NEIL Grewcock thought he had joined a club on the up when he arrived at Burnley from non-league football ahead of the 1984/85 season.

Instead he was a rare shining light at Turf Moor as the Clarets spiralled downwards.

In Grewcock’s first season he thought Burnley might challenge for promotion, instead they suffered relegation to the basement division, and things weren’t going to get much better.

“A few of the better players left and we were left with the bare bones of the side,” he explains. “I think there was a few financial issues and we didn’t seem to be able to attract quality players.

“Micky Phelan, Vince Overson, Wayne Biggins, those sort of players were leaving, good players, and it was such a shock we got relegated the year before.

“If I could put my finger on it I’d tell you, but I just can’t.”

Burnley stumbled to 14th in Division Four in 1985/86, with Grewcock scoring seven goals in 44 appearances.

The following season Brian Miller took charge, but Burnley came within a whisker of disaster, and possibly destruction, only for Grewcock to write his name into Clarets folklore.

He scored a lot of important goals in 86/87, salvaging crucial points and victories for Miller’s side as they looked to avoid dropping out of the Football League and potential extinction.

“Two or three games before Orient I think I scored against Southend,” said Grewcock. “That season was my best return goal-wise, I think I got nine or 10 and a few of them were crucial.”

But the biggest of the lot came on that memorable final day at Turf Moor when a 2-1 win over Orient secured Burnley’s survival and perhaps laid the foundations for the success the club is experiencing now, nearly three decades on.

“It was a good strike with my left foot,” said Leicester-born Grewcock. “It wasn’t as strong as the right. 

“It was a relief to score first, had we gone behind in that game I wouldn’t like to think what would have happened, but thankfully we went 1-0 and 2-0 up and managed to hang on.”

While Grewcock’s sublime strike set the ball rolling on the stroke of half-time, it was Ian Britton’s header three minutes later that proved vital, with Orient pulling a goal back 34 minutes from the end.

Lancashire Telegraph: HERO: Ian Britton celebrates one of the most famous goals in Burnley’s history as they survive on the final day

Britton, who sadly died at the age of 61 earlier this year, became a Turf Moor legend thanks to his header, and his goal is remembered as the strike that saved Burnley.

“It’s only natural for people to think that like when the scoreline is 2-1, the second goal is the winning goal,” said Grewcock.

“But it was a massive team performance on the day. Going into that last game knowing that you had to win was one of the worst feelings in the world.

“At the end of the game it was enormous relief. That was the first emotion. Relief you were still in the league was the biggest factor. I didn’t really celebrate that night. I went out with a few friends and had a few drinks but the emotion got to you and took over.”

It is now accepted that Burnley would probably have gone out of business had they vanished from the Football League, but Grewcock isn’t sure he realised quite how big a game it was for the future of the club in the build-up.

“I was just thinking this couldn’t happen to a club like Burnley,” he said, “had we lost that game it would have done but we didn’t lose it. I don’t think you do realise the enormity of the game on such a massive club like Burnley.

“Since then I don’t think there’s been a club as big as Burnley that have been in that situation.

“The teams that have gone down are nowhere near as big as Burnley. It was a big club with a massive fan base.”

The Clarets began to rebuild the next season and just 12 months after the fight for survival they ended this campaign with a trip down Wembley Way to face Wolves in the Sherpa Van Trophy final.

Lancashire Telegraph:

Halifax had been beaten on penalties in the Northern Area semi-final, but Grewcock suffered a serious injury from a nasty tackle that ruled him out of the famous area final against Preston, and most heartbreakingly of all, the chance to play under the Twin Towers.

“I got done in the semi-final against Halifax and that kept me out for nine months,” he said.

“It was heartbreaking to miss Wembley but these things happen. It’s part and parcel of being a footballer, you just never know. 

“It was hard to take because it was such a big day and such a turnout from both sets of fans. It was two big clubs like Wolves and Burnley at Wembley, it was like an FA Cup final.”

Sadly for Grewcock, it would be his only chance to play at the national stadium. He struggled to recover from that injury and was released in the summer of 1991, his professional career over at the age of 29.

“That was my chance, I never got back there again,” he said of his Wembley woe. 

“When I was at Leicester we made the FA Cup semi-finals against Tottenham, I wasn’t playing in that game but I was part of the squad.

“That Burnley game was my big chance of playing at Wembley, it would have been nice.”

He might not have made it to Wembley, but Neil Grewcock’s role in shaping Burnley’s history will never be forgotten.