AFTER 35 years together Burnley couple Jenny and Norman White have finally decided to tie the knot and make history in the process.

For the couple who have supported Burnley Football Club for the past 13 years will be the first to get married at Turf Moor after it was granted a licence to hold civil weddings.

Jenny, who changed her surname by deed poll, decided last October that she wanted to get married so that her mother, who had become ill, had a chance to see her daughter's wedding.

The couple, who have a 23-year-old son, decided they did not want to marry in a church and wanted to do something unusual. So their first thought, as season ticket holders, was to hold their big day at Turf Moor.

They will make their vows at 2pm on Saturday in the James Hargreaves Suite when Jenny, 54, will be given away be her son, Alex.

The service will be followed by photographs on the pitch and a reception at the club.

Sales manager Norman, 58, of Stirling Court, Briercliffe, said: "We moved up to Burnley in September 1993 and I took my son to Turf Moor. I really enjoyed it and we all ended up getting season tickets.

"I had not been a club supporter before. Burnley was the first club I had followed and Jenny had never been on a football match before she went to see Burnley.

"We've been supporting them for 13 years now. When we decided to get married we both agreed Burnley Football Club would be a great venue and Jenny kept hounding the club until they agreed to apply for a licence.

"The next big thing was that we wanted to be the first to marry there and it's all followed on from there. We had a phone call from a TV company who are doing a series in the run up to the World Cup called Football Fans United and they asked if they could film us. We thought why not? It's fantastic."

Burnley FC received its civil wedding licence last December. Jenny and Norman's wedding will be the first ceremony to be held in the James Hargreaves Suite but another couple will still be able to score a first by being the first to wed in the dressing room.

Jenny, a special needs assistant, will wear a cream winter wedding dress with a claret colour running through the embroidery. She will also be wearing a claret and blue garter, carrying claret flowers and wearing claret jewellery.

She said: "I was euphoric about the wedding but now the days are creeping past I'm a bit more frantic. After 35 years to get married is a big thing anyway and we are getting married for my mum as well as for ourselves.

"To be the first couple ever to be married at Turf Moor is a big achievement. We couldn't have planned it like this if we'd tried. It still seems like it's not happening to us."

A club spokesman said: "Burnley FC are delighted to have been granted a civil partnership licence, this is something we have looked into for a long time. Saturday will be a big day not only for the bride and groom but for Burnley FC itself."