BURNLEY babes Matty O'Neil and Richard Chaplow provided a welcome ray of light amid the gloom surrounding Turf Moor in May.

The teenage duo made fleeting appearances in the first team and offered a glimmer of hope that, despite the current cash crisis at the club, youth could offer some salvation.

After all, it's ten long years since a fresh-faced Paul Weller signed professional terms with Burnley Football Club and became the last home-grown youngster to become a mainstay in the senior ranks.

The likes of Chris Brass, Matthew Heywood and Chris Scott did make a fist of it, but ultimately fell by the wayside as the club began to drag itself off its knees under Stan Ternent.

Brighton-born Weller, who ended the season by chalking up a milestone 250 first team appearances, remains the last protege to make any real impression -- a sad indictment of a football club that once had a youth policy the envy of the land.

In the 1950s, 60s, 70s and even 80s, the golden conveyor belt of talent produced nugget after nugget.

Jimmy McIlroy, John Connelly, Ray Pointer, Andy Lochhead and Willie Morgan. Brian Miller, Willie Irvine, Jimmy Adamson and Ralph Coates. Dave Thomas, Steve Kindon, Leighton James and Martin Dobson.

Finally came the likes of Trevor Steven, Michael Phelan, Brian Laws and Lee Dixon, before suddenly, the belt ground to a dramatic halt.

Director of youth football, Terry Pashley, has been the man entrusted with nurturing young talent since the early 1990s, when Weller was one of the first intake he inherited.

At long last, perhaps there is a new dawn, with Chaplow, O'Neil and Joel Pilkington all coming into Ternent's plans as part of a youthful revamp.

The teenage trio still have plenty of work to do to live up to their illustrious predecessors, but Pashley is convinced a new breed of young guns are set for great things.

He said: "It doesn't surprise me at all those lads have broken through because we have always known they had ability.

"They had to be given a chance to prove themselves and the gaffer has done that.

"It has been very frustrating not seeing more come through since Weller, but because the first team progressed so quickly, the rest of us got left behind a little bit.

"All of a sudden the club had a much higher profile and we hadn't brought the rest of club with it.

"That's how it has to be because the first team is the most important at any club, but we have constantly tried to develop things.

"I think because people have seen that Joel, Matty and Richard have played and held their own, they will have renewed faith that we are finally on the right track."

Pashley, who became one of the youngest players ever to play for Burnley when he made his debut in 1973, aged 16, added: "My job now is to try and improve on what we started last season because it's been a big gap.

"To be fair, there have been some decent kids who have not quite been good enough to make the step to First Division.

"I can remember Chris Scott and Matty Heywood playing at Maine Road, but whether they could have done it for a season at that level is debatable.

"You just have to keep plugging away because it's such a long process bringing kids through.

"We start with six or seven year-olds and the gaffer will sometimes say 'Have you got any players for me?'

"I joke that I've got a cracking under-13 side, which I have, but we both know they are no good to him for another six years!"

For now, the rise of Chaplow, O'Neil and Pilkington will have to suffice. And Pashley expects his young guns to provide some Clarets first team regulars with a serious run for their money next season.

He added: "They all have to set their sights as high as possible. Matty has to be looking for Alan Moore's shirt and Richard and Joel have to be looking to oust Weller or Tony Grant.

"I've told them not to be content with breaking through -- and I said exactly the same to Weller when I had him and John Deary had the shirt.

"If any of those three lads are playing better than the players in the team, surely that has to be a bonus for the manager?

"I will be delighted if they do, but there are no guarantees and that's the way football works."