The 1920–21 season was Burnley's 29th season in the Football League, and their 4th consecutive campaign in the Football League First Division, the top tier of English football. Burnley were confident of success ahead of the season, having finished as First Division runners-up in 1919–20. After losing their first three games, Burnley embarked on a 30-match unbeaten league run from 4 September 1920 until 26 March 1921, winning the First Division and becoming English champions for the first time in their history. Burnley's unbeaten run stood as a single-season Football League record for over 80 years, until it was bettered by Arsenal in the 2003–04 season. Burnley ended the 1920–21 season on 59 points, having won 23 games, drawn 13, and lost6.
The team reached the third round of the FA Cup, defeating Leicester City away and Queens Park Rangers at home, before unexpectedly losing away to Second Division side Hull City. Burnley won the East Lancashire Charity Cup, beating Blackburn Rovers 8–2 over two legs, but were eliminated from the Lancashire Senior Cup at the semi-final stage by Manchester City. As league champions, Burnley qualified for the Charity Shield, in which they were beaten 2–0 by FA Cup winners Tottenham Hotspur. Burnley also played two friendly matches during the season. The first, against Blackburn Rovers, marked the opening of Accrington Stanley's new stadium; the other was a benefit match for Patsy Gallacher, against a representative team from the Scottish Football League.
Burnley used 23 players during the season and had nine goalscorers. Their top scorer was Scottish forward Joe Anderson, with 31 competitive goals, including 25 in the league. Eight new players were signed by Burnley during the season, and eleven were released or transferred. Match attendances were the highest they had been at the club's home ground, Turf Moor, with an average gate of over 30,000. The highest attendance of the campaign was 42,653, who saw Burnley beat Bolton Wanderers 3–1 on 26 February 1921; the lowest was 22,000, for the match against Sunderland on the final day of the season.
Background and pre-season
The 1920–21 campaign was the second season of competitive football in England after the First World War. It was Burnley's 29th season in the Football League, and their 4th consecutive season in the Football League First Division, since promotion from the Football League Second Division in 1912–13.Simpson (2007), p. 529 Burnley's chairman, Harry Windle, had been elected to the position in 1909,Simpson (2007), p. 6 and manager John Haworth was marking his 11th consecutive year in charge.Simpson (2007), p. 542 After finishing as runners-up to West Bromwich Albion in the First Division the previous season, there was a sense of eager anticipation within the club before the season began. Team captain Tommy Boyle claimed that his side was capable of building on its success of the previous season and winning the league championship,Simpson (2007), p. 150 despite Burnley not having won a trophy since their FA Cup victory in 1914.Simpson (2007), p. 131
Burnley's only pre-season friendly games were two intramural practice matches, between the first team and the reserves, the second of which was watched by a crowd of around 10,000 at the club's home ground, Turf Moor.Lee & Whalley (2002), p. 39 The team's last competitive match had ended in a 2–0 defeat against Manchester United in the Lancashire Senior Cup on 8 May 1920, almost four months earlier.Simpson (2007), p. 148 The strip for 1920–21 was very little changed from that of the previous season; the claret jersey with light blue sleeves and a light blue stripe around the collar was kept along with the white shorts, but the claret socks were replaced by black.Simpson (2007), p. 586 Minor works were carried out on the Turf Moor stadium, with improvements to the pavilion, club offices and referee's changing room.
Transfers The nucleus of the Burnley team remained unchanged from the previous campaign. Eight new players signed for the club, and eleven left during the season. New signings included goalkeeper Frank Birchenough from West Ham United and full-back Bob McGrory from Dumbarton.Simpson (2007), p. 493 Also brought in were George Richardson from non-League side Horden Athletic and Tom Brophy from St Helens Town. Attackers Richard Cragg, Billy Clarkson and Patrick Norris were among those who left the club in pre-season.
