Jimmy Burns – A Tribute
Club Historian Gordon Sydney has penned the following tribute to Bully Wee legend Jimmy Burns who sadly passed away this week, with help from Jimmy’s grandson Jonny.
Despite being nearly 50 years since Jimmy Burns kicked a ball for Clyde, his recent passing has impacted on many of us, because, when you consider his time at the club comprised the best part of nine seasons, with 327 appearances and 20 goals, you begin to realise the part Jimmy played over the years. And when you scratch the surface, the sheer consistency of the man is something we will never see the likes of again.
For myself, my enduring memory wouldn’t be on the pitch. It’s quite a few years ago now, when I first started interviewing former players for the programme, that I was invited out to meet Jimmy, his wife Margaret, son Jim and grandson Jonny. I went with trepidation at the thought of interviewing this revered figure, however I will always fondly remember a great night of football conversation and being made to feel very welcome in the Burns home. And that was my introduction to Jimmy Burns. Humble, self-effacing, but don’t get on his wrong side!
Cowdenbeath
But let’s get back to the football! Jimmy’s senior football career started in April 1963, when he signed for Cowdenbeath from Dunipace Juniors. He stayed with the Blue Brazil for the best part of five seasons, barely missing a game in those years, and was club captain for most of that time.
In January 1968 Cowdenbeath manager Archie Robertson accepted the offer to return to Shawfield to be Clyde manager, and a month later Jimmy made the same move to Glasgow, for a reported fee of around £10k, roughly equivalent to £150k in today’s money.
Season 1967/68
When Jimmy came to Clyde there were 15 games of the season to go. His debut came in a league match, a 0-0 draw against Airdrie at Shawfield in early February, when he came on from the bench to replace the injured Stan Anderson. By the final game of that season Jimmy had established himself in the first team, playing 10 matches, plus that debut appearance from the bench, so 11 games in total. He had also scored his first Clyde goals, both coming in a thrilling 4-3 victory over Dunfermline at Shawfield in early March 1968. His first a shot from the bye-line, mishandled into the net by the keeper, his second a “cracking left foot shot into the net after a goalmouth scramble”.
Clyde also had a Glasgow Cup Final against Celtic at Hampden to fulfil, however Jimmy only made it as far as the bench that night, and the less said about the result the better!
Now, on the 20th April 1968 Jimmy started our league match with Motherwell at Fir Park – the significance of that date (apart from being his wife’s birthday!) will become apparent later.
First impressions are lasting impressions…
So, what sort of player had Archie Robertson brought to Shawfield?
Looking back, Joe Currie remembers that “Jimmy was a smashing player, as hard as nails”, whilst Ross Cuthill absolutely echoes that sentiment…“Jimmy was as hard as nails”, but does qualify that by saying that he “met Jim in the Arria Lounge a few years ago, lovely man”.
Davie Middleton, who granted Jimmy “free life membership” of the Clyde FC Supporters Glasgow Branch was another who described Jimmy as a “hard as nails Clyde Legend”.
Meanwhile George McLuckie’s thoughts were that Jim was “a wonderful loyal club player who would run through a brick wall for the club, no frills but could really pass a ball and never gave up”.
“What a player” says Paul Paterson, ”a solid player” says Alan Soutar, and “a very dedicated player”, says Brian Ramsay. You can see the pattern emerging.
More specifically, David Cunningham remembers Jimmy “as an effective wing-back who could slot in at centre-half or full-back if needed, and a good passer of the ball”
Season 1968/69
So our versatile midfielder or defender was quickly endearing himself to the support, and was playing to the manager’s liking. This season, 68/69, Jimmy played in all 48 competitive matches for the club, scoring 8 goals from his midfield berth.
By October 1968 Clyde had emerged from a League Cup section comprising Aberdeen, Dundee United and Dunfermline, beaten Ayr United home and away, and faced Celtic in the semi-final at Hampden. Sadly Clyde earned most of the plaudits but Celtic progressed to the final with a late George Connelly strike. Jimmy, of course, played his part in all these games.
In the Scottish Cup Clyde again managed to take Celtic to a replay in one of the earlier rounds, but again we just fell short in the replay.
Rhodesian Tour
After the season ended, with Clyde in 13th place, the club – and Jimmy – embarked on a Tour of Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe and Zambia. The tour was very successful, with Clyde winning 9 and drawing 1 of the ten games played, scoring 44 goals in the process for the loss of 3.
Jimmy scored three of those goals, with his first goal being Clyde’s first goal of the tour. When I asked him during the interview about his best goal, he instantly came back…”I didn’t get many goals, so it wasn’t hard to pick one! Definitely the header I scored in Rhodesia, the first goal of the pre-season tour of 1969”.
Season 1969/70
A pretty non-eventful season, with Clyde failing to get out our League Cup section against Hibs, Aberdeen and Dunfermline, going out the Scottish Cup at Pittodrie at the first time of asking, and finishing 16th in the league, one place – but four vital points – ahead of Raith Rovers in 17th.
And again, Jimmy played in every competitive match the club played, all 42 of them, scoring 2 goals along the way.
