ANDY Farrell has watched the goals from that memorable night at York when the Division Four title was clinched so many times that he doesn't know now if his memories of that day come from the video or his experiences of playing in the game.

It was a Tuesday night in April when the Clarets headed to Bootham Crescent in their thousands hoping to celebrate the end of a seven-year stay in the bottom division.

Promotion had looked a near certainty since Burnley turned on the after burners when Jimmy Mullen replaced Frank Casper at the beginning of October, sparking a nine-game winning run in the league, and with three games to go it was time to seal the deal.

Although Mullen's men went behind the squad insist they were never in doubt they would get the job done, and John Deary levelled before John Francis sparked scenes of unbridled joy behind the goal.

Farrell recalls the goals in detail, but the scenes that will always stick with him were of those travelling fans.

"I don’t know whether my memories relate to playing in it or watching it, because I’ve watched the goals a few times," the Clarets midfielder said.

"John Deary got the equaliser after a bit of a melee in the box with Robbie Painter, then Mick Conroy got to the byline from a Joey Jakub ball down the side, he pulled it back and John Francis put that one in.

"The biggest memory is the crowd behind the goal. It just erupted. It’s like watching goals from the FA Cup over the years, you see the crowd jumping up and down and going mad.

"I think I got off the pitch with my socks, boots and slip-on. I lost my shorts, I lost my shirt. It was brilliant."

As dawn broke on the 1991/92 season the Clarets were confident of promotion having slipped up in the play-offs the season before.

But the season got off to a stuttering start. Only two of the first seven league games were won, and when a 3-1 reverse at Scarborough brought a third straight defeat it also signalled the end of Casper's time in charge.

Farrell admits the players felt they had let club legend Casper down, but the promotion of his assistant Mullen to the role of top job produced a change in fortunes.

"I don’t think we expected to start as poorly as we did. We got to the Scarborough game and lost to 10 men," remembers the 51-year-old.

"The crowd were going berserk, banging on the changing rooms at Scarborough and we came in on the Wednesday and we were told that the gaffer had left and Jimmy took over.

"In terms of the performances at that time we knew there may be a possibility of a change if it continued, but I didn’t see Frank going, especially being a bit of a legend at the club having been a player as well.

"It was a shock and we were very gutted. You feel as though you’re the ones that have let him down and you’re the ones behind him going."

Farrell, who made 39 appearances in the league that season, believes the change took a bit of pressure off the players, which gave them the freedom to turn in the performances they were expecting of themselves.

"We had the same group of players and consistency with the selection, then you get a bit of a run, especially at home, get the crowd behind you and it’s not a great place to come for the opposition," he said.

"Once we got to about 19 games in once we did lose we felt pretty confident coming back in the game after."

Farrell had come to Turf Moor from hometown club Colchester and it was the support from those Clarets fans that he most enjoyed.

"You’re playing at home to Blackpool with 18,000 on, in a Fourth Division game," he says in wonderment, even 25 years on.

"From where I came from at Colchester we were getting 3,500 if we were lucky. The atmosphere on the Longside, and with a couple of local games in there, it was incredible.

"We’ve had games when we’ve not been doing so well, but they’ve always turned up away from home.

"But when you get a bit of momentum in terms of results they will turn up at home, we were getting 12,000, 13,000 in that season.

"It doesn’t really happen in the lower leagues so I feel very fortunate I’ve been able to play at the level I’ve played at in front of decent crowds and with a club that has a really good history."

Momentum became unstoppable for Burnley and although they missed the chance to clinch promotion at Carlisle, they made no mistake at York.

Farrell believes the close knit nature of the squad was key, as was the strength down the spine of the team.

"There was a lot of consistency with the team that season. It was 4-4-2, it was the same faces generally," said Farrell, now assistant manager of the development squad at Turf Moor.

"I think John Deary was a really big influence. If you look down the middle of the pitch, we had Steve Davis and John Pender. The only big changes were goalkeepers, the goalie changed quite a bit.

"Mick Conroy scored regularly, John Francis was chopping and changing with Roger Eli to a point but that might have been the only change on a regular basis.

"It was roughly the same team, we had a good spine to the team. We were very strong at the back, Steve was a very good player, he could have played in the top division, John Pender won everything in the air and would end up with his head strapped up often due to cuts and bruises.

"We had a really good togetherness about it, it was a great group of lads."