The man chosen to manage Second Division Burnley was John Haworth, who was with Accrington Stanley as secretary, and although his uncle had been capped for England he himself had no football pedigree whatsoever.
There was a slight improvement in his first season in charge as we moved back into the top half of the Second Division, and confidence was high after he had been able to sign centre forward Bert Freeman before the end of that season.
During that summer of 1911 Haworth decided he wanted to replace the club colours of green, which he considered unlucky. He chose claret & blue, the colours of then current Champions Aston Villa. Just a few weeks into the season he signed the player who was to lead his side, Barnsley centre half Tommy Boyle.
A 3rd place finish was followed by the runners up spot in 1912/13 and Burnley were back in the First Division with even better to come from the team. Back in the top league we had to settle for a place in the bottom half of the table in that first season but it was still one of success with the club picking up its first major honour. We lifted the FA Cup at Crystal Palace after a 1-0 win with the goal scored by Freeman.
The following season Burnley finished 4th and just as the team looked to be heading for a string of honours football was interrupted for four years for the World War. When it resumed, Burnley continued to impress and after ending the first season as runners up, which was the highest finish yet by the club, we went one better a year later (1920/21) and became League Champions.
That was the season of 30 consecutive league games without defeat and the success meant that Haworth had brought both major honours to Turf Moor, seven years apart. The following season saw us finish in 4th place which meant in the last four seasons of league football we had occupied each of the top four places.
It was the end of the success, the team was getting older and Haworth realised the need to build a new team capable of keeping the club at the top. It was a struggle and after bringing so many top players to the club we found ourselves in the lower reaches of the division over the next two seasons.
The 1924/25 season proved to be even worse for Burnley, we weren't doing well and things got even worse at the end of 1924. The manager fell ill after a wet and windy ride on an open top charabanc. He contracted pneumonia and on 4th December 1924 he died at the age of 48.
For the second time a Burnley manager had died whilst in the job and the town mourned the loss of Howarth who had brought great success to its football club. He'd signed some great players whose names are remembered even today and he remains the only Burnley manager to win the FA Cup and one of just two to take the League Championship.