The fortunes of perennial strugglers Burnside Athletic changed in the summer of 1985 with the remarkable free transfer signing of Johnny Dexter. Out of favour at Danefield United, The Hard Man's reputation put off big clubs from making an approach. With only one offer on the table, Dexter had no choice and rocked up at the run down industrial town of Burnside.
The Athletic had been stuck at the foot of the Fourth Division for years, having been forced to apply for reelection in three of the past four seasons. A rag tag bunch of football misfits and never had beens, were led by wheelchair bound manager Ted North.
Dexter's surprise arrival led to an immediate improvement in effort and training. Promising young forwards David Race (no relation to Roy) and Winston Baker finally found themselves with chances to score. Dexter's presence in midfield alongside the aged former Melchester Rovers star Terry West, added a steel that allowed the widemen and West to be far more creative.
However, the Athletic's progress was always going to be stumped by their terrible goalkeeper Rod Stacey. The promise shown in the opening two matches, a win and a draw, could not mask the fact that Burnside desperately needed a reliable man between the sticks and Johnny Dexter knew someone who would fit the bill. So, in came Martin Jarvis, the experienced Danefield reserve and his calm assuredness gave his defenders confidence. Billy Mulligan and Sid Bader, two previously erratic performers were all of a sudden providing a solidity not seen at the back before.
A fine run in the league and League Cup followed, including a fine 3-2 win over Second Division Brunton Rovers. But, bad luck would strike in the next league game as Jarvis was injured. Without their new goalie, Athletic would fall to a 4-1 defeat.
The draw for the Fourth Round was a dream return to Danefield for Dexter, but with Stacey back in goal, pundits gave Burnside no chance. However, they put up a great fight against a side packed with internationals, unluckily going down 3-2.
Stacey's terrible early season form returned as he conceded ten goals in the next two matches, in 4-0 and 6-0 defeats. It seemed Burnside's season was over and with the news that Ted North was resigning to travel to America for miracle surgery, the players were worried.
But, the Dexter effect was in full swing as he rallied his troops, before the greatest manager in the world, Viktor Boskovic, made the shocking decision to join his former captain at one of the smallest clubs in the land.
Boskovic is widely regarded as a managerial genius, his tactics and training regimes able to bring out the best in any player. And with a full strength side to pick from, he soon had Burnside flying up the table. An 8-1 win in April took Burnside to second place with four matches left. But thanks to an untimely injury and flu crisis, promotion was far from certain.
It took a goal from Viktor himself to secure a vital win.
In the final match, Burnside could only manage a 1-1 draw, but the point proved enough to secure fourth place and promotion to the Third Division.
While preparing for their first season in the third tier in many years, shocking news came through from the Middle Eastern oil state of Basran - eight Melchester Rovers players had been killed in terrorist attack. Roy Race needed to urgently rebuild his side, Dexter was an obvious choice to add much needed experience to a young squad and left with everyones blessing.
Viktor Boskovic decided to stay on and no doubt led his players on many whacky adventures in the Third Division.
Players:
Rod Stacey GK 1
Martin Jarvis GK 1 Signed from Danefield United
Sid Bader RB 2
Terry Smith LB 3
Steve White CB 4
Billy Mulligan CB 5 Irish
Johnny Dexter CM 6 Signed on free from Danefield United
Terry Tidsly RM 7
Terry West CM 8 Former Melchester Rovers star
Winston Baker CF 9 or 10
David Race CF 9 or 10 No relation to Roy
Mike Shadfield WG 11
Tim Walters CM 12 Replaces Dexter in midfield
Ted North Manager Broke both his legs about ten years, manager at Burnside for last two years - can't walk - resigns 8th Feb to go to US for operation
Viktor Boskoivc Manager Left Danefield
Sam Todd Trainer
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