Entertainment, Heroes and Villains by Dave Thomas

Clarets author, Dave Thomas has contacted Vital Burnley with details of his new book,Entertainment, Heroes and Villains



Entertainment, Heroes and Villains-Steve Cotterill, Owen Coyle and Brian Laws at Burnley

Dave Thomas took a break in 2010 from publishing a new book having produced the two Jimmy Mac books in 2009. But he did spend the year working on the next one. It started as an anthology of a number of Burnley managers but as the chapters on Steve Cotterill and Owen Coyle built up it became clear that they, plus Brian Laws provided enough material for a publication that concentrated solely on them.

This very substantial book begins with chapters on Owen Coyle`s predecessor at Turf Moor, Steve Cotterill and the foundations he laid for the later success that Owen Coyle brought; promotion, Wembley, Carling Cup nights and the Premiership. Steve Cotterill will be remembered for a number of things including the way he dealt with the difficulties of his first season, but then by the end had established a new statistic; the longest run in the club`s history without a win. And yet the players he gathered were crucial after he left to Owen Coyle`s success.

It examines the saga of Owen Coyle at Burnley Football Club and the controversial walk-out that stunned Burnley. As the dust slowly settled Dave Thomas spent several months talking to people, trawling the archives, reading just about every media piece written on the subject, visited Owen Coyle, and has come up with a fascinating look at how the events happened. It gives an almost hour by hour account of how his move to Bolton Wanderers took place; a move that left not just supporters but a whole town angry and bitter; and includes the night at Bolton when 5,000 Burnley fans with their banners made their feelings known, and Coyle was branded 'Judas`.

"Kick one person in Burnley and everyone limps," someone once wrote, and it is doubtful that Owen Coyle ever had any real idea of the intense and lasting depth of feeling he would provoke in Burnley. Was he hero, villain, or both?

It goes on to the story of Brian Laws` appointment and his doomed attempt to keep the club in the Premiership. The story ends with his dismissal and the events leading up to it.

The saga includes the September night when Burnley beat Bolton Wanderers in the Carling Cup and brought a kind of closure to the sorry story. This was a game that attracted 17,602 spectators, for a fixture that might normally bring 6,000.

With input from the Chairman Barry Kilby, Director Brendan Flood and player Clarke Carlisle; contributions from Alastair Campbell and Piers Morgan, plus features, articles and news from national journalists David Conn, Henry Winter, Mark Ogden, Jim White, Frank Keating and Alan Nixon, the book describes the story in studious detail.

£12.99 256 pages plus illustrations. £4.50 postage and packing

Please contact Dave Thomas, 0113 2555350, or beehivethomas@aol.com for ordering details. The first 100 copies will be signed by Barry Kilby and Clarke Carlisle.

The book launch will take place at the club on the afternoon of Thursday April 14th.

With a managerial theme, invitations to attend have already been accepted by Clarke Carlisle, Roger Eli, Stan Ternent, Frank Casper and Martin Dobson.

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.