Transfer activity continued after the season began. Full back Tom Bamford, who had not played a match for Burnley since before the First World War thanks to the emergence of Len Smelt, left the club and joined Rochdale in September 1920. West Bromwich Albion's Len Moorwood was signed in October 1920 to provide further goalkeeping backup. Inside forward Jack Lane was brought in from Cradley Heath in December 1920, followed by full back John Pearson from the same club two months later. Winger George Douglas was signed from Leicester City in February 1921. Thomas Jackson, who had made only one first-team appearance for Burnley, left the club in January 1921 to sign for Scottish side Dundee. Two players who had been signed at the beginning of the season left Burnley in April 1921; McGrory moved to Stoke City on a free transfer and Birchenough was released after playing two league matches.Simpson (2007), p. 492 Bert Freeman left Burnley at the end of the season after nine years service, by which time he had become the club's all-time leading goalscorer.Simpson (2007), p. 486
InPlayerPosFromDate Frank Birchenough GK West Ham United August 1920 Bob McGrory FB Dumbarton August 1920 George Richardson FB Horden Athletic August 1920 Tom Brophy FB St Helens Town September 1920 Len Moorwood GK West Bromwich Albion October 1920 Jack Lane FW Cradley Heath December 1920 George Douglas HB Leicester City February 1921 John Pearson FB Cradley Heath February 1921
FB = Full back, FW = Forward, GK = Goalkeeper, HB = Half back
Source:Simpson (2007), p. 492–494
Out Player Pos To Date James Twiss FW Wigan Borough July 1920 Billy Clarkson HB Rotherham County August 1920 Patrick Norris FW Stockport County August 1920 Tom Bamford FB Rochdale September 1920 Richard Cragg FW Stockport County September 1920 Bill Taylor FB Rotherham County November 1920 Thomas Jackson FW Dundee January 1921 Frank Birchenough GK Released April 1921 Bob McGrory FB Stoke City April 1921 Bert Freeman FW Released May 1921 George Thompson FB Rotherham County June 1921
League campaign
Burnley's league campaign began on 28 August 1920 with a home match against Bradford City, who had finished 15th in the league in 1919–20. The season began inauspiciously for Burnley as they lost 4–1, but the match did see eventual top scorer Joe Anderson score the first of his 25 league goals of the campaign. Two further away defeats followed, 1–0 at newly promoted Huddersfield Town and 2–0 at Bradford City, leaving Burnley at the bottom of the league table.Simpson (2007), p. 152 This run of defeats was Burnley's worst start to a league season since 1906–07, when they also lost their opening three matches.Simpson (2007), p. 14 Haworth subsequently made several changes to the team; goalkeeper Jerry Dawson and full back Tommy Boyle were reinstated, and Freeman and James Lindsay were dropped in favour of Billy Nesbitt and Benny Cross respectively. Burnley picked up their first win on 6 September 1920, beating Huddersfield Town 3–0 at Turf Moor with goals from Bob Kelly, Boyle, and Nesbitt. The Burnley News praised the team's "brilliant forward work" and singled out Boyle for particular praise, while noting that Cross had made an "excellent impression" on his debut. Burnley went on to defeat Middlesbrough 2–1 at home, and to draw with them 0–0 at Ayresome Park. On 25 September 1920, four players scored in a 4–0 victory against a weakened Chelsea team, giving Burnley their third successive home win.
October began with a 1–1 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, after which the team recorded four straight wins throughout the remainder of the month. Burnley achieved home and away victories against Bradford (Park Avenue), and repeated that feat in the next two matches against Tottenham Hotspur. The 2–0 victory on 30 October 1920 was the first time in the season that any team had been able to prevent Tottenham from scoring in a league match, but Burnley's performance at White Hart Lane was met with disapproval from the correspondent from the Daily Mail, who considered they had set out to stifle their opponents and in doing so "spoilt the match". Burnley's winning streak carried on into November, with goals from Kelly, Boyle and Cross helping the side to defeat Newcastle United 3–1 at home and 2–1 away to lift them to second place in the league. The home fixture was marred by tragedy when a charabanc transporting Burnley supporters from Grassington overturned, killing five people. After the next game, a 2–2 draw with Oldham Athletic at Boundary Park on 20 November 1920, Burnley moved to the top of the table on goal average, 11 weeks after having been at the bottom. In the return match at Turf Moor a week later, Oldham were comfortably beaten 7–1; Kelly scored four goals, and the others were added by Cross (two goals) and Boyle.
A win and a draw against Liverpool, followed by a 2–0 victory over Preston North End, took Burnley into the Christmas period three points clear at the top of the league. The convincing 6–0 win over Sheffield United on Christmas Day, in which Anderson scored four times, set a new club record unbeaten streak of 17 games, beating the record set during the 1897–98 campaign.Simpson (2007), p. 68 Burnley continued their good form into 1921, beating Preston North End away before achieving two victories against local rivals Blackburn Rovers. The first of these wins, a 4–1 success, was watched by 41,534 spectators, the biggest home crowd of the season until then. The victory was followed by a 3–1 away win a week later. On 5 February 1921, Anderson scored five goals in a "brilliant" performance against Aston Villa as Burnley recorded their second 7–1 win of the season. The result saw Burnley equal the Football League record of 22 matches unbeaten, held by Sheffield United and Preston North End. A new league unbeaten record was set with a 0–0 draw with Aston Villa four days later.Simpson (2007), p. 151 Despite losing George Halley to an illness which forced him to miss the remainder of the season, Burnley secured a late home win over Derby County in the following game, sending Derby to the bottom of the league table. February ended with a 3–1 victory against Bolton Wanderers in front of a crowd of 42,653, the largest league attendance ever at Turf Moor at the time. The team took four points from the next three matches. Burnley firstly drew 1–1 away against a Bolton Wanderers team who were unbeaten at home, in front of a then-record crowd of 54,609 at Burnden Park, before beating Arsenal 1–0 at Turf Moor. The following week Burnley secured an away draw at Arsenal, despite their opponents attacking for much of the game.