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It is perhaps ironic that it should be an FA Cup day for his return because the first of his two spells with the Clarets virtually came to an end after he missed a penalty in the 6th round tie against Sheffield Wednesday in 1983.
He’d been with the Clarets for three seasons, he was signed from Mansfield Town, and scored a total of 37 league games. He was pretty much a regular other than as period when Paul McGee came in from Preston but he won his place back.
He was released at the end of that season and went on his travels throughout the North West. He’d played for both Bolton and Oldham before joining Burnley and after leaving he played for Wigan, Stockport, Rochdale and Preston before Brian Miller signed him for a second time just after the start of the 1987/88 season.
By this time he was coming towards the end of his career and was unable to score goals at anything like the rate he did in his first spell and scored just six league goals in two seasons before returning to Rochdale where he ended his career.
In his time with the Clarets he played in a League Cup Semi-Final against Liverpool and five years later was in the side that played at Wembley in the Sherpa Van Trophy Final against Wolves.
A couple of those former team mates told me recently that he was hardly the quietest member of the squad and always up for a laugh although some of the things he got up to could hardly be repeated. There’s no doubt that he was a very popular member of the squad and until that penalty miss against Jack Charlton’s Wednesday had enjoyed an excellent rapport with the Turf Moor crowd.
Now he returns to make the half time draw as Burnley look to go towards yet another 6th round tie.