An old-fashioned welcome

Posted by Jon Champion on 28/01/2010

Even as someone lucky enough to visit the great citadels of English football on a regular basis, I am really looking forward to my trip to Turf Moor on Saturday. And not just because of the quality of the fish and chips outside the ground or even the pies within!

Whenever I have been to Burnley over the years, I have always been struck by the authenticity of the experience. The Clarets were founder members of the Football League in 1888. Turf Moor was their home then, just as it is now. As a backdrop, the Pennines take some beating, while the stadium itself, with its steep stands and old wooden seats, radiates history and noise.

The dressing rooms are spartan by today’s standards of luxury. The corridor that runs outside them is dimly lit and heavily populated by people scurrying in and out of a myriad of tiny rooms housing boots, laundry and memories.

Contrast that with the majority of Premier League venues, where the players’ environment is all subdued lighting, plunge pools and brushed steel - there is no comparison. When Chelsea’s multinational squad strut off the bus ahead of Saturday’s teatime’s live game on ESPN, they will be stepping back in time.

Indeed, the last Chelsea team to turn out at Turf Moor - back in 1983 - would have encountered similar conditions. For the record, Burnley won that game 3-0, with a brace of goals from Northern Ireland’s World Cup hero Billy Hamilton. Playing at right-back for the Clarets that day was 21-year-old Brian Laws. Saturday sees him make his home debut as Burnley’s manager.

It’s not the easiest job to have walked into. Owen Coyle is a hard act to follow and money is clearly tight. Three months without a Premier League win has seen much of the early-season optimism drift away. The last four home matches have ended in 1-1 draws and, for the first time, Burnley are in the bottom three, but if they are to save themselves, most of the salvage work will have to be done on their own pitch. They need Turf Moor to be as partisan and unwelcoming as possible.

They will hope to give Chelsea a stiff examination. The leaders have breezed through January and barely noticed the loss of their African players, but Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou are now back in the mix. They entertain Arsenal next weekend but can afford no slip-ups at Burnley or Hull before that capital collision.

So Saturday is all about antiquity of surroundings, while ESPN’s Monday Night Football comes from the most modern of settings as Sunderland face Stoke at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland have forgotten how to defend and therefore how to win, but Stoke will arrive still buzzing from their FA Cup win over Arsenal. Only two points separate them in the Premier League table.

It will be a night for reunions. Six current Potters - Sorensen, Higginbotham, Collins, Delap, Whitehead and Lawrence - used to be Black Cats, and Stoke’s assistant manager, Peter Reid, was the man who led Sunderland to consecutive seventh-place finishes in the Premier League.

Steve Bruce’s men haven’t won in the League since beating Arsenal more than two months ago. Victory over the Gunners was a bad omen for them; their aim now is to make Stoke suffer a similar fate.

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