John Bond disguised as steward

[Rodleydave]

Were you there... did you see it... a few words would be appreciated.

[summitclaret]

A bar steward indeed.

[claretonthecoast1882]

Was there but didn't notice Bond in his high vis.

The game itself was an average one but the last 5 minutes were excellent, sparking proper goal celebrations which are sadly hardly seen these days.

[Devils_Advocate]

I was there but I dont recall anyone knowing about bond until pictures came out after. I remember it kicking off at half time with the police with something to do with closing the food hut.

Also its one of the most tense and nastiest atmospheres i've witnessed especially in the second half when a few decisions went against us. I honestly believe had we lost 1-0 there would have been a lot of trouble and damage caused by our fans both within and outside the ground.

As it turned out the two late goals changed the atmosphere completely and the match ended in scenes of joy and celebrations

[ClaretTony]

No one knew anything about it until it got in the press later - if it really happened

[Quickenthetempo]

No one knew anything about it until it got in the press later - if it really happened

I'm sure I saw a picture of him dressed as a steward and it was way before photoshop was out.

[Quickenthetempo]

Looking back it's not the best ever image for Burnley, an opposition manager not turning up for a game at Turf Moor for safety reasons and then dressing as a steward at his home ground.

Have any other managers missed a game through fear?

[Quickenthetempo]

I ended up climbing the fence and celebrating on the pitch after the 2nd goal in all the emotion. Until a massive copper grabbed me and told me he would belt me if I didn't get back over into the away end.
It was a lot harder climbing back in when the adrenaline had gone.

It was a supercharged atmosphere alright, that led to my favourite away game of Sheffield United away.

[ClaretTony]

Brilliant night with those two late goals

[Silkyskills1]

Brilliant night with those two late goals

Didn't Marlon Beresford save a penalty too. Down to 10 men after that and both goals scored, obviously, with just 10 men on the field. As mentioned it led to that incredible game and following at Sheffield Utd. A game that would not have gone ahead nowadays.

[Sproggy]

I was there. After the game the exit on the right hand side of the concourse (facing away from the pitch) was partially blocked by a van which caused a huge crush of people trying to get out. The police had to smash the windows to get in and release the handbrake to get it moved.

[bfcjg]

Didn't go but listened on the radio and it was joyous towards the end, obviously the photos of him afterwards were hilarious, perhaps though with his limited football capabilities it should have been steward pretends he is a manager then reverts to his level.
https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/s ... nley-boss/
If younger supporters wonder why we hate his guts I hope the story explains it, think Coyle then times the vitriol by ten.

[Garnerssoap]

All the pubs were barricaded up on the way to the ground but managed to get let in the back of one. There were only 2 of us and our demeanour was slightly less ‘boisterous’ than some other larger claret groups.
A cracking day/evening out - as I recall we just thought Mr Bond was a no show

[yorkyclaret]

Great night, just pleased Bond was there to see it.

[ClaretTony]

perhaps though with his limited football capabilities it should have been steward pretends he is a manager then reverts to his level.

Are you serious? Great job at Bournemouth and Norwich, recovered Man City prior to coming to Burnley.

[jtv]

Any youtube clip of the game?

[Papabendi]

Brilliant night with those two late goals

I'll second that. The carnage on the terraces at the end will always stay with me. Never met as many new friends in 1 minute as I did that night.

[ClaretTony]

I'll second that. The carnage on the terraces at the end will always stay with me. Never met as many new friends in 1 minute as I did that night.

It was pandemonium

[Herts Clarets]

No one knew anything about it until it got in the press later - if it really happened

There was a blurry photo in one of the papers the following day of a grey haired man in a hi viz jacket and i think a hat pulled down over his face so it could well have happened. Good story even if not true! I remember the level of hate directed towards his pending appearance at the Turf and the anti climax when he didn't show.

[NottsClaret]

Any youtube clip of the game?

I think it's the one game from that era that's never turned up on there.

[Quickenthetempo]

https://youtu.be/q2HzB4ayd3w
Found some footage of the first game at Turf Moor against Shrewsbury. It's only had 36 views so not many know about it.

[Stalbansclaret]

https://youtu.be/q2HzB4ayd3w
Found some footage of the first game at Turf Moor against Shrewsbury. It's only had 36 views so not many know about it.

Enjoyed watching that....astonishing lapse in concentration by Marlon in picking up that backpass in the first half.

[bfcjg]

Are you serious? Great job at Bournemouth and Norwich, recovered Man City prior to coming to Burnley.

