AVID football observers of claret and blue persuasion will always retain a special place in their hearts for Ian Britton.

The diminutive Scot will be forever remembered at Turf Moor, simply as the man who scored the goal which rescued Burnley from the unthinkable.

To this day people stop Britton in the street to reminiscence about May 9, 1987.

That day, Burnley fought tooth and nail to save their Football League skins and avoid the drop into the bleak wilderness of the Vauxhall Conference League.

Nearly 18,000 Burnley fans saw Britton play a pivotal role in a 2-1 victory over Leyton Orient.

His midfield skill and guile carved out Burnley's opening goal for Neil Grewcock and Britton crowned a prodigious display with Burnley's winner on a frantic day passion and emotion.

"It's a day I'll remember for the rest of my life and I still get people mentioning it to me when I'm out and about," recalled the ex-Chelsea and Blackpool man. "People have called me their hero and thanked me for keeping Burnley in the Football League. That's very special. I always get a nice feeling that the fans are so grateful and that they still remember.

"It's such a great club and it would have been a tragedy if they had gone out of the league."

Nearly a decade on Britton is the new manager of Nelson.

Britton took charge following the shock departure of Nigel Coates last month and is already relishing the task ahead at Victoria Park.

"The departure of Nigel was a big shock to everybody at the club.

"But my aim is to build on the foundations he left.

"There's an awful lot of potential at Nelson and I aim to build on the good work we have already achieved here," he said.

"We started the season quite well but we've had a few indifferent results of late.

"The Colne result proved a disappointment. But we are going through a transition period.

"Last season the average age of the squad was around 30. "We've brought that down to around 25.

"We've two good sides here but we've got to add more quality to the team."

The move up the managerial ladder proved a natural progression for Britton who successfully guided Nelson's second team to the Reserve Cup Final against Castleton Gabriels last season.

His previous spell as player-manager of the now defunct Burnley Bank Hall proved a major success with the treble in 1991-92.

"I enjoyed that period tremendously and it would be marvellous if we could bring that sort of success to Nelson.

"The club has gone 25 years without winning any notable silverware. My ambition is to change that."

Nelson face a tricky tie tomorrow in the FA Vase second qualifying round against North-East opponents Easington Colliery at Victoria Park.

But Ian Britton will still be without long-term injury victim Shaun Martin as he prepares for the game against the Peterlee-based side.

"Although our last result, a 1-1 draw at Colne, was a disappointment, we dominated large chunks of the game. We need to turn that domination into goals."

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