A veteran fan remembers Turf Moor's greatest gate on eve of historic fixture

CUP fever may have gone out of the window in Burnley this year after the Clarets were scuppered in the shoot-out at Scunthorpe, but for fans with long memories, coming up this month is a seemingly routine league fixture that recalls a day when Turf Moor was packed by a record gate of more than 54,000.

When struggling Huddersfield Town come to Burnley on February 24 it will be 77 years almost to the day when that monster crowd -- 54,775, to be precise -- flocked to the ground for the third-round clash between the two sides.

Then, the roles were reversed. Huddersfield, described by the old Northern Daily Telegraph as "an all-round powerful side", were fourth in the old First Division. But despite the Clarets still fielding many of the squad that won the championship three years before, their position -- 16th out of 22 and still with only one away win that 1923-4 season -- was "anything but comfortable."

But what made the Cup tie such a huge attraction -- drawing the biggest attendance of all that day -- was that it was the only one being played between two First Division clubs and the only one taking place in the North.

And with in-form Huddersfield having despatched Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford in the previous round and tens of thousands of Yorkshire fans travelling to Burnley, hoping to see their team advance even closer to the second Cup Final at a still-new Wembley, it was clear well in advance that a new record attendance at Turf Moor was on the cards.

All the stand seats were sold soon after the Clarets -- so unspectacular in their recent league games that the Burnley Express and Advertiser said many would wonder how they managed to get through the first two rounds of the Cup -- had guaranteed the third-round fixture at Turf Moor with a 1-0 replay victory in extra time at Fulham. Burnley was inundated with ticket inquiries and the Huddersfield club was allocated 1,000 reserved seats, the price of which was increased to the steep sum of five shillings, and extra crush barriers were erected on the "far side" for thousands more Tykes who would crowd the terraces. And, at a time when car ownership was minimal, next-door Burnley Cricket Club made arrangements for 500 to park at their ground.

"There is the prospect of a tremendous crowd to witness a game which, by all the traditions of football, should palpitate with rivalry of the intensest description," waxed the NDT, "... the actual attendance will challenge that which watched the meeting of Burnley and Sunderland in the fourth round in 1914 when over 49,000 enthusiasts glued their eyes on the pitch."

In preparation, the underdog Clarets departed for "seaside training" at Lytham while Town's players braced themselves with sea air up the coast at Blackpool. And as Britain was just getting used to its first Labour government, Burnley was plunged into a by-election battle triggered by the sudden death of Dan Irving who had been the town's Labour MP since 1918, but the Cup fever so easily outdid poll fever that candidates, Tory Mr H.E.J. Camps and Labour's Arthur Henderson, agreed to suspend their campaigns so they could both attend the game.

But though it was predicted the gate would exceed that of the previous 49,737 record, the club said Turf Moor was capable of holding between 60,000 and 70,000. With the gate open two hours before kick-off, 13 excursion trains arrived from Yorkshire along with another seven from other areas, bringing a total of 16,000 fans by rail, "not to mention countless charabancs and motors," said the Express and Advertiser. With tens of thousands of home supporters, they poured into the ground.

But if it was not officially full with a £3,600 gate of 54,775 fans, what was it like at Turf Moor that day?

"We were packed in like sardines. You couldn't move," recalls 89-year-old retired electrician Ernest Wakefield, who was there as a 12-year-old. Ernest (pictured), of Rosehill Road, Burnley, had gone to the ground early in order to ensure a good vantage point at behind the Town End goal, but so great was the crush that he spent the game on the "wrong" side of the railings that surrounded the steps at one of the entrances to the terraces and spent the whole game clinging to them.

His hero in the team of that era was right-winger Bob Kelly -- "Absolutely marvellous reflexes and could dribble round anybody any time," he says. But the idol of that famous day in Turf Moor history was Walt Weaver, one of the Clarets' 1921 championship squad, who slotted in the only goal of the game on 23 minutes -- "a low, well-directed shot," said the NDT.

Huddersfield fans and players complained that Burnley's George Beel was offside when he began the movement that led to the goal and a few said Weaver was offside also. But if they were, for Burnley fans it was only a case of justice being done -- as the Clarets had earlier had a strong penalty claim refused. The old Daily Dispatch said: "Huddersfield were a disgruntled lot at the finish of the match. While they had no quarrel with the result, they were bitterly disappointed at the way it was obtained."

Burnley finished off Swindon in the next round in a replay at the Turf, but they were thrashed 3-0 by Aston Villa in the semi-final at Bramall Lane, Sheffield, when 54,531 watched. And the Clarets had to be content with 17th in the league at the end of the season.