This game turned out to be a bit unusual so we're providing a little bit more detail than in previous FA Cup match reports.

Crowd: 52,850
 
Score: Burnley 5 Bradford City 0
 
Scorers: Pointer (2), Robson (2) and Connelly (1)
 
Well here we are on a Tuesday night facing Bradford City in a F.A.Cup 5th Round Replay, who could have predicted the size of the crowd for this one, an astonishing 52,850 was reported as the official number, but who can actually say what the final number was after the gates on Brunshaw Road had been broken down and many uncounted fans poured  into the ground. Many fans were locked out, and the road over the Moss at Colne had to be closed to traffic, even John Connelly had to abandon his car and run to Turf Moor to have any chance of getting there on time. Unbelievable scenes, everybody in the area for some reason wanted to watch this one.

It was a game I attended as a young boy, I was dumbstruck never before had I seen so many people at The Turf, I entered the ground at the Bee Hole End with my dad, it took us ages to get to the top of the steps and into the ground, it was quite frightening really, I couldn't see a thing, I couldn't move by myself I was just being carried along with the sheer weight of people against me, but as was normal in those days, the little lads were picked up and passed down over the heads of the crowd, right down to the front and then over the wall and onto the edge of the pitch, I ended up that night just to the right of the goals, a brilliant vantage point. The game itself was played on a frozen pitch,totally opposite to the mudbath the previous Saturday at Valley Parade, but even though we hammered Bradford by 5 goals to 1 it wasn't a spectacular game of football, but the majority of this huge crowd went home ecstatic as our opponents in the quarter final were none other than Blackburn Rovers at Turf Moor.

This game actually attracted much criticism of the Staff at the club in the way it was handled from the spectators point of view.
In his programme notes the following week Harry printed the following statement:

An explanation in regard to the criticism of the arrangements made for the Cup-Tie replay with Bradford City by the Chairman, Directors and Management.

PRICES CHARGED TO BOYS: In the past the club has always followed the same procedure for Cup-Ties for which there has been no reduced admission charge for boys.

REGARDING OUR PUBLICITY OF THIS CONDITION: It is not true to say that no prior announcement was made of this rule, we paid for advertising space in the newspapers setting out the prices for admission to the stands, enclosures and ground. Furthermore, it was our experience on numerous occasions when selling tickets for the away game with Bradford City to find boy supporters asking NOT FOR A BOY'S TICKET, but an ADULT TICKET when they were offered a boy's ticket at a reduced price.

Now about CROWD PACKING.

It surely must be appreciated that no one had any prior knowledge of the number of people likely to attend the replay last Tuesday night. It far exceeded all our expectations.

Our gates this season have averaged 27,500. We are aware that Cup-Ties usually pull in more people, which is the reason why at important stages of the Cup competition matches are made all-ticket affairs. In this instance we did the next best thing, appealing to people to come early to avoid congestion and chaos by allowing time for effective marshalling. We understand that apparently, and unfortunately, it was around seven o'clock that the big invasion really developed. At that time many thousands of people converged on Turf Moor from all points of the compass, both on foot and by means of every kind of transport. Outside the ground, in spite of this, everything was kept orderly, but inside the ground many of the gangways and passages became jammed.

We feel sure after making very searching inquiries from all types of people that at KICK OFF TIME there were many pockets in the ground which were not full and that if the passages had been kept clear everyone would have been able to reach these sparsely-filled POCKETS.

WE ARE NOW MAKING EVERY ENDEAVOUR TO ELIMINATE THE POSSIBILITY OF THIS PROBLEM recurring at any future match and will be GRATEFUL for your kind co-operation by way of arriving a little earlier at our games and assisting by helping to keep the passages and gangways clear in order to facilitate the comfort of others.

WE DO MOST HUMBLY APOLOGISE TO ANYONE WHO WAS INCONVENIENCED LAST TUESDAY EVENING. Please be assured that the whole of the management of the club are aware of the dangers and upsets and will always endeavour to ensure YOU being able to watch football here at Turf Moor under comfortable conditions.

The programme itself was a very uninspiring 8 page affair costing 3d, with not much content of interest but it was good to see that the Clarets were welcomed with the words OUR ATTRACTIVE VISITORS.

There was one small advertisement in the programme which caught my eye, which was for people to give up smoking, I just wonder what exactly the Stanwood treatment consisted of.