BURNLEY'S John Spicer joined an elite club of emergency goalkeepers at Luton Town last weekend.

The midfielder became the latest to join the roll-call of stand-in stoppers down the years, although as you would expect you can count the number of similar instances on the fingers of one glove!

David Eyres was the last Burnley player to be called on as a deputy against Bournemouth at Turf Moor in April 1996. Wayne Russell, who two seasons earlier became the first goalkeeper in the club's history to make his league debut as a substitute, was sent off for a professional foul after 76 minutes and Eyres' first task was to face a Cherries penalty, which Steve Robinson drilled off the post in a dour stalemate.

Three years earlier, in May 1993, Mark Monington was the man called upon to wreck Stoke City's championship party in the final game of the old Division Two season at The Victoria Ground.

Marlon Beresford, ironically at the opposite end when Spicer took over at Luton last Saturday, was kicked in the eye by Kevin 'Rooster' Russell after only half an hour, leading to Monington going between the posts and pulling off a string of saves to raucous chants of "England's number two" from the travelling Clarets fans!

Eventually Monington was beaten through Mark Stein but Burnley, who led through Adrian Randall's first half effort, held on for an honourable draw.

January 1991 saw midfielder Andy Farrell notch up another first on the way to becoming one of the most versatile Clarets ever.

Farrell was called upon when Chris Pearce saw red following an 87th minute flare-up with David Frain in a fiery Fourth Division clash with old rivals Stockport County at Turf Moor, but was hardly called on as the Clarets hung on for a 3-2 victory.

Two seasons later, Farrell pulled on the number nine shirt in a League Cup tie at Preston to complete the full set of numbers worn on his shirt - 1-12 and 14 - during a six-year career with the Clarets.

However, the most bizarre instance in recent times came in a bizarre Second Division game against Leicester at Turf Moor in December 1982, when Burnley had THREE different goalkeepers in the same match and two of them both missed penalties!

Full back Brian Laws had already missed from the spot when regular number one Alan Stevenson brought down Gary Lineker and was sent off.

Striker Paul McGee took over between the posts and was beaten from the spot as City equalised for a second time. Instantly, Laws took over in goal and McGee was pushed back into attack, where he duly missed a penalty awarded to the Clarets, who eventually lost the game 4-2.