Saturday 9th January 1960
Lincoln City 1 Burnley 1 (FA Cup Third Round)
Burnley had once been regular visitors to Sincil Bank in the Football League, but this FA Cup tie was the first meeting with them since 1934. Burnley had been members of the First Division since 1947 and, despite being from a town with a population little greater than that of Lincoln, had developed into one of the country’s leading clubs with six top-seven finishes in the last seven seasons, writes Malcolm Johnson.
Former Burnley player Harry Potts had been manager for just under two years after a brief spell in charge of Shrewsbury Town, and, in the match programme for the first home match of the current season, had written: “We pride ourselves on being a footballing team and no club can be more eager to meet the demand for better play.” Since then, his team had shown some inconsistent form but remained close on the heels of leaders Tottenham, including an 8-0 win over Nottingham Forest, which included five goals from young striker Jimmy Robson. After losing 4-1 at home to Manchester United in the last game of 1959, a 5-2 away win at West Ham had put them up to second place in the league table, three points behind Spurs. There was therefore a great deal of interest in the match from the City supporters, and it was suggested that the Sincil Bank attendance record of 23,146, set in 1949, was ‘likely’ to be broken, with 23,000 tickets stated to have been sold by the day before the match.
Manager Bill Anderson, now in his thirteenth season in full charge of team affairs, by means of some shrewd transfer dealings had twice achieved promotion with City from the old Division Three (North) to the Second Division (now the Championship). Now in their eighth successive season in the second tier of the Football League, it was a real Golden Age for the Imps, regularly competing on equal terms with clubs such as West Ham United, Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Leeds United.
City had avoided relegation by a single point in each of the last two seasons and had made a poor start to the current one, with only two wins in the first ten games seeing them bottom of the division at the end of September. Since then, however, a steady improvement had seen them up to 13th place with the Burnley game following a run of two wins and two draws.
City’s preparations for the cup tie included a day’s golf at Woodhall Spa with lunch and tea taken at the Petwood Hotel, but apart from this break in the normal routine, no special preparations were made.
The teams were:
City:
- Bill Heath
- Ron Allen
- Jeff Smith
- Fred Middleton
- Dennis Gratton
- Bob Jackson
- John McClelland
- Ron Harbertson
- Andy Graver
- Bert Linnecor
- Ron Smillie
Burnley:
- Adam Blacklaw
- John Angus
- Alex Elder
- Bobby Seith
- Brian Miller
- Jimmy Adamson
- John Connelly
- Ian Lawson
- Ray Pointer
- Jimmy Robson
- Brian Pilkington
Goalkeeper for City was burly six-footer Bill Heath, in his second season with the club and now first choice since the departure of Mitchell Downie in the close season.
Ron Allen had joined the club from Birmingham City’s reserves in the summer of 1958, and in the current season had made the right-back slot his own. He was partnered by the cultured Jeff Smith, at the time considered to be one of the best left-backs in the division and in the third season of a career that would see him become seventh in the list of players to have made the most appearances for the Imps. With the even longer-serving Tony Emery having finished his Imps career during the previous season, his latest successor at centre-half was 25-year-old Dennis Gratton, signed from Sheffield United in September after seven years of mainly reserve-team football at Bramall Lane. Alongside him was another 25-year-old in Bob Jackson, who had joined from Oldham in 1955 and had featured mostly at right-back before moving into the centre and becoming a regular there in the current season.
Insert Bert Linnecor photo
In the 4-2-4 formation which most clubs employed at the time, City’s two midfielders were Fred Middleton and Bert Linnecor. The fair-haired Middleton was another player, like Smith, to eventually make over 300 appearances for the Imps and had been an integral part of City’s stay in the Second Division since arriving from Newcastle United in 1954. Linnecor had been mainly a reserve with Birmingham City before coming to Sincil Bank as part of a transfer deal which saw Under-23 international Dick Neal moving to St Andrew’s in April 1957. He was to find some goalscoring form in the current season, finishing as second-highest scorer with 14 goals, including a hat-trick against Liverpool at Anfield.
