WHEN I first arrived at Burnley FC in 1967, Joe Brown was part of the back room staff and I was immediately impressed with the way he went about his business.

Quietly spoken, honest and knowledgeable, he was always willing to offer sound advice - making him highly respected throughout the club.

In the fully committed, pressurised existence of professional football, Joe put things into perspective and he made sure that players kept their feet firmly planted on the ground.

Joe, who arrived at Turf Moor in 1952, recalled: "I came to Burnley after getting a free from Middlesbrough.

"I knew the scout in the north east and he recommended me to the Burnley manager Frank Hill and after a trial they signed me on.

"After playing for the reserves I got in the first team, playing in an old fashioned left half position. Perhaps the present day commentators would call me a 'graceful midfield dynamo'!

"It really was a privilege to play in the same team with the likes of Jimmy Strong, Tommy Cummings, Jimmy Adamson and Jimmy McIlroy."

Joe played the last 10 games of that season but picked up an injury and moved on to Bournemouth, where he stayed for six years before being released.

However, he didn't have to wait too long before getting another break in football.

"I went on a coaching course at Lilleshall and met up again with Jimmy Adamson, who recommended me to Harry Potts, the new manager at Turf Moor," he explained.

"I was invited onto the coaching staff and looked after the youth team, which included the likes of Willie Irvine and Willie Morgan. Coaching excellent young players was a wonderful experience.

"In 1968 we won the Youth Cup with the next generation of young boys like Mick Docherty, Dave Thomas, Steve Kindon and Alan West, who would all break through into the first team."

I asked Joe if he remembered a tournament Burnley played in Germany, when I got a nasty gash on my forehead and trainer Tom Thornber, who was a lovely man but not a qualified physio, took one look and nearly fainted after catching the grisly sight of bits of bone poking through a massive hole.

Joe accompanied me to the hospital, where a woman surgeon did a great job in stitching me up.

"Oh, I remember," he said. "I thought you were going to die!"

On his frequent visits to the hospital we talked about the high standards set by the club, and to Joe it was important to remember what the club stood for.

"It was instilled in everybody about the tradition and the discipline. What was expected both on and off the field," he said.

That success at youth team level was repeated when Joe went to Old Trafford to be part of the coaching set up at Manchester United.

"We won the Youth Cup there and that team was very similar to Burnley as the nucleus of boys would develop into exceptional players and become first team regulars - the Neville brothers, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, as well as David Beckham," he said.

"Alex Ferguson was happy to be involved with the young players, as was Jimmy Adamson and Harry Potts at Burnley, and the kids knew their efforts were being recognised by the managers at the time.

"I was involved for around 15 years at United, both on the coaching and scouting sides, until I retired five years ago."

Joe suffered a very serious accident when he was at United after being knocked down by a taxi while crossing the road only 100 yards from the training ground.

"The car scooped me up onto the bonnet and flung me over into the path of a bus," he said.

"I was in intensive care for a fortnight when secretary Ken Merritt came to see me.

"'What are you doing here?' I asked him. Ken told me about the accident when I still didn't know where I was, so I asked him 'Am I going to live or am I going to die?'

"I asked him because he was an honest man and would give me the truth. 'Thankfully, he said I'd live but would take a while to recover'."

Joe had broken his shoulder, his left leg was fractured in three places and he received a real crack on his head.

The surgeons even considered amputating the leg.

"The bang on the head was probably the most serious life threatening injury and looking back I was very lucky to survive," he recalled.

Religion has always been an integral part of Joe's life and he admitted it helped with his recovery during that difficult period.

"I was converted during my days at Bournemouth when I got involved with the local community and it became a very important part of my life," he said.

"During those anxious times, my faith and the love of my family gave me the strength to pull through."

Joe, who still attends every home game at Old Trafford and will be 75 later this month, still lives in Burnley and has been happily married to Connie for 52 years.

"The one thing I do regret is picking up an injury which curtailed my playing career at Burnley," he concluded.

"After breaking through into the first team, I was set for a regular place and it would have wonderful playing with all those talented players.

"Who knows what might have happened?"