The Hall of Fame Number 10 – Jimmy Adamson

Date of Birth: 4th April 1929 Place of Birth: Ashington Burnley debut: Bolton Wanderers (a) 10th February 1951 Other Clubs none

Not many have captained Burnley to the Football League Championship, in an FA Cup Final and in Europe too. Add to that the only Claret to win the Footballer of the year award and today we welcome into the Hall of Fame former player, captain, coach and manager Jimmy Adamson.

When Adamson left Turf Moor early in 1976 it was something of a shock, for many there hadn’t been a Burnley Football Club without Adamson. He had been at Turf Moor for just about 30 years after first arriving from his home in Ashington, Northumberland as a 17 year old in 1946 as a junior.

He quickly impressed and was awarded a full contract at the beginning of 1947, still three months short of his 18^th birthday. There was to be no sudden impact from the north easterner though as he played his way through the junior teams and into the reserves although he never came close to winning a first team place.

That first team debut didn’t come until after his 22^nd birthday when he replaced Reg Attwell at right half at Bolton but from that day he didn’t look back and established himself in the side. He could never have known what was in store for him over the next decade as the Clarets became the top team in the country.

Jimmy was a classy player, not blessed with great pace, but a great reader of the game with a good touch and a top passer of the ball. He was also a versatile player and dependent on who else was in the side could play equally well at right-half or centre-half although he will always be remembered by fans who saw him as a right-half in the number four shirt.

It was in that position that he led the Clarets to the Championship although he had started the season at centre-half. He turned in some masterful performances and his link up with inside-right Jimmy McIlroy was memorable.

In the next two years he led the great Burnley team into Europe and games against Reims and Hamburg and into an FA Cup Final against Spurs where, despite the Clarets’ defeat, he was the clear Man of the Match.

We had missed out just on both league and cup but Adamson was chosen as Footballer of the Year with Jimmy Mac right behind him as runner-up. Jimmy’s trophy can be seen by the public, it is on display at Towneley Hall.

By now he was 33 but he played on for another couple of seasons but at the end of February 1964, in a 1-1 draw at Blackpool, he played the last of his 486 first team games for the club.

He’d been a Turf Moor great of that there was no doubt but everyone in football was amazed that he never wore the white of England at full international level. He made one appearance for England B and one for the Football League but remained the best uncapped player of his era. It should have come and he deserved it.

There was never any danger of him leaving the Turf at the end of his career, he was already recognised as a top coach. He had been to Chile for the 1962 World Cup as Walter Winterbottom’s assistant and was offered the England manager’s job before Alf Ramsey but turned it down.

He joined the back room staff at Burnley and worked alongside manager Harry Potts for a number of years before succeeding him as manager in February 1970. At the end of that 1969/70 season he announced that we would be the ‘Team of the Seventies’ but we were promptly relegated after 24 years at the top level.

The fans were after him but he survived it and two years later we were back and playing the best football seen at Burnley since the Championship. We stormed to promotion with only four defeats all season and in the following season came within a point of Europe and reached the FA Cup Semi-Final. The football was a joy to watch and the following season, despite having to sell both Martin Dobson and Geoff Nulty, and despite being without the injured Frank Casper, we did even better and were in second place in March until a series of injuries cut short our Championship bid.

With Leighton James sold to raise more money the 1975/76 season was less successful but nevertheless when the axe came after a cup defeat at Blackpool it was a shock although later revelations suggested that Bob Lord had sacked him for non-football reasons.

After a short period out of work he was offered and accepted the manager’s position at Sparta Rotterdam although he later decided against the move and never reached Holland. He did though manage both Sunderland and Leeds and whilst at Sunderland he had his last working day at Turf Moor when nine man Sunderland beat us 2-1 with two goals from future Claret Gary Rowell.

After Leeds he retired from the game and still lives in Burnley with his wife May. He doesn’t come to the Turf though, he left the game altogether.

Recently his former captain Martin Dobson and current Burnley boss Stan Ternent have called for their former gaffer to be recognised after his contribution to the club.

There have been attempts to bring him for the half time draw or just to appear on the pitch, but unlike his former colleagues he has always declined. It would though would be wonderful if he could be persuaded, the supporters of today would just love the opportunity to say thanks to a Burnley FC great.