GLEN Little this week ended an eight-year association with Burnley Football Club.

The Londonder has enjoyed some titanic tussles, suffered tantrums and, ultimately, shed tears on his farewell appearance.

In the first of a nightly three-part series, Clarets reporter DARREN BENTLEY talks to Glen about life before Burnley and the convoluted road to Turf Moor.

LIVING in London, there was only ever one team for Glen Little...Manchester United!

And with grand designs on growing up to become a silky-skilled wide man, there was only one idol Little wanted to emulate.

Steve Coppell was the archetypal, old-fashioned right winger, providing hours of entertainment to adoring and appreciative Old Trafford crowds.

So when Coppell went on to manage Crystal Palace some years later, a football-mad youngster from Wimbledon was unwittingly on a collision course to a dream career.

Little recalled: "I was at Palace from nine years old. I remember leaving my primary school and getting called up by them.

"Steve had just got the manager's job - my favourite player from Manchester United - and I loved the way he played.

"When he got the job I met him and that was that. It was a real shame he left when I was an apprentice because I never got the chance to play under him."

How ironic then that this summer Little will be reunited with Coppell at Reading as the winger's career takes a 360-degree turn.

The 28-year-old has become an honorary son of Burnley after eight memorable years as part of the furniture at Turf Moor.

And although Coppell remains Little's playing hero, it is two Burnley stars of yesteryear - Tommy Cassidy and Adrian Heath - who rank high on his list of footballing influences.

Little explained: "As a young player, I ended up leaving Palace on loan to go to Irish side Glentoran.

"I'd broken both my legs and the club thought it would be a good place to go and get some football back under my belt.

"I'd like to think I helped to keep them up and when I came back to Selhurst Park Steve Coppell had left and the Glentoran boss, Tommy Cassidy, told me there was always a place there for me.

"I went back out and signed and Tommy told me if I did the business for him, he would help to get me back across the water again."

Little quickly established himself as a firm favourite in Northern Ireland, where he is still revered to this day after scoring a stunning goal against rivals Glenavon to win the 1996 Irish Cup Final - a strike that earned the the affectionate moniker 'The Big Man'.

That was undoubtedly the most memorable of 26 goals in only 75 appearances for a player who made a stunning impact, winning the Young Footballer of the Year and also being voted Glentoran Player of the Year.

Within 12 months of crossing the Irish Sea, English scouts back home had the scent of a bargain in their nostrils.

But Cassidy knew there was only one place he wanted Little to retain his God-like status - Turf Moor.

The former Northern Ireland international enjoyed three seasons with the Clarets between 1980 and 1983, helping Brian Miller's side to the Third Division championship mid-way through that spell.

"Tommy was totally true to his word," said Little. "Initially I could have gone to Notts County and I remember planning for a move back to England because it was now or never the way I was playing.

"Then, in November 1996, I read in the paper that Tommy had turned them down. I stormed down to the ground to have it out with him, but Tommy quickly told me: 'You're not going to Notts County - you're going to Burnley instead'.

"We had played both clubs that pre-season and I remembered Burnley playing the better football, so I was happy with the gaffer's decision.

"But my dad and I still had to get the atlas out to discover that Burnley was near Manchester.

"Naturally, I was well happy because as a United fan I reckoned I might even get to the Theatre of Dreams now and again!"

Then Clarets boss Adrian Heath initially invited Little over for two days training before treating him to a seat in the stand for a Lancashire derby with rivals Preston, which finally convinced the 21-year-old his future lay in East Lancashire.

"I instantly thought Burnley was the club for me and I was proved right." he recalled.

"The £100,000 fee was an Irish League record but it didn't bother me. I just remember coming over and hoping to have a professional career - never dreaming it would go as well as it has eight years later.

"My full debut came in the FA Cup against Walsall and suddenly in the next round we were drawn against Liverpool, so you couldn't ask for more than that.

"One minute I was playing against Cliftonville, Crusaders and Glenavon in the Irish league, the next it was 33,000 and the Kop!

"I just couldn't have asked for anything more really and I owe everything to Adrian and Clive Middlemass.

"Clive was the scout who came over and watched me and his words were 'I think I've found the next Chris Waddle'.

"Little did I know that name would soon bring about the lowest point in my career so far."