 101 league appearances which included 50 as a substitute. In the following year Paul Smith made his debut as a sub at Exeter and we played 112 times in the league for us, and that total would surely have been more but for injuries.
Chris Brass and Paul Weller followed with 1995 debuts. Brass played 134 times but McCann has some way to go to catch Weller who made no fewer than 252 league appearances for Burnley with 199 of them starts.
Now it's Chris McCann's turn to join that group, with hopefully more coming through behind him. His debut came in the third league game of the 2005/06 campaign when, just past 18, he came on as a substitute for the injured Wade Elliott and was eventually replaced late in the game by Kyle Lafferty who was making his third appearance.
Many Burnley fans hadn't seen him play previously and he turned in a good performance, and a week later with the side decimated with injury he got his first start at Watford. Now Chris has started 76 league games and made a further 23 games as substitute and is all ready for game number 100.
Chris is delighted with the milestone but admitted yesterday that this is a big season for him. "I knew coming back that this was going to be my biggest season yet," he said. "People can't keep relying on me being young any more.
"I'm 21 now and it's time for me to step up to the plate and start being a man by taking hold of games and driving the team on. Hopefully I can get more games under my belt and keep progressing."
McCann recalled that debut against Coventry and added: "That was a great start and it seems like yesterday. It's all happened very quickly, but it's been enjoyable and I think I've matured more as a person. Players like Alan Mahon, Ade Akinbiyi and David Unsworth have been very helpful in bringing me on and I'm thankful to them and many others.
"Now it's all about setting new goals and pushing on. I'd really like to add more goals to my game. Last season I got five and had chances to score a hell of a lot more. Each time I just want to beat last season's total and it's important for us to chip in because we can't keep relying on Martin Paterson and the strikers."
Chris has not always been a crowd favourite at Turf Moor but he's always been one of the first names on the team sheet with both Steve Cotterill and Owen Coyle. He's some way to go to catch Weller but, if he remains injury free, I expect him to pass the other three during this season.
Now Chris, if you really want to add to that goals tally then start hitting those rockets into the top corner again as you did for the youth team in your first season at Burnley.