Right winger was John McClelland, who had joined the club a year previously from Manchester City in an exchange deal for midfielder George Hannah. As well as being a provider, he was also a scorer of goals and had registered a hat-trick against Derby County earlier in the season. In fact, he was to finish the season as top scorer with 18 goals and would surely have been a candidate for player of the season if such awards had existed in those days. Aged 24, he was the only member of the current team to play at the same level after leaving City, spending five seasons with Portsmouth. On the other wing was the diminutive Ron Smillie, now in his fourth season after joining from Barnsley, where he had played mostly in the reserves.
Centre-forward for City was the legendary Andy Graver, the club’s all-time record goalscorer and now in his third spell after twice being sold for big fees by manager Bill Anderson. He was now aged 32 and, dare it be said, his best scoring days were behind him, but with eight to his name in the season so far, he would still go on to finish with the respectable total of 12 from 31 games. Graver was partnered in attack by 30-year-old Ron Harbertson, signed from Darlington in March 1958 in time for his nine goals in eleven games to play a big part in City’s last-gasp avoidance of relegation that season. He had been less prolific since then and had five goals in the season so far.
In goal for Burnley was 22-year-old Scottish Under-23 international Adam Blacklaw. He had come through the youth ranks at Turf Moor and been first choice since the previous March. He would go on to play well over 300 games for Burnley along with winning three full international caps for Scotland.
Two more players who would have lengthy careers with Burnley were full-backs John Angus and Alex Elder. The 21-year-old Angus had also come through the ranks at Burnley and was now the regular right back. Another Under-23 international, he would later gain one England cap along with notching up 521 league and cup games for his only club. At left back, Northern Irishman Alex Elder, aged 18, had been signed a year earlier from Glentoran, and, since making his debut in the current season, was now first choice. He was to go on to make 330 appearances for Burnley in all competitions along with playing 40 games for his country.
Like Angus, another long-serving one-club man was central defender Brian Miller. Locally born, the 22-year-old would go on to play over 400 games for Burnley and win one England cap. He also had two spells as manager of Burnley in the 1980s. 27-year-old Bobby Seith had come through the ranks at Burnley and had been a regular in the first team over the last four seasons. After well over 200 games for Burnley, he returned to his native Scotland in the following summer, joining Dundee.
In a side packed with long-serving one-club men, the most notable was midfielder Jimmy Adamson. The former miner had joined Burnley at the age of 18 in 1947, making his debut in 1951 following national service. He would eventually make 486 appearances for Burnley and, after moving into coaching and management, turned down the chance of being England manager prior to the appointment of Alf Ramsey. He managed Burnley in the early 1970s, and later had spells in charge of Sunderland and Leeds United. With Adamson’s regular partner in midfield, experienced Northern Ireland international Jimmy McIlroy, unfit, his place was taken by 20-year-old reserve Ian Lawson, who had scored three goals in the last three games while deputising. This had only been made possible following permission being granted by the Royal Engineers unit where he was currently doing his national service. Burnley wingers were past and future England internationals Brian Pilkington and John Connelly. Pilkington, on the left, had started his career with Burnley at the age of 18, becoming a regular two years later and winning his solitary England cap in 1954. He would go on to play 340 games for Burnley, scoring 77 goals before appearing for the likes of Bolton and Barrow. The right winger, 21-year-old John Connelly, had joined from non-league football in 1956, becoming a regular first-teamer in the 1958/59 season. He would eventually play 265 games for Burnley, scoring 105 league goals from the wing, including 20 in the current season. After leaving Burnley for Manchester United, he played in England’s first game in the 1966 World Cup finals, but that was to be the last of his 20 caps. He then joined Blackburn before finishing his career with Bury.