One of Jimmy’s goals came against Airdrie at Broomfield on the 24th November, and put Clyde 4-0 ahead after 32 minutes. We were glad to hear the final whistle that night, though, as Airdrie scored four – and Tommy McCulloch saved a penalty – in the second half!
Season 1970/71
And so the pattern continued. Jimmy continued to be a consistent beacon, always there, never missing a game – a manager’s dream player. Season 70/71 saw that pattern remain on repeat, with Jimmy playing in all 44 of our competitive matches, scoring 4 goals.
Since finishing 3rd in Season 66/67, our slide down the league table had been gradual; 8th place, followed by 13th place, followed by 16th, Season 70/71 saw a marginal improvement to 15th.
Custodian Duties 1…
On the field, Jimmy showed us another facet of his character, footballing ability and versatility, and one of Richard Whiteside’s abiding memories of Jimmy was “the game where he took over in goals from Brian Wallace when he was sent off at Ibrox”.
On the 14th of November 1970 Clyde went to Ibrox, and were two down when keeper Brian Wallace was sent off for kicking the ball away after Rangers were awarded a penalty. Jimmy played the last twelve minutes between the sticks, but his first touch was to pick the ball out the net after the penalty, then unfortunately a further two goals for Rangers followed on a dismal day for Clyde.
Lisbon Lions…
The 1st May 1971 saw Jimmy wearing the number 8 jersey as we visited the other half of the Old Firm. The match was significant because it would be the very last time the Lisbon Lions would be together on the pitch however, although Ronnie Simpson warmed up with the team, he didn’t play – instead his place for the match was taken by future Clyde goalie Evan Williams.
Celtic won 6-1 that day, but just five days later two different teams lined up at Shawfield in the Glasgow Cup semi-final – Celtic because they had an impending Scottish Cup Final, Clyde because they fielded many of Archie Robertson’s youngsters, several of whom were making their debut. Indeed, the Clyde team was so young that Jimmy, at 27, was the “elder statesman” that night! With the score tied at 1-1, only Jimmy’s headed clearance on the goal line stopped Tommy Gemmell giving Celtic the lead. Instead it was Clyde that took the honours with Colin Thomson’s winner in 84 minutes.
Season 1971/72
Season 71/72 would, however, see us finish in 17th place, and drop into Division Two. Despite – once again – Jimmy playing in each of our 42 competitive fixtures, and again contributing a couple of goals, Clyde were relegated on the last day of the season, where we could only manage a 0-0 draw against Airdrie at Shawfield – incidentally a match and result identical to Jimmy’s debut – when a win was required.
Sequences
Remember that date from earlier I said we’d refer back to? Motherwell v Clyde on the 20th April 1968? Well, between that game and this game against Airdrie on the 29th of April 1972, Jimmy never missed starting a first team game, whether through injury or suspension; 179 consecutive games.
Contractual Dispute
A fantastic record, only broken because, with Clyde in Division Two, four senior players weren’t happy with the terms being offered at the outset of Season 72/73, and went into dispute with the club. When the dispute was settled, Johnny Flanagan never again played for the club, Billy Hulston was transferred to Airdrie halfway through the season, and only Jimmy and John McHugh remained beyond that.
For Billy Hulston, great friends with Jimmy, it would mean an end to sharing a car to training and matches, but Jimmy’s recent passing meant far more than that….”Jimmy and I were great mates, we worked together and socialised together for years, we were very close and spent a lot of time together during our time at Clyde. It’s hard to believe he’s not with us anymore”.
Season 1972/73
Following resolution of the contract dispute, Jimmy came back into the first team for a league match at Station Park Forfar on the 12th September, and normal service resumed – again remember that date, I’ll refer to it later!
That season, 72/73, was a good one. Archie Robertson’s young team, greatly assisted by the experience provided by Jimmy and the other remaining senior players, rose to the challenge and won the Second Division Championship at the first time of asking, playing a lovely blend of football.
Brian Ahern summed up Jimmy’s contribution during that great season…“Jimmy was a great player, a rock at the back. [He] helped me a lot when I joined Clyde and he was brilliant throughout our 72/73 League Championship success”.
Jimmy also gave Brian an insight into his approach on the park that season, an approach that worked so well…”my job was to win the ball and get it to Dom [Sullivan], Danny [McGrain] or Fishy [Brian Ahern] in midfield and let them do their stuff”.
Football to Jimmy was a simple game made complicated…
And – guess what – after coming back into the team Jimmy played all the remaining competitive fixtures that season, scoring 1 goal from his 36 appearances, and more than earning his Championship medal.
NB A wee quirk from that season was that only three clubs led the league; Cowdenbeath, Stirling Albion and ultimately Clyde – ironically Jimmy’s three senior clubs.
Season 1973/74
With Clyde back in Division One, Jimmy’s form and leadership were such that he remained a fixture in the first-team, despite a managerial change from Archie Robertson to Stan Anderson, Jimmy’s former teammate at Clyde, and the player he had replaced when he made his debut.
