IF JOHN Angus is as adept at snaring brown trout as he was left-wingers, then one of Burnley's finest must stagger home with a full bag each time he pursues his favourite past-time.

Angus was a legendary figure at Turf Moor where he spent a 15 seasons as a first-team player.

The right-back chalked up 520 appearances for his only Football League club, joining as an amateur from a Boys' Club team in his home town of Amble on the Northumberland coast and leaving as an England international and League championship winner.

He was only in his mid-thirties when he ended his playing days after a testimonial in 1972 but Angus closed the chapter on football by retiring and looking for new interests.

"I was never interested in watching. Even in my playing days I was never a good watcher. I have always been a competitor," explained Angus, whose winning edge then became restricted to the golf course.

He got down to two-handicap and played extensively on returning to Northumberland where, among other things, he worked in the prison service and opened up a seafront cafe in Amble.

Arthritis has since curtailed the golf, leading Angus to concentrate his energies on walking and fly fishing on the River Coquet and the reservoirs close to his Morpeth home. "It's a good hobby, ideal and nice and quiet," he said.

It's a far cry from the choppy waters of professional football which Angus negotiated in his own laid-back way.

"We've got cool Johnny Angus," was the chant at Turf Moor as the full-back was calmness personified in his defensive duties.

He also loved to get forward, a forerunner of the wing-backs of today and very much in the mould of Jimmy Armfield who, along with George Cohen, did much to restrict Angus to one England cap.

That appearance against Austria in 1961 was therefore a highlight of his career and also a cause for thinking what might have been as no further call-ups followed.

"That was a disappointment in a way," Angus admitted.

"Even when I got my cap I played at left-back, out of position, and I never got another chance.

"We also got beat so I wasn't very happy about that."

Angus was overlooked despite the fact that England manager Walter Winterbottom reportedly said at the time that the Burnley man had produced one of the best international debuts he had seen.

All Angus's successes therefore came with the Clarets. He missed just one game in Burnley's championship-winning season and played at Wembley in the FA Cup final two seasons later. His whole Turf Moor career, bar the last two seasons, was spent in the top flight.

Described recently by Jimmy McIlroy as one of the best full-backs he had played with or against, Angus was never interested in parading his skills on another stage once Burnley had brought him down from the north-east and signed him on a professional contract on his 17th birthday.

"There wasn't much transfer news in those days. There were very few moves.

"I signed yearly contracts but there was no problem staying at Burnley in those days.

"They were always around the top three or four for about 10 years," he said.

Despite living just 15 miles up the A1 from St James's Park, Angus hasn't been sucked in by Newcastle United's rise back up the leagues.

Instead the 60-year-old's remaining interest in the game is still centred on Burnley.

"I still follow their results closely," he confirmed. "I keep waiting for it to happen. They have got to turn it round. They have such a good ground and are still getting good gates.

"I just keep hoping that they will get back into the top grade."

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