‘Skippy’ Kindon hails Cotterill’s ‘miracles’

STEVE Kindon first kicked a football in anger at the ripe old age of 15.

It is unbelievable that for a talented junior athlete and rugby league player the round ball held no interest - until the summer of 1966.

"I saw England win the World Cup and decided I'd like a game of football!" said Kindon.

"So I joined a youth club in Warrington, but I actually didn't play my first game until November - due to rugby commitments."

It happened that the man running the youth club team was a Burnley lad and, inevitably, a Turf Moor scout was the first to be called.

A trial at Gawthorpe followed, at which a disgruntled young Kindon was substituted after a first-half hat-trick.

Kindon added: "I was totally and utterly naive about football, and oblivious to how big a club Burnley was."

In mid-sulk he didn't realise that the middle-aged gentleman who told him he'd already done enough was manager Harry Potts.

Within a year, Kindon had abandoned his plans to join the army and signed a full professional contract.

His impact was explosive. As a striking member of the 1968 Youth Cup winning team, he captured the fans' imagination along with the contemporary sportswriters' interest.

At the time, The Express eulogised: A six-footer at seventeen, this lad looks a real find. He usually goes straight for goal and packs a big shot.

As for his speed there's only one word for it - phenomenal. He bounds along with huge powerful strides, eating the ground, like a kangaroo, at an astonishing rate.' Surely the only player in Burnley's history to be likened to a marsupial, Kindon's prize asset was his pace.

If he had featured on BBC's Superstars, Malcolm Macdonald would not have held the 100m record so easily, if at all.

Kindon smiles as he recollects his first pay packet at Turf Moor.

He said: "Eight pounds a week with a three pounds-fifty deduction for digs. But that was a good wage. Eight pounds was the average weekly working wage."

By his first team debut, scoring in a 3-0 win against West Ham in October 1968, he was paid £25 per week and £15 for match appearances.

He earned his money though, featuring prominently in the team of 68-69. The Burnley Babes', with an average age of 22, went on an eight-match winning streak, thrashing league leaders Leeds 5-1 on the way.

But how does Kindon feel about current pay scales in the Premier League?

"At the top end they're obscene - but there's absolutely no envy," explains Kindon.

"You have to understand in the seventies, players were tremendously well paid, in the eighties better and so on.

"At 18, I was earning double my dad's salary and at a year later, 12 times the national average.

"Wages today have taken the players away from the fans. In the sixties and seventies, players and fans would walk to the game side by side.

"The players would go on one side and put their kit on - the fans would go the other and cheer them on.

"Nowadays, clubs expect parents to buy kits for their kids. Kids at 10 years old support a player - more than the team - and next year that same player could be scoring against you."

In 1972 and still only 21, Kindon joined the outflow of talent, heading for Molineux. He was preceded by the best player he considered to have played with in his career.

"Ralph Coates," said Kindon, without hesitation. "For the 18 months before he went to Spurs, I wouldn't have swapped him for George Best."

Skippy' was welcomed back in November 1977, at a time when the Clarets were rooted at the bottom of Division Two, with five points from 14 games.

The transformation was remarkable, Kindon being the catalyst, dressing room inspiration and force on the pitch.

He scored 12 goals in 27 league starts as the team reached the top half of the league.

Why the sudden upturn on Kindon's arrival?

He said: "It was confidence. I didn't join a bad team. I saw a team with the likes of Alan Stevenson, Keith Newton, Paul Fletcher, Terry Cochrane, Peter Noble and Tony Morley - all very good players. I felt I could make a difference.

"I had arrogance and confidence. We got one or two wins and then Paul Fletcher became two per cent a better player, Terry Cochrane became two per cent better. The whole team got on a roll.

"If a player has the basic abilty to be a good professional, football is 90 per cent confidence and 10 per cent luck. How many examples do you want?

"Could Wayne Rooney score at the start of this season? He gets three at Bolton and he's a different player.

"Look at Charlton. It's the same team Alan Curbishly left but for two or three players. Their confidence has gone to Aston Villa."

The partnership Kindon struck with Fletcher brimmed with confidence and is now spilling on to the after dinner circuit.

"We do a show called The Boys From Burnley' and finish it with a song - but I can't sing!"

Kindon began after dinner speaking in the late eighties, after a successful five years as commercial manager at Huddersfield Town, where he ended his playing career.

Living in Lytham, he keeps one eye on Turf Moor and makes frequent visits with his son, who lives in the town.

Still with claret in his blood and as big a heart as ever, Kindon is delighted to see the team challenging for a play-off spot.

"It's a real pleasure to see them up there," he added.

Pressed for his views on the current squad's potential, he concentrates on manager Steve Cotterill.

Aware that the headhunters are sharpening their spears for the Clarets boss, Kindon thinks Cotterill is in no hurry to move on.

Kindon said: "This season he has worked major miracles.

"It's a different skill doing a fantastic job with limited resources, than being under pressure to perform with pots of money available.

"At Burnley he has very good training facilities and he is gradually building a strong team.

"I do see a lot of David Moyes in Steve. He is focussed, intelligent and a genuinely nice man."

A born entertainer on the pitch and off it, Kindon's views are engaging and pragmatic.

With the memories of his incredible pace, his 46 goals from 175 league starts, his knack of sparking fantastic winning runs when last expected, Kindon will always be a Claret.