Turf and Gawthorpe are not for sale

Last updated : 08 October 2002 By Tony Scholes

This speculation appeared on a web site that is known for ridiculous comment and for being totally out of touch with the goings on at Burnley Football Club. Had they known anything at all about the club they would have known that the training ground is in fact worthless. This meant that none of the article could be taken seriously and this included a sugggested sale of the Turf itself.

There is no doubt that the idea of selling Turf Moor has been in the board’s mind and Chairman Barry Kilby even suggested it as a possibility at a Supporters’ meeting but the possibility of this now happening has also been denied by Andrew Watson today in a statement for the club.

Watson went on to say that Gawthorpe is a superb training ground but certainly that is no longer the case and the club has recently been looking to make substantial changes. Last season many games were postponed, some never played and training had to be transferred to the Turf due to waterlogging, there is basically no drainage there and the overall facilities are now some years past their sell by date. At the last Meet the Board meeting Barry Kilby admitted this and it is somewhat strange that the Chief Executive now believes it is superb.

Rumours are currently flying round that the financial crisis enveloping Turf Moor recently is at and end and the club’s future is secure. Certainly the Daily Mail don’t think so and I can tell you that their information is coming from inside Turf Moor but I now believe the Daily Mail are possibly being taken for a ride.

There’s one thing I do think the club have got disgracefully wrong and that is to vote in favour of the ‘Highlights on the cheap’ offer from ITV. Not long ago Barry Kilby was calling them ‘Del Boys’ and encouraging us to boycott them. Suddenly when a bit of money is waved, and it is a bit, then all scruples go out of the window and we vote in favour. In doing so the club has let down every supporter who helped in the fight against Carlton and Granada earlier in the year and what on earth must those fans who spent an afternoon on the picket line think?