Bob Lord of Burnley by Dave Thomas & Mike Smith

Author:Dave Thomas & Mike Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pitch Publishing
Published: 2019-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

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On top of all this, he’d refused to release Burnley players for England training, called West Ham fans childish, said that plans for a Super League needed burning and told players they’d never had it so good.

Interviewed by Bernard Bale in 1965 for Soccer Star magazine, Lord was in typically bombastic mood. Bale began the piece by mentioning that 17 publications were already banned from interviews and reports at Turf Moor. Steve Bott, then a young reporter in Burnley in the 70s, recalled that journalists had a special BBB (Banned by Bob) tie and wore it proudly. Lord answered the Bale questions bluntly,

‘Call it a Cassius Clay or a John Bull attitude. As an Englishman, I have never squirmed at anything the press has had to say about me. I believe in free speech. Anti-south – this accusation is obviously made by southerners who know nothing about the north or its people. Anyway, we can beat anything they have to offer.

‘Unruly fans as they are called are, of course, a small element. But they are typical of the age we live in. It is time the FA stopped acting so childishly and stupidly. Posting notices all over the ground won’t make any difference at all. The police must be given a free hand. Take the offenders to court and let the magistrates do their duty. That’s the only way to put an end to it.’

The glimmer of a wry sense of humour emerged when Lord described himself as a butcher’s errand boy, adding that Burnley must have been doing well because people wanted to speak to him again.

The short mention in the Oldham Athletic programme of Lord’s threat to burn the BBC cameras referred to what was called ‘The Big TV Rumpus’ in the Burnley press, with the sub headline,

We’ll sue the BBC for £2,000.

The situation was simple; in January 1966, the BBC turned up to record the Burnley versus Bournemouth cup tie replay so they could show 25 minutes of the game later in the evening. The first game at Bournemouth, a 1-1 draw, was described as a rugged, roughhouse of a game. The replay was a 7-0 win for Burnley. For this, the BBC would pay the princely sum of a £10 ‘disturbance fee’. The gulf between this and the enormous sums that TV companies pay today is simply staggering. In 1966, football on TV was not quite in its infancy but was very different from today’s wall-to-wall coverage, dedicated football channels and seven-day coverage from around the globe. Lord’s abiding belief was that if football was a business it should be run like a business; the BBC should pay a proper business-like rate for the product that was on offer. As with many things, he was ahead of his time; today this is exactly what happens.

The Burnley Express announced that Bob Lord, in an exclusive interview, had revealed he would be suing the BBC. Before the match, he had even threatened to burn

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