Over 29 years have elapsed since the only previous meeting between Alty and Burnley occurred in a delayed FA Cup Third Round tie staged at a rainswept Turf Moor on the evening of Monday, 18th January 1982. In truth, that crushing 6-1 defeat is probably one that the majority of those of an Altrincham FC persuasion would be quite content to forget. Therefore, please allow me to apologise in advance if, indeed, this article serves to trigger any dormant post-traumatic stress disorder amongst my fellow Robins devotees of a certain vintage.

Alty had, in fact, established a record for a Non-League club by progressing to this stage of the competition for the fourth successive season. The First Round draw had paired them with Ian Porterfield’s Sheffield United side on Saturday, 21st November 1981. In front of an attendance of 12,433 at Bramall Lane, John Rogers scored both of the Robins’ goals in a bruising (and, in the case of John King’s head, bloody) 2-2 stalemate. Two days later, 5,137 spectators converged on Moss Lane for the replay and duly witnessed one of the Robins’ most accomplished and memorable acts of giant-killing, as the eventual Fourth Division Champions were outclassed 3-0 courtesy of goals from the dazzlingly mercurial Barry Howard (2) and an immaculate long range swerving shot from Graham Heathcote at the Chequers End.

The Robins’ opponents in the Second Round were the then Fourth Division York City and amidst arctic conditions at Bootham Crescent on Saturday, 12th December 1981, a goalless impasse promptly ensued on a frozen surface that many deemed unfit for play. Following numerous postponements due to snow; frost and then a waterlogged pitch, this tie was finally resolved at Moss Lane on Saturday, 2nd January 1982, which had been the date originally earmarked for the Third Round. In a dramatic contest observed by 3,088 fans, the Robins eventually emerged triumphant via a 4-3 scoreline with goals from Derek Goulding; John Rogers and Barry Whitbread (2).

Meanwhile, Third Division Burnley’s advance to the Third Round had comprised replay victories over Alliance Premier League (APL) Runcorn and Fourth Division Bury respectively. After being held to a 0-0 draw at Turf Moor by John Williams’ Linnets in the First Round, Paul McGee had notched a brace as the Clarets had proceeded to record a 2-1 success in the replay at Canal Street three days later. The Second Round produced a 1-1 draw versus Bury at Gigg Lane on Saturday, 2nd January 1982 and then two days later, 9,108 spectators gathered at Turf Moor for the replay, which the hosts won 2-1 by virtue of goals from Billy Hamilton and Trevor Steven.

The resulting Third Round clash between Brian Miller’s Burnley outfit and Tony Sanders’ Robins had initially been scheduled to be played on Monday, 11th January 1982. However, yet another blast of inclement weather had engendered a deferral until two days later, only for that rearranged fixture to fall victim to a further postponement until the following Monday evening. The reward for the eventual victors consisted of an away tie at Second Division Shrewsbury Town in the Fourth Round.

Prior to confronting the Robins, Burnley had been experiencing a relatively disappointing season and they were occupying 18th position in the old Football League Division Three with the following record in league fixtures: played: 20; won: six; drawn: eight; lost: six; goals scored: 26; goals conceded: 28 and points accumulated: 26 out of a possible tally of 60.

After enduring their second successive dispiriting and iniquitous rejection in the annual travesty of justice in those dark times that constituted the Football League’s Re-election ballot, Alty had commenced the 1981/82 season seeking to secure their third consecutive APL title but, in truth, that formidable Robins squad was entering its twilight phase. Tony Sanders’ team arrived at Turf Moor lying in 12th spot in the APL table as the result of these statistics: played: 20; won: six; drawn: nine; lost: five; goals scored: 31; goals conceded: 26 and points amassed: 27 out of a potential total of 60.

The Burnley line-up to face Alty on that evening was a classic blend of youth and experience and comprised: (1) Alan Stevenson (2) Brian Laws (3) Andy Wharton (4) Tommy Cassidy (5) Vince Overson (6) Paul Dixon (7) Martin Dobson (8) Trevor Steven (9) Billy Hamilton (10) Steve Taylor (11) Kevin Young and (Sub) Derek Scott.

