John Connelly

[kenred]

Sad news today was the death of John Connelly ,aged 74.John won a champions medal with Burnley ,a FA Cup runners-up medal with the Turf Moor side ,and another Champions medal with Manchester United .He played in 112 games for United,and also appeared in the opening 1966 World Cup match with England.He left Old Trafford in 1966 ,to join Blackburn for £40,000,and later played for Bury.He cost United £56,000 when signed from Burnley.Born in St.Helens and first club was St.Helens Town ,he played 20 times for England.
RIP John ,only a short time spent @ Old Trafford but well remembered!

[manchesterunitedman1]

Well said Ken, well said!!

We got him late but he did us proud-remember being at Elland Road in 1965 he got the only goal to sink Leeds and we went on to win the league.

He also fried a nice piece of Cod in his chippy!!

RIP John a Claret-Red-England Hero

Leslie Millman
manchesterunitedman1
www.flickr.com/photos/manchesterunitedman1/sets

[derby1884]

Strange how life goes, isn't it?
This morning, quite by chance, I was reading a long, and very interesting, article on him....4 hours later I read on the Guardian's website that he'd died.
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[lambie the leap]

I knew John quite well through his daughter and he was an absolute gentleman. Can't imagine many footballers were in the middle of a shift at the local pit when a journalist turned up to tell him he had been selected for England for the 1st time! This happened to John in 1959 when he was working as a carpenter in Cliviger Pit just outside Burnley.

He was top scorer when we won the 1st Division title in 1959/60 and in all scored 105 goals for the Clarets in just 265 League games - all in the top flight. Not bad for a player who spent the vast majority of his career as a winger.

I know how proud he was when he eventually received his 1966 World Cup winners medal 3 years ago - although he played in the opening game against Uruguay only the actual 11 who payed in the final received medals at the time.

RIP John.
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Supporting Burnley & Workington for more years than I care to remember!

[silkman1]

A fine man and a fine player. What a Burnley side that was.

[cardiff55]

There was a nice tribute to him at Cardiff City last Saturday before the game between Cardiff and Burnley. I trust the Burnley fans appreciated the sentiment, it's not often tributes are paid to the away team.

T

[nozer]

silkman1 wrote:

A fine man and a fine player. What a Burnley side that was.

True that Burnley side of the early 60s was a great team ,Pointer ,Adamson, Pilkington ,Elder Blacklaw etc, remember there visits to Goodison Park this era recall one perticular game when the Police let us young boys ( i was prob about ten or eleven) sit with our backs to the perimiter wall ,my mind prob playing tricks with me but if i recall correctly there was somthing like 78,000 + at this fixture.
RIP John, and thanks for the memories.
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"Some people say Wolves best days are gone i prefer to think the best are yet to come" Derek Dougan on joining Wolves from Leicester City 1967.

[lambie the leap]

cardiff55 wrote:

There was a nice tribute to him at Cardiff City last Saturday before the game between Cardiff and Burnley. I trust the Burnley fans appreciated the sentiment, it's not often tributes are paid to the away team. T

They did indeed appreciate it - I know Burnley club officials conveyed their thanks to Cardiff. It was an excellent gesture.
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Supporting Burnley & Workington for more years than I care to remember!