Blackburn v Burnley Golf Day 2015

“Old” hostilities were renewed on Wednesday 26^th August when Nelson Golf club hosted the second annual golf match between Blackburn Rovers Former Players Association (BRFPA) and Burnley Former Players Association (BFPA).

A collection of buggies (actually only three) set off down the fairways in excellent weather and battle commenced. Local knowledge proved to be the winner on the day as Burnley teams filled the first three places – Ian Brennan’s team ran out winners with 92 points, Stan Ternent and his team were second with 90 points and Brian Flynn’s team were third with 86 points.

As a result, Burnley were the overall winners on the day by a comfortable margin of 584 points to Blackburn’s 535 and became the first outright winners of the trophy, as last year’s match ended in a tie.

The brainchild of Jim and Jan Walker, captain and lady captain of Stonyhurst Park golf club in 2014, and themselves respectively Blackburn and Burnley supporters, the match raises money for three charities – BRFPA, BFPA and the chosen charity of the captain of the host club. In 2014, it was Prostate Cancer and this year, Ian Brennan, the captain of Nelson and a Burnley former player, chose the Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation, in which he has a particular personal interest. Funds raised of approximately £4000 will be shared equally between these three charities.

Our thanks go to all the former players who came on the day, either to play or to attend the dinner and presentations in the evening. After dinner, Paul Fletcher and Mick Doherty (Burnley) and Ken Beamish (Blackburn) ran an auction and Steve Kindon (Burnley) entertained everybody with some of his footballing anecdotes.

Finally, our thanks to the Venkys, who sponsored BRFPA, and to Barry Kilby, who sponsored BFPA. This sponsorship demonstrates their support not only for the club, but also its history, and is very much appreciated by both the associations and the former players themselves.

Next year the match will be played on Blackburn territory when revenge will be the order of the day. Anyone interested in playing should contact Brian Marsden at [email protected] or Veronica Simpson at [email protected]