The likes of Laws (who would, of course, later fulfil the role of the Clarets’ manager from January 2010 until the end of December 2010); Wharton; Overson (currently employed as the Centre of Excellence Manager at Turf Moor); Dixon; Steven and Young had graduated to the first team via the club‘s youth team set-up or apprenticeship scheme and were all between 18 and 21 years of age.

In contrast, 31-year-old goalkeeper, Alan Stevenson, had made his debut for the club back in January 1972, following a £50,000 transfer from Chesterfield, and industrious centre forward, Steve Taylor, had seen service with Bolton Wanderers; Oldham Athletic and Luton Town prior to his arrival at Turf Moor from Mansfield Town for a fee of £35,000 in the Summer of 1980.

The hosts’ starting XI included two current Northern Ireland Internationals in the guise of midfielder Tommy Cassidy and striker Billy Hamilton. The 31-year-old Cassidy had been recruited from Newcastle United for the sum of £30,000 in the Summer of 1980, whereas the similarly Belfast-born Hamilton had registered his Burnley debut back in December 1979 in the wake of a £38,000 transfer from QPR.

The most seasoned member of the Burnley side was the elegant 33-year-old midfielder, Martin Dobson, whose debut for the Clarets had transpired back in the Autumn of 1967. The year 1974 had seen Dobson awarded five England Full International caps and also transferred to Everton for a reputed fee of £300,000.

In fact, Dobson possessed experience of participating in a previous encounter with the Robins in the shape of the FA Cup Third Round Replay between Alty and Everton which had been enacted at Old Trafford on Tuesday, 7th January 1975. Dobson had missed the preceding Saturday’s epic 1-1 draw at Goodison Park but played a key role in the Toffees’ 2-0 victory at the second attempt in front of a gate of 35,530. He subsequently had the extreme misfortune to suffer a brief spell as the manager of the heinous Northwich Victoria in 1991 and is presently engaged as the Director of Youth Development at Turf Moor.

In the absence of both his principal striker, John Rogers, who was serving the second game of a two match suspension, and injured centre half Mal Bailey, Tony Sanders elected to field the following Alty side: (1) John Connaughton (2) Phil Gardner (3) John Davison (4) Derek Goulding (5) Stan Allan (6) John King (7) Graham Heathcote (8) Barry Whitbread (9) Jeff Johnson (10) Ivan Crossley (11) Barry Howard and (Sub) John Owens.

Crossley and Davison (the latter being a Rossendale-born former Burnley FC junior) filled the respective full back berths on either side of a relatively experimental central defensive partnership comprising the 35-year-old Allan (who was more often to be found operating at right full back) and the callow 18-year-old erstwhile Everton Central League stopper Goulding, who was undertaking his inaugural season at Moss Lane. Alas, this rather makeshift and unfamiliar combination would proceed to be exploited by the Clarets’ wily and experienced duo in attack.

Alty’s sixth consecutive away draw in the competition saw them backed by approximately 1,000 travelling supporters in a Turf Moor crowd of 10,174, which represented Burnley’s highest home attendance of the season to date.

The home side started the opening half in a purposeful fashion, dictating the pattern of the game on a soft and slick surface, and their impressive display belied their position in the lower reaches of the Third Division. The Robins’ ex-Manchester United goalkeeper, John Connaughton, had generally coped efficiently with the Burnley pressure until his uncharacteristic 25th minute error effectively presented the hosts with the chance to open their account for the evening. The former Port Vale No. 1 lost a Billy Hamilton cross in mid-air, thereby allowing the on-the-spot Steve Taylor to execute the elementary task of steering the loose ball into an empty net.

Notwithstanding Burnley’s evident superiority, the Robins carved out a golden opportunity to equalise on the stroke of half-time but, alas, Barry Howard contrived to miss a sitter. A right wing cross from Ivan Crossley eluded the Burnley defence and promptly reached the onrushing winger at the far post. However, just when it seemed that he couldn’t possibly fail to do anything other than guide the ball beyond Stevenson and into the Clarets’ net, he somehow lashed his right foot shot wide of the target from point blank range.

