Comstive was one of a number of new signings made by Brian Miller in the summer of 1987 as the club looked to rebuild after the Orient game and he was one of eight players to make a debut on the opening day of the 1987/88 season at home against Colchester.
We'd signed him from Wrexham but he had previously played for Blackburn, Rochdale and Wigan before joining the Welsh club.
He was an influential member of the side in that rebuilding season and was in the team at Wembley for the Sherpa Van Final in May 1988. He played in all but two of the league games in that first season and scored eight goals, probably the best remembered being a home winner against Hartlepool on the day when a similar strike from his manager had featured on Football Focus.
He was a real contender for player of the season and he continued that sort of form for a while in the next season but with a change of manager came a fall from favour. He still played 38 league games, scoring even one more goal than in the previous season, but by the season's end was not a member of the first team squad.
He was still with us when the next season started but was soon on the move, joining Bolton for a £37,000 fee which was £29,000 more than we 'd paid for him. He'd been a good player for Burnley and went on to spend two years at Bolton before a further two years with Chester brought his league career to an end.
He played non-league football for a while before coaching at a number of clubs, the last of which I believe to have been Fleetwood Hesketh based in his home town of Southport.
It was a shock to get the news and sadly he becomes the third ex-Claret to feature in that Sherpa Van Trophy Final to have passed on. Ray Deakin died on Christmas Eve 2008 having suffered a stroke in the previous October, and in May of that year the then Wolves goalkeeper Mark Kendall suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 49.
Commie will be remembered fondly by the Burnley fans of the time and my thoughts are very much with his family and friends at this very sad time.