Deadly serious, he was a busted flush when he came here,sowed the seeds the darkest period in our history, his own words condemns his time here.

[beddie]

Was it true though or something someone made up. Is there anyone that can prove its correct, perhaps someone could tweet Kevin his son and ask him?

[Quickenthetempo]

Enjoyed watching that....astonishing lapse in concentration by Marlon in picking up that backpass in the first half.

The back pass rule will have only come in recently to this game (maybe 4 months previous) after a lifetime of picking it up.

[ClaretTony]

Deadly serious, he was a busted flush when he came here,sowed the seeds the darkest period in our history, his own words condemns his time here.

I just don't agree with you

[bfcjg]

It's all about opinions though.

[beddie]

It's all about opinions though.

I agree it is. I’m convinced if Kevin Reeves hadn’t picked up that horrible injury we’d have done well.

[ClaretTony]

I agree it is. I’m convinced if Kevin Reeves hadn’t picked up that horrible injury we’d have done well.

We were hammering teams by then - and moving up the table. The injury was a massive blow and who knows what would have happened if Revvo had not got that injury. We could well have gone up and the whole thing would have changed.

[Wokingclaret]

Were you there... did you see it... a few words would be appreciated.

How's the "John Bond era book" going Rodleydave

[Rodleydave]

80% done Woking. The Derek Gill diaries of his time as a director are excellent. 60,000words of pure gold. Plus a very lengthy rarely seen interview with Bond about his time at BFC and all his regrets. And another lengthy one with John Jackson courtesy of Phil Whalley. There is a DVD to collect of his Granada interview.
yes the Reeves injury was crucial to what happened. Bond much maligned but not everything was his fault. So the diaries cover the years that Derek G was a director so that the book makes the Bond year just one of a terrible sequence that came after the 81/82 promotion. What a terrible time it was right up until the first Mullen promotion. Now starting all the interviews with players and gathering the little tit bits such as the Shrewsbury Cup game.

[ClaretTony]

I'm half way through a series of articles for the site on the John Bond year but it was curtailed last year and not sure when I'll get it finished.

[AlargeClaret]

Bonds season was also my first season “proper “ but funnily enough I never really remember that much anti bond feeling from the terraces ??only years later “ we hate John Bond and we hate John Bond” etc . That Shrewsbury replay was mental at the end but I swear JB wasn’t a steward that night . Pretty p1ss poor manager wrecking multiple clubs , though his career obviously started ok , probs his modus rather than his coaching skills that did for him

[Dark Cloud]

I was there, but as others have said I was completely unaware of Bond's high viz jacket and pretending to be a steward stunt until it was highlighted in a paper (I think?) the day after. Again as mentioned above the game was extremely forgettable until well into the second half when Deary got his marching orders, we subsequently went a goal behind and then won it 2-1 with 2 great goals from nowhere right at the death! Q absolutely brilliant celebrations behind the goal and a now legendary trip to Bramhall Lane in the next round!

[LordBob]

I was at that game, was only talking about it a couple of day's ago I usually refer to the game as THE SHREWSBURY PIE WAR at halftime the little refreshment bar at the rear of the away end just couldn't cope with the hoards of hungry Clarets and mid-service they closed the shutters! Well bedlam broke out and the, until then the relatively obscure constabulary, arrived en masse pushing and thumping anyone in their way, personally I wasn't peckish so I stood back and watched the fiasco, a good night.

[claretabroad]

I was at that game, one of my best away day memories. Absolute scenes when the winner went in. I remember the van blocking the exit, it got a bit hairy for a few minutes, and the food stall shutting down. I had no idea about our ex manager being disguised until a few days later.

[groove]

I think Bond became, unjustifiably, the scapegoat for the state of the club in the mid to late 80's. He may not have been the right fit for Burnley, but there were others more culpable for our descent to the bottom of the 4th Division. He was flash, not something we were really used to after previous managers who were either local or adopted sons of the town. Bond was a convenient figurehead to direct the anger towards.

[ClaretCliff]

Well seeing as no one recognised him disguised as a steward it seems he was better at disguise than he was at managing.

[Dark Cloud]

I think Bond became, unjustifiably, the scapegoat for the state of the club in the mid to late 80's. He may not have been the right fit for Burnley, but there were others more culpable for our descent to the bottom of the 4th Division. He was flash, not something we were really used to after previous managers who were either local or adopted sons of the town. Bond was a convenient figurehead to direct the anger towards.

