IT was a campaign which began on a gigantic roller-coaster of optimism and ended with a despairing, disconsolate slide into Division Two.

Remember the 1994-95 season? Well, every pass, throw, quote, rebound and goal-kick is chronicled in a new book, 'Burnley Were Back', written by Clarets season-ticket holder Stephen Cummings.

Stephen has been a loyal Claret since going to Turf Moor as an eight-year-old in the 1975.

But this narrative of a shivering mid-winter night at Barnsley and the desolation of a wet February afternoon in Watford is captured beautifully in this must for all Burnley 'nuts'.

Clearly inspired by Nick Hornby's football classic, Fever Pitch, the author gives it all from a fans' perspective.

He doesn't pull any punches either with players, officials and former manager manager Jimmy Mullen all feeling the wrath of the author's furious pen. The vivid descriptions bounce from elation, in short supply that season, to total disaster. The chapters include the toffee-throwing antics of an 8ft cloth lion at Millwall; the fortune-telling bananas and the Boxing Day water-polo match against Port Vale !

So what inspired this Burnley labour of love?

"It was always an ambition to go to every Burnley game in a season. When I decided to do the book, I really wanted to portray a fans'-eye viewpoint.

"I think the book works in that respect. Although it was a difficult season, it was an experience I would not have missed. However bad the football, Burnley provides the individual with a real sense of community.

"It's more than just football. It's about a bonding. A tribal gathering once a week."

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