TOM Heaton might have had to lift an inflatable trophy to celebrate Burnley’s Championship success at Charlton nine days ago, but he wasn’t the first Clarets captain to make do with an inferior version in the aftermath of a league title.

The Football League’s decision not to present Burnley with the trophy known as ‘The Lady’ at The Valley infuriated Sean Dyche and his players, who had to wait until last Monday to finally get their hands on the title.

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It was a similar story in 1972/73, the last time the Clarets were crowned champions of the second tier, in what was then quaintly known as the Second Division.

At least Martin Dobson’s squad had a trophy made of solid metal to celebrate with. What the pictures from inside the dressing room at Deepdale, where Burnley secured the title on the final day of the season, didn’t tell you was the piece of precious stainless steel being tossed about by Jimmy Adamson’s squad was actually a golf trophy won by goal scorer on the day Colin Waldron.

How it came to be at Preston and the history behind it nobody can quite remember. But captain Dobson remembers getting his hands on it, and then the real thing at Turf Moor on the Tuesday night at John Angus’ testimonial, as the champions faced a team largely made up of former Clarets.

“We lifted it in the dressing room,” said Dobson, who was in his first spell at Turf Moor in 72/73.

“I don’t know where he’d kept it before the game. He produced that and it was all on the photographs.

“From what I can remember both sets of fans came on the pitch straight after the game. I don’t think we even went back onto the pitch. I think we went in the directors box because there were thousands on the pitch.

“We didn’t get the actual trophy until John Angus’ testimonial game in midweek. He was a super pro and he was retiring and it was on the Tuesday night.”

Waldron, who made over 350 appearances for the Clarets, was none the wiser on how the trophy had turned up in the dressing room.

“I forgot all about that until someone reminded me the other day, but the more I think about it the more it sounds right,” he explained.

“I can’t remember taking it with me. We just wanted to celebrate with something though.”

It was fitting that Waldron was the man to make sure his teammates had a trophy to celebrate with, because he was also the man who made sure the title was heading to Turf Moor in the first place.

Burnley were already guaranteed promotion and a return to the First Division but needed a point at Preston to make sure of the silverware, while their Lancashire rivals needed a point to make sure they remained in the Second Division.

It was North End who took the lead on 43 minutes but 10 minutes later Waldron levelled with a goal that has gone down in Clarets folklore.

“The goal was hugely important but it was the result that mattered,” said Waldron. “The game has gone down in the annals of history but we were poor on the day and we froze.

“I’ve never seen a still picture of the goal I scored and as time has gone on I’ve got further out. I always thought I was quite a long way out, people say I was 20 yards out and I say it’s further than that, I’ve had others say it was near the halfway line.”

For Dobson winning the title was the perfect way to the end the season.

“We won promotion the week before so we were already up but we’d been top for the majority of the season,” he said.

“We wanted the icing on the cake and we knew a draw would be enough. The atmosphere was fantastic, a full house.”

Dobson finally got to lift the real trophy at the end of Angus’ testimonial when 16,000 fans packed into Turf Moor, which was 2,000 more than the average home crowd that season.

“It was a special day to lift the trophy at Turf Moor,” said Dobson. “At the end of John’s testimonial we received the trophy from Football League officials, paraded it in front of the fans and it was a great send-off for John, who was such a great player for Burnley.

“It worked nicely for John - more fans came on because they knew the importance of receiving the trophy at the end of the game.”

With the title in the bag it was time for the celebrations, but from Waldron’s account they sound relatively low key compared to the modern day.

“I spoke to one of the players who played in the 1960 team who won the First Division and they won it at Man City and I said ‘what were your celebrations like?’,” he said.

“I think it was Ray Pilkington, they were the best Burnley team ever post-war, and he said, ‘I went home’. He didn’t even go on the team bus. He went home and had a cup of tea.

“I compared it to when we won the Second Division and we all drove back to Turf Moor, picked up our cars and all went our separate ways. I went home and stayed in.

“Now with the money involved it becomes hugely intense and important and that’s why you get all the parades.”

The title-lifting celebrations weren’t the only similarity between 1973 and 2016. It was a 42-game league season in those days, with two points for a win, but in a three points for a win system it works out as an almost identical points-per-game record, while both sides scored 72 goals and conceded 35.

“There were plenty of similarities,” said Dobson. “To lose just five games this season is brilliant, we played four less in 72/73, we played 42 games and only lost four, so it’s similar in many respects.”

In 1973 Burnley went on to win the Charity Shield in their following game, with the top division champions and FA Cup winners not always taking part in those days, and Waldron again scored the crucial goal.

He said: “Somebody asked me a question at a sports quiz about two or three months, 'Who is the player for Burnley who scored a goal in two successive games for Burnley and the goals won a trophy?’ “I hadn’t got a clue that it was me.”