Sky Sports' Johnny Phillips: Self proclaimed Lord of Burnley is brought to book

To mark the event, two Clarets supporters have written a book about the club’s most influential and controversial figure. ‘Bob Lord of Burnley’ tells the story of a fascinating character who played a hugely influential role in English football during the 1950s, 60s and 70s.

The former Burnley chairman influenced and shaped not just his football club but the Football League, too. He was on committee after committee, ruled Burnley with a rod of iron, discovered and sold players, presided over three great teams and then saw his dreams die a slow, agonising death.

Born in 1908, Lord was a product of his age; a self-made man. His mantra was, ‘You get nowhere without hard work’. A barrow boy, he moved into a butcher’s business and eventually ran 14 shops of his own. The growth of his business, particularly in the wartime years which he turned to his advantage, was impressive.

From the earliest age all he wanted was to be involved with Burnley. He set out to achieve that aim with a firm resolve, that some would describe as ruthless.

His greatest period began in 1958 when he appointed Harry Potts as manager. By then he had seen to the purchase and development of the Gawthorpe Training Ground which was the envy of many rivals.

Potts oversaw the title win in 1960, forays into Europe and the FA Cup final of 1962. But controversy was never far away, particularly when the football community was stunned by the sale of the great Jimmy McIlroy.

Behind the scenes, Jimmy Adamson was persuading Lord that he, not Potts, should be in charge of the first team. When Adamson got his wish, Potts became yesterday’s man and was banished to the sidelines. There was success with Adamson from 1973 to 1975 but, one by one, key players were sold to pay the bills.

The years from 1976 to Lord’s death in 1981 saw the club sink into near-insolvency, and slide down the leagues. These are the years for which he is remembered by many supporters, as those who recall the golden age gradually decrease in number.

Lord’s story is one of pride, ambition and triumph. Followed by a tale of how dreams fade and the best of plans can crumble. At the very end, Lord was abused by supporters and felt betrayed when he was replaced as chairman at a meeting he was too ill to attend.

From barrow boy to chairman of Burnley, he was blunt, opinionated and resolute. He upset too many people, banning reporters and even ejecting a chairman of a rival club midway through a game, when Fulham supremo Ernie Clay was ordered to leave Turf Moor in 1979. But Lord also proved to be a man of prescience.

“He was a unique visionary, he saw all the problems that football had and set out to do something about them,” said co-author of the book, Dave Thomas. “He wanted better stadiums, well paid players and full-time referees. He foresaw European Leagues, air travel. He knew that televised football could be a problem taking spectators away, he was initially anti-television but then accepted it as long as they paid proper money for what they got.

“His idea that stadiums should be seven-days-a-week places is today’s starting point of every new ground. Sadly, he couldn’t fund his ideas at Burnley.”

Lord was known as ‘The Krushchev of football’, and labelled himself as ‘Lord of Burnley’. and was referred to as ‘bollock chops’ by his workforce. He became a household name and was never off the back pages for his many forthright opinions.

He first made his mark when he described Manchester United’s players as behaving like “Teddy Boys” after Burnley beat them 3-0 in March 1958, just weeks after the Munich Air Disaster. The remark caused national outrage but he never apologised.

“He was controversial and confrontational, with endless rows in boardrooms,” Thomas continues.

“He upset the whole of Manchester after Munich when what he said was taken out of context. He upset the Jewish community after a controversial speech in Liverpool. And he upset the French after a cup tie in Reims.

“He even managed to upset New Yorkers after a tournament played in 1960 over in America. But his achievements were huge. He took a small town club and made it great. His business-like methods laid the blueprint for clubs today.”

His legacy exists today. If you want a football villain, Bob Lord is the name that still crops up. But look around now at the stadiums, training grounds, full-time referees, European Leagues and youth development, and much of it was foreseen by Lord.

Many of his predictions are evident now, save one: that Burnley were finished as a club of any influence or importance. There is a certain irony in that.

Were Lord alive today he would no doubt have the air of a man who “told you so” but he would find it hard to believe the club he loved could be thriving, as they are, among the cash-rich beasts of English football.