I think with the benefit of time and reflection, there is a lot of merit in this and the weight of expectation brought about by his arrival at the Turf was like a millstone tbf. To me he'd been a more than decent and relatively successful manager at two pretty unfashionable clubs in Bournemouth and then Norwich and had bounced on to the City gig which was a much, much bigger and far more high profile job. Suddenly however, he seemed to begin reading his own press cuttings and swallowing his own hype. He started to come across on TV as a legend in his his own bathroom and grew a head bigger than Frank Sidebottom, becoming something of a celebrity/personality in his own right. I'd suggest our mate Jose may be something of a modern day equivalent. The problem then is it can become all about the manager's "brand" and less about the really hard work needed behind the scenes to turn a wayward football club around. Bond appeared to exude the attitude that just by being here and lending his name to things, success, especially at such a lowly level would follow and that it was all a bit beneath him. He definitely has become the scapegoat for our demise during that period and for what followed and tbf there were definitely other factors at work, but as a larger than life character, never shy to court the media or give an eminently printable quote or opinion, you're always going to fall a long way if ultimately you can't walk the walk.

[claptrappers_union]

https://youtu.be/q2HzB4ayd3w
Found some footage of the first game at Turf Moor against Shrewsbury. It's only had 36 views so not many know about it.

Thanks for sharing this

[claptrappers_union]

Enjoyed watching that....astonishing lapse in concentration by Marlon in picking up that backpass in the first half.

From memory, he did it more than a couple of times during that season, I might be wrong. For the next next 10 years though, we had to watch lower league keepers continually slice the ball in to the stands because of the back-pass rule. Glad it came in though.

[elwaclaret]

Yes I was at the game, there were rumours Bond was hidden in the main stand, but we only found out about the disguise the day after and our fans sang heart warming songs about family relations quite a lot as I recall.

Bond’s biggest problem was that he was the first outsourced manager in many years. People say he let Dixon go, but Dixon was a long way short of the player who ended up at Arsenal. Gerry Gow was the stand out ‘legs gone’ signing and Daley was a busted flush but both had been big money signings at City, but they could not cope with the physical side of dropping leagues.

Bond was a an expensive gamble, Bond always maintained that the insurance money we got from Reeves alone more than covered his time with Burnley. When he left though he left the club in a mess and Tony Benson was the worst possible replacement.

[yorkyclaret]

A few days after John Bond in the stand gate, Frank Clark claimed that, before the Orient game, 'A very high ranking Police officer had told him, it would be nice if they lost the game, as he couldn't guarantee their safety if it went the wrong way' or words to that effect. More likely the Police didn't want to lose their easy overtime if the club went under. Anyway I always thought the fans anger would have been aimed more at targets closer to home if the unthinkable had happened.

[Herts Clarets]

I remember working a Sportsmans Dinner at the Turf just after the new stands opened. The speaker was Fred Eyre, ex Man City player and author of a couple of books.

He raised the subject of John Bond to a chorus of boos. John Bond at Birmingham released a teenage Lee Sharpe, who went onto enjoy success with Man Utd, winning domestic and European medals and picking up a handful of England caps. At Swansea he released Dean Saunders who went on to play for Liverpool and Aston Villa in the top flight. And as you know all too well here, he released Lee Dixon who has a league winners medal in each of his back pockets and England caps on the shelf at home.

So the questions is, where the f**k was John Bond when i got released by Man City then...

And before anyone corrects me, i don't know how much of the above was true, just repeating one of his tales from the speech.

[ClaretTony]

And before anyone corrects me, i don't know how much of the above was true, just repeating one of his tales from the speech.

Knowing Fred Eyre very little

[Silkyskills1]

Remember reading his books which became quite monotonous and seeing his son in the youth team.

[ClaretTony]

Remember reading his books which became quite monotonous and seeing his son in the youth team.

Saw him on the touchline a few times watching his son who had a short spell managing Rochdale

[Herts Clarets]

Knowing Fred Eyre very little

He was better than David Johnson, who could have put a glass eye to sleep

[martin_p]

Convinced I once saw a picture of this. Anyway I googled it and the closest I got was James Bond disguised as a seabird.

41CCFE9E-F48E-4DDE-8E25-1F813A82E30D.jpeg (1.24 MiB) Viewed 2823 times

[claretonthecoast1882]

Convinced I once saw a picture of this. Anyway I googled it and the closest I got was James Bond disguised as a seabird.


41CCFE9E-F48E-4DDE-8E25-1F813A82E30D.jpeg

Isn't that the river behind the goal opposite the away end ?