A fan's-eye view from Turf Moor, with Stephen Cummings

IF I live to see in the next millennium I don't think I will witness anything quite as bizarre.

The sight of a Burnley forward line consisting of Ian Wright and Ronnie Jepson will live long in the memory, if only for the fact that the two made for such an incongruous pairing.

Jeppo, the archetypal solid pro and a lower division journeyman, and Wright, one of the most feted and gifted strikers of his generation. Then again that's just one example of the magic which Ian Wright has brought to Turf Moor.

It has, by any standards, been a remarkable week in the history of Burnley Football Club. But if we take a step back from the hype of the last seven days, one thing stands out above all others. Since Barry Kilby and Ray Ingleby powered their way into the board room, they have constantly stressed the importance of escaping the division before the summer of 2001.

The capture of Ian Wright, hot on the heels of the arrival of Ian Cox, shows that at last the club has a board with strong leadership and tangible ambition. In fairness to the previous regime, they probably lacked the financial muscle to pull off such impressive coups.

But that was then and this is now. Most importantly the fans, battered by the tide of failure in recent times, believe in the board - which has not always been the case. But back to Saturday. Could the reality live up to a week's worth of hype? Well, no - it never could have done. Not unless Wright had scored a hat-trick, been sent off for violent conduct and then trashed the ref's changing room.

But Wright had an impressive debut nonetheless. Quick feet, an excellent first touch allied with impressive and intelligent movement off the ball put him in a different class. He does not look his 36 years. It was a display which let nobody down, and hinted at great things to come from Arsenal's leading goalscorer.

The only disappointing aspect of Saturday was the atmosphere. A 20,000 crowd, Ian Wright debut, and a fixture against fellow promotion aspirants should have been an explosive cocktail. But it wasn't. This is not a slight against Burnley supporters whose passion and support for the club is of the highest quality - but against all-seater stadia which seem to drain the crowd's passion. Perhaps we can re-ignite the flame against Preston a week on Saturday.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.