Centre-forward was 23-year-old Ray Pointer who had come through the ranks at Burnley and was to become the second-highest goalscorer in the club’s history with 132 goals in 270 games. He also scored two goals in three England appearances while with Burnley before spells with Bury and Coventry and finishing with over 150 games for Portsmouth. Alongside him up front was 20-year-old Jimmy Robson, yet another player to come through the ranks at Turf Moor. He had made his debut in 1956, becoming a regular in the 1958/59 season and would finish the current one as overall third-highest scorer behind Connelly (24) and Pointer (23) with 22. Eventually scoring exactly 100 goals in 242 games for Burnley including having the distinction in 1962 of scoring the 100th goal in an FA Cup final, he later joined Blackpool before winding down his career with Barnsley and Bury, becoming a regular opponent of the Imps.
3,500 ‘excited and confident’ Burnley supporters arrived at Lincoln on three special trains and dozens of coaches, while sunny weather brought out more City supporters, although the prediction of a record crowd was scaled down. In preparation for the influx of supporters, extra police, including special constables, were on duty, with traffic lights at the bottom of Lindum Road and at the Stonebow being manually operated. Reports on the traffic situation were provided by two Civil Defence radio vans, one stationed north of the city and one on St. Mary’s Street. Football Special buses to the ground were provided, including meeting the special trains, with a City Transport superintendent saying, “Congestion might upset us, but we’ll fill every bus we’ve got.”
In the event, the attendance was 21,693, the highest for two years, the ninth largest ever for a match at Sincil Bank, and a figure only to be exceeded once in the future.
The earlier sunshine had given way to cloudier conditions, with a strong east wind bringing some occasional flakes of snow as City attacked the Railway End from the start. Following a scramble in the Burnley goalmouth, Bert Linnecor was inches away from getting to the ball, while at the other end, from the second of two Burnley corners, Jeff Smith inadvertently put the ball over his own crossbar. But the first shot of any note came from Burnley winger John Connelly, who cut inside and put in a left-foot shot which drew a fine save near to the post by City keeper Bill Heath. Some good defending, with Bob Jackson prominent, saw the sharp-shooting Burnley attack kept in check as City now began to play some first-class football. A breakaway saw a good pass from Linnecor to Ron Smillie, but the left winger failed to get in a cross. Burnley took the lead after 29 minutes following a corner when Ian Lawson headed the ball on for Ray Pointer to hit it on the turn past Heath.
After the break, City began to realise they had nothing to fear from their high-flying visitors, with full-backs Ron Allen and Jeff Smith beginning to play their opposing wingers out of the game. With City now controlling the midfield, particularly through captain Fred Middleton, John McClelland now switched wings to the left, using his speed to good effect, and it was well deserved when Ron Harbertson equalised after 65 minutes. City might have done better on their second-half showing but for missed opportunities by McClelland, Harbertson and Graver.
The replay took place the following Tuesday night in front of over 35,000 at Turf Moor, including around 900 from Lincoln. An unchanged City were up against a Burnley side strengthened by the return of their star midfield schemer Jimmy McIlroy and, despite giving a valiant performance, went down 2-0 to a first-half penalty from McIlroy and a goal from Pilkington, turning a long free kick into the net in a game of missed chances for both sides. Bill Anderson had to admit afterwards that Burnley deserved their win, and although the City defence had done well, the forwards “never really got to grips with the game.”
My father took me to a handful of games in the 1959/60 season, but the home game with Burnley is one of only two I have a specific recollection of, although that memory is confined to standing on a box at the top of the Sincil Bank terracing, trying to see over the heads of the people in front of me.
Burnley’s reward was a trip to Second Division Swansea Town in the next round before they exited the Cup in the sixth round to First Division neighbours Blackburn Rovers. In the league, they continued to hold a place in the top four until the last day of the season, when a 2-1 win over Manchester City in front of almost 66,000 spectators at Maine Road saw them crowned First Division champions for the first time since 1921.
The Imps remained in mid-table, never dropping below 15th place, to eventually finish 13th, their second-highest placing in their current spell of Second Division football.
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