THE man whose goal clinched a historic derby win for Burnley FC over Blackburn Rovers has died.

Brian Hall, who netted the winner in the East Lancashire derby in 1979, has lost his battle with leukaemia at the age of 68.

Hall joined Burnley in 1977 for £25,000, having been part of the great Liverpool sides under Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley. Undoubted highlight of his time in East Lancashire was on April 14, 1979 at Ewood Park when the Clarets came from a goal down to secure a famous victory.

Tony Morley equalised before Hall plundered the winner in the 71st minute to stun the home crowd. The strike was one of only three goals Hall scored for the Turf Moor club.

Clarets fans would have to wait until March 2014 until they next tasted glory against their bitter rivals, Danny Ings’s strike securing a first win in 12 derbies.

Paul Fletcher, who played alongside Hall in the 1979 win, said: “I remember Brian as a particularly nice guy.

“His family came first and then the football came second.

“He was one of the few footballers who had a degree and he was a bit of an intellect but he was also great company and one of the lads.

“I gave him the nickname Albert at Burnley, after Albert Hall, and that seemed to stick.

“He had a little bit of a back problem when he came to Burnley and it got worse but he still gave it his lot.

“He was never the sort of player who would blast one in from 40 yards but he was always there sniffing around the penalty box.”

Fletcher and Hall played in Burnley’s Anglo-Scottish Cup success in in 1979, which included home and away wins over Celtic.

And the game in Scotland on September 27, 1978, led to one of the team’s biggest celebrations as they stayed in the same hotel as Rangers.

The Gers beat Juventus 2-0 as the Clarets won 2-1 at Celtic Park.

Fletcher said: “We stayed in Largs on the coast and that night Rangers were playing in the European Cup but they stayed outside Glasgow and were in the same hotel as us. We got back and all the Rangers players were there and we had a fantastic party. Brian was on good form that night.”

Hall left Burnley in 1980 to go into teaching but he returned to Liverpool as their head of public relations in 1991 and remained there before retiring in 2012.

A spokesman for Burnley said: “Hall made his mark for the club, particularly in 1978-79 when he played in more than half of the League games and featured in the run that ended with the winning of the Anglo-Scottish Cup.”