WITH all the accumulation of wealth by the super-rich football clubs and the money paid to the overrated stars of today - and when Roy Keane of Manchester United, held out for a weekly wage in excess of £50,000 - it made me smile to see an article in a book.

Apparently, at the outset of Burnley FC, the club then known as Burnley Rovers Rugby Club, meeting at the Bull Hotel in Burnley, announced to its members the annual balance sheet.

The income was £48 12s 4d and expenditure £56 12s 7d - a loss of £8 0s 3d.

All this is a far cry from the present era, because this was back in 1882 when money was hard to come by and maybe the love of football, to some extent, took preference over the inflated money-grabbing seen today.

K SOWERBUTTS (Mr), Southwood Drive, Baxenden.

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