The FA Cup has long been steeped in history, and Saturday’s fifth-round clash between Preston North End and Burnley is a reminder of a time when football was defined by proud provincial clubs. These two Lancashire teams, both founding members of the Football League, once stood among the giants of the English game, particularly during the 1950s and 1960s.
While they may not share the fiercest rivalry Blackburn and Blackpool taking those honors meetings between Preston and Burnley have always been fiercely contested. Just two weeks ago, their Championship encounter ended in a heated 0-0 draw, marred by allegations of racial abuse that remain under investigation.
Both clubs boast a proud FA Cup history. Preston were runners-up in 1954 and 1964, frequently reaching the latter stages of the competition, while Burnley, champions of England in 1960, made the semi-finals in 1961 and lost the final in 1962. Their success came at a time when the lifting of football’s maximum wage in 1961 began to shift power away from town clubs toward the metropolitan giants of Manchester and Liverpool.
In those postwar decades, football was shaped by strong-willed local businessmen. Burnley’s Bob Lord, known for his outspoken views, led the club from 1955 and was instrumental in maintaining the 3pm Saturday TV blackout that still exists today. He was a dominant figure, determined to make Burnley the best, though his lack of sympathy for Manchester United after the 1958 Munich disaster remains a dark footnote in his legacy.
Burnley’s success owed much to a gifted squad, including Northern Irish playmaker Jimmy McIlroy and captain Jimmy Adamson, who later managed the club. Meanwhile, Preston’s fortunes were closely tied to the legendary Tom Finney. A generational talent and a loyal servant, Finney famously turned down a lucrative move to Italy, instead supplementing his modest football wages with a plumbing business.
The 1954 FA Cup final was expected to be the stage for Finney’s crowning moment, much like the famous 1953 “Matthews final” had been for Blackpool’s Stanley Matthews. However, Preston fell 3-2 to West Brom, and Finney later admitted he had underperformed on the day. A decade later, North End returned to Wembley, inspired by the goals of Alex Dawson and featuring 17-year-old Howard Kendall, the youngest finalist at the time. Despite a valiant effort, they lost 3-2 to a West Ham side featuring future World Cup winners Geoff Hurst and Bobby Moore.
Burnley’s most notable FA Cup moment of the era came in 1962, when they reached the final only to lose 3-1 to Tottenham. That match, known as “the Chessboard final” due to its tactical intricacies, failed to deliver the excitement many had hoped for. The sale of key players like McIlroy and John Connelly soon followed, and the club’s decline set in. Lord remained at the helm until shortly before his passing in 1981, by which time Burnley had slipped into the Third Division where they would meet Preston once more.
While neither club enjoys the same prominence today, their FA Cup legacies remain intact. Saturday’s match offers a glimpse into a bygone era when Lancashire towns were at the heart of English football, and the road to Wembley was one they both knew well.
