CLARETS fans of a particular vintage would describe Adam Blacklaw as brave and consistent, but the man himself has a different take on his goalkeeping heroics.

“I was daft ... diving in at people’s feet!” laughed the 71-year-old. “But it was just instinct.”

It was such agility and fearless actions that contributed to Burnley being crowned champions of England in 1960, and came ever-so-close to a league and FA Cup double in 1962.

Gifted Hamburg striker Uwe Seeler even applauded the Aberdeen-born keeper during a European Cup clash at Turf Moor in 1961, after he, somewhat miraculously, kept out the German’s goalbound header.

But Blacklaw insists the secret to the Clarets’ success in the early 60s was not about individual talent but a strong team ethic that was simple, yet incredibly effective.

“We played for each other. If someone was having a bad game the rest would work hard to help them out,” he said.

“There were no ‘stars’ as such, and that was why we won the title.”

However, the influence of the reliable Blacklaw cannot be underestimated, not least because in his first six seasons in East Lancashire he missed only two matches, and appeared in a total of 318 First Division games for the Clarets before he switched his local allegiance and signed for Blackburn Rovers in 1967, where he spent three seasons.

“I looked after myself, and my wife Sheila did too by making sure I ate the right things, and kept fit by doing exercises in front of the television,” said the father-of-three.

“It’s a bit different these days with all the technology that they use.”

But his extra efforts away from the training ground paid dividends.

“When we won the league I was over the moon. That’s something that’ll never be taken away from me,” said Blacklaw, who moved south of the border aged 15 to start his traineeship at Turf Moor.

“A few teams were interested but I picked Burnley because I thought I would have a better chance of making the first team.

“I wasn’t nervous about leaving home; I was excited about the challenge and I enjoyed my time with the club very much.”

The Scot made his debut in a 6-2 win at home to Cardiff in December 1956, while the intervening two years after turning professional had proved invaluable to the Scot’s schooling.

“I learnt a lot from Colin McDonald just by watching him,” continued Blacklaw, who became the England international’s natural replacement after he suffered a broken leg while playing for the Football League in 1959, which forced him into early retirement two years later.

He achieved international status himself when he earned the first of three international caps in June 1963 against Norway, who, ironically, are Scotland’s opponents in the World Cup qualifiers this afternoon.

But it was by sheer chance that Blacklaw donned the green jersey.

“I was a centre forward when I was at school. I’m not really sure how I ended up being a goalkeeper - I was probably just being lazy one day,” he smiled.

“But I was better at keeping them out than I was at scoring, and I never looked back.”