Inspired by a sublime performance from their 18-year-old midfield prodigy, Trevor Steven (whose career would subsequently include successful spells with Everton; Glasgow Rangers and Olympique de Marseille, as well as eliciting the award of a total of 36 England Full International caps), Burnley duly punished such arrant profligacy by the Robins. As the one-time editor of the Robins Review, Paul Brady, laments: “We came up against Burnley's budding star Trevor Steven, who simply tore us apart in one of the most hopelessly one-sided games that I've ever seen Altrincham suffer.”

Merely two minutes into the second half, wunderkind Steven’s superbly taken goal doubled the home side’s advantage and the visitors’ resistance then simply began to evaporate. On the hour, Connaughton was caught out of position by a Wharton cross, which he could only palm onto the crossbar, whereupon Billy Hamilton pounced to score his first goal of the night by tucking away the rebound from the acutest of angles.

It was 4-0 in the 67th minute, when Taylor profited from a defensive blunder by gratefully seizing upon Crossley’s misplaced pass and then ramming the ball into the roof of the net. Four minutes later, Hamilton claimed his second goal of the contest with a well-executed individual effort.

The Robins did manage to muster a meagre degree of consolation after 74 minutes when Barry Howard scored for the third successive match and increased his personal account for the season to nine. After collecting a through ball supplied by Jeff Johnson, he rounded the oncoming figure of Alan Stevenson before slotting the ball adroitly into the vacant net via his left foot.

However, it was to be the Lancashire side who were to have the final word in the 78th minute by means of their sixth goal, as Billy Hamilton completed his 18-minute hat-trick by firing home a speculative 30-yard shot past the beleaguered and shell-shocked John Connaughton. Just under six months later, the same striker was to be found at the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain, scoring both of Northern Ireland’s goals in their Second Round Group D 2-2 draw versus Austria in the rather sunnier and drier setting of the Estadio Vicente Calderón, Madrid.

Despite having sat through the systematic annihilation of his charges, Tony Sanders remained philosophical in the aftermath of this ordeal, drawing a soupçon of solace from Burnley’s consummately professional approach to their assignment: “It was a credit to us that they prepared themselves like they did.”

The Alty manager then went on to pay tribute to the hardy Robins supporters who had ventured to Turf Moor: “Even when we were up against it, they gave us all the vocal support they could. We couldn’t have asked for more. Our pride was hurt because we played so badly. But, at the end of the day, I think they will remember that we have had another good FA Cup run and and we don’t let them down too often.”

Five days later, Burnley succumbed to a 1-0 reverse at the hands of Shrewsbury Town in their Fourth Round tie at Gay Meadow. However, the Clarets’ season thereafter featured a major upturn both in their fortunes and form, as they won 15, drew nine and lost only two of their remaining 26 league matches, the upshot of which saw them emerge as the eventual Third Division Champions at the conclusion of the 1981/82 campaign.

Meanwhile, Alty would go on to play a total of 66 competitive fixtures that season, finishing in 11th spot in the APL table; surmounting Runcorn in the Cheshire Senior Cup Final and ultimately being eclipsed in extra-time by Enfield in the FA Trophy Final at Wembley. This latter occasion would prove to be a swan song for several of the club‘s celebrated players from those halcyon days of the late 1970s/early 1980s.

I’ll leave the closing reflections on that particularly tortuous evening in Lancashire to Alty diehard, Phil Jordan: “A painful experience - but one which generated a happy ending some months later. I went to Turf Moor convinced that we could give Burnley a game. After all, they were hovering around the Third Division relegation zone and we'd had good results against better placed teams than that! In all my years of watching Altrincham, I have never before or since seen a team take us apart so comprehensively. We didn't actually play that badly. But, in the end, we were lucky it was ‘only’ six. Burnley looked the most complete side that I'd seen in a very long time.

“So, where’s the happy ending? Well, I went into Eric Barber's bookmakers in Altrincham on the following weekend and enquired as to what odds I could have on Burnley being promoted. I was offered 66-1 on them winning the league and duly placed a £2 each way bet. They got promoted - and I picked up £35 at the end of the season.” BARRY PIKESLEY