Ian Britton

The Hall of Fame Number 9 – Ian Britton

Date of Birth: 19th May 1954 Place of Birth: Dundee Burnley debut: Torquay United (a) 23rd August 1986 Other Clubs Chelsea Dundee United Blackpool

Most players will be inducted into the Hall of Fame after long careers with the Clarets but this week it is a player who was with us for only three seasons and a player who didn’t make his Burnley debut until he was 32 years of age.

But there is no doubt that as long as there is a Burnley Football Club people will talk about Ian Britton who was a Claret from 1986 until 1989.

Britton had already had a long and distinguished career at Chelsea where he made over 250 league appearances before he returned home to his native Dundee to sign for Dundee United. He was there for not much over a year but what a year it was as he collected a Scottish Premier League Championship medal as his club pipped second place Aberdeen and Celtic by a point to win the title. Incredibly they finished 18 points clear of Rangers.

But in late 1983 he returned to England to sign for Blackpool, then managed by Sam Ellis, where he was to stay for three and a half years. Just before the start of the 1986/87 season new Burnley boss Brian Miller took him on loan with the Clarets short of players and cash.

He started the season well as we got off to a decent enough start and somehow the club found the few grand Blackpool wanted for him and after a couple of months he became a permanent Burnley player.

As the bright start evaporated we started to struggle but Britton was one of the pluses in what was suddenly becoming a nightmare season. Had we lost to Orient on that fateful day in May 1987 Ian Britton would probably have been forgotten but at 4:13 p.m. with the Clarets already a goal up against Orient he stepped into Burnley FC folklore.

Somehow three minutes into the second half, and despite being the smallest player on the pitch, he rose to meet a Neil Grewcock cross to head home and extend the lead. Orient pulled a goal back but we hung on to win and preserve our league status. Grewcock had scored the goal but Ian Britton had ultimately scored the goal that preserved Burnley FC’s Football League status.

For anyone with any interest in the Clarets that Britton goal, one of eleven he scored for the club, will forever remain the most important goal ever scored.

An injury in the first game of the following season kept him out virtually until late November but he won his place back and remained in the side for the rest of the season. And that included a trip to Wembley for the Sherpa Van Trophy Final against Wolves.

The 1988/89 season was to prove his last for Burnley, and indeed in professional football. He had another good season and didn’t miss many games but was released by new manager Frank Casper at the end of the season.

He involved himself in local non-league football for a while and having stayed in the area he is today very much a supporter and can be seen at most home games.

Burnley had been his last club at the end of his career but no matter what his achievements elsewhere it is at Burnley where he will always be remembered for that goal.