HE captained Burnley to their last First Division title triumph and his loyalty to the club meant he turned down the chance to manage England at the 1966 World Cup. Jimmy Adamson, a true Clarets great, celebrates his 80th birthday today.

Few more remarkable men than Adamson, successful as both a player and manager, have worked at Turf Moor over the years.

And despite growing up in Ashington – the small north east town that also produced the Charlton brothers and Jackie Milburn – Adamson still lives just half a mile outside Burnley.

Martin Dobson, who joined the Clarets when Adamson was coach to Harry Potts and later spent five years under his management, will be one of a number of former Burnley players to visit his former boss this weekend.

“He’s spent much of his life, 30 years as a player and a manager, with Burnley,” said 61-year-old Dobson, who also had a distinguished career with the Clarets and is now the club’s director of youth development.

“I realise I was very fortunate to have worked with him. He was so knowledgeable about the game it was untrue, and he was so respected by everyone. He was the one who saw something in me that I hadn’t even seen in myself, and he taught me so much.

“I see him a couple of times a year and I always thank him for what he did for my career. He always says, ‘You’d have made it anyway, Dobbo’. But who’s to say I would have?

“It has been nice that Jimmy has been welcomed back for games, although he has been unable to make it because of ill health. He struggles to get around now.

“But he must be up there with Jimmy McIlroy in terms of what he’s done for the club.”

Adamson spent his entire playing career at Burnley and was their captain when they won the league in 1960 and reached the FA Cup final two years later.

He later moved on to the coaching staff and, before becoming the Clarets’ manager between 1970 and 1976, he was assistant to England boss Walter Winterbottom at the 1962 World Cup.

Then came the chance to lead his country into 1966 – a chance he declined, allowing Alf Ramsey to write his name into English football history.

Dobson said: “I think there were two reasons why he turned it down – his loyalty to Burnley and the fact he didn’t want to live in London. But he doesn’t regret it.

“He instilled discipline in us – he didn’t like swearing and anyone who did had to do five push-ups.

“He wanted us to be competitive but he wanted us to do it in the Burnley way.

“His contribution to the club over the years was absolutely massive.”

One of Adamson’s team-mates in the latter stages of his career was Andy Lochhead.

“I played with Jimmy for about 12 months,” he said.

“I was just breaking into the team and getting the odd game because it was still the Ray Pointer-Jimmy Robson partnership.

“His biggest asset was that he was a fantastic coach.

“After myself and Willie (Irvine) established ourselves as the strikeforce at Turf Moor, Jimmy said in the local paper that it was the best strike partnership that Burnley ever had, or words to that effect.

“There have been quite a few combinations here. Pointer and Robson was a terrific combination.

“But Jimmy came out with those words. That was terrific to hear.”

Willie Irvine, too, remembers how good he was as a player.

“I played with him in the reserves when he was coming to the end of his playing career, and he was absolutely tremendous,” said Irvine.

“Out there on the pitch he used to tell you what to do, and if you did it, it worked. You listened to him because you knew you were learning something.

“I think he was the best uncapped wing-half there has ever been.”