Despite that background, in his interview Jimmy was honest enough to tell me in that he and Stan “never really got on from the start…we didn’t see eye-to-eye, and had a few square-ups during his time”. However, Jimmy’s professionalism was such he continued to be a mainstay in the first team.
Others, such as Liam Houston, weren’t so fortunate, with the new manager seemingly preferring not to play him. Liam, however, certainly bears no grudges against Jimmy…”so sad to hear about Jimmy, he was a nice easy-going guy, and a good captain”.
So Jimmy continued playing first team football, right to the last game of that season, playing 47 matches and scoring 1 goal that season. Our final game, on the 4th of May 1974, wasn’t easy; Hearts at Tynecastle, needing a point to retain our Division One placing, which we achieved with a goalless draw.
Sequences
This would also be the game where Jimmy’s continuous appearances ended. Now, recapping, Jimmy came back into the team on the 12th September 1972, and stayed there until the 4th May 1974, this time a run of 83 games unbroken. If we remove those 8 matches Jimmy missed through the contractual dispute, he played 262 continuous games – no injuries, no suspensions, and never dropped when the teams form might not have been the best!
Custodian Duties 2…
One match during this season is worth highlighting. On the 17th April 1974, Clyde met Dundee at Shawfield. With Dundee leading by a single goal, regular keeper Phil Cairney was injured and went off the field for twenty minutes for treatment. Despite his experience at Ibrox a few years previous, Jimmy volunteered to deputise for Phil, and, according to newspaper reports at the time, made “several first class saves” – and never lost a goal!
Phil, of course, had no issue being temporarily displaced by Jimmy as he reflected on the recent news…”that’s really sad news about Jimmy. As I’ve said before a really lovely man, human being and Clyde legend”.
Season 1974/75
The big season of change for Scottish football, with the Top Ten Premier League being introduced, with two leagues below that, so three leagues in all.
Clyde’s initial optimism didn’t bear fruit, and we ended up in 16th place in Division One, which saw us go into Division One, directly below the Premier League. Under normal circumstances we would have avoided relegation – just! Our Goal Difference being minus-23 compared to Morton’s minus 31.
On the field of play, Jimmy missed 8 matches, of which at least four were for bookings received. Still, he racked up another 34 appearances, including 1 appearance from the bench, but for the first season since joining from Cowdenbeath Jimmy failed to score.
Season 75/76
If the previous season had been all about change for Scottish football, this season was all about change for Jimmy Burns.
On the 3rd January 1976 Jimmy played his final game for Clyde, a 0-3 defeat to St Mirren at Love Street. One of quite a few disputes with Stan Anderson – I believe this one was about Jimmy being shoe-horned into playing full-back when there were “proper” full-backs on the books – ended with Stan telling Jimmy not to come to training. So, Jimmy trained with Stirling Albion to keep his fitness up, which ultimately led to his transfer to The Bino’s.
Stirling Albion
Jimmy transferred to Stirling Albion in March 1977, so his first full season was 1976/77. Stirling Albion won the Second Division that year with Jimmy, again, playing every game in the season. Jimmy then spent a number of years at Stirling, eventually hanging the boots up in 1984, having played a handful of first team games whilst over the age of 40!
Alec Smith, who was manager during the duration of Jimmy’s time at Stirling, hailed Jimmy as the “greatest ever signing I’ve made in over 50 years of management”.
Jimmy’s son Jim also played for Stirling Albion, and dad Jimmy and son Jim appeared in the same Stirling Albion reserve team on occasion, a very rare feat to have father and son playing in the same team!
And former Clyde player Stephen Tennent came across Jimmy whilst he was at Stirling Albion…”What a guy! The only man I know to wear leather studs on a plastic pitch because rubbers were for “safties”. Seriously, Jimmy was a gentleman and a wonderful human being – the world is a little less robust without him”.
Epilogue and Stats
Jimmy Burns of Clyde was well known to me as a wee boy, but only really through football cards and newspaper articles. It was only after interviewing Jimmy, and researching his Clyde career, that I began to more understand Jimmy’s appeal to many supporters who were lucky enough to have witnessed him play. Alan Maxwell considered Jimmy “one of the best ever players” he has seen in a lifetime supporting Clyde, whilst Douglas Lawson called Jimmy “one of my first heroes”.
Jimmy’s amazing consistency was due to that physical and mental toughness he just had, but allied to that was a brilliant footballing ability – you don’t just get picked for the first team because you’re fit and can keep running for 90 minutes.
Jimmy’s stats make incredible reading. In his nine years with Clyde, we’ve already seen how Jimmy made 327 appearances, with a significant amount of those being consecutive. However consider that between Jimmy’s debut and his final game the maximum number of games Jimmy could have played in was 351, so Jimmy only missed 24 games, and played in over 90% of the games available to him over that nine year period.
And in his senior career, encompassing Cowdenbeath, Clyde and Stirling Albion, Jimmy made 624 appearances, scoring 47 goals – an incredible performance over a long career in senior football.
Jimmy Burns – I doubt we’ll we see your likes again!