PLAYED FOR BOTH: GLEN LITTLE

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Ahead of Saturday's match with Sheffield United we caught up with the former Clarets and Blades winger

2023-12-01T16:00:00.000Z

PLAYED FOR BOTH: GLEN LITTLE

Ahead of Saturday's match with Sheffield United we caught up with the former Clarets and Blades winger

2023-12-01T16:00:00.000Z

Ahead of Saturday's match with Sheffield United we caught up with the former Clarets and Blades winger

Glen Little will always hold a special place in the hearts of Clarets fans and it was under the legendary Stan Ternent where his Burnley career will always be remembered.

Although he is best remembered for his seven years at Burnley, the midfielder also spent a season in the Championship later in his career with this Saturday's visitors Sheffield United.

Ternent certainly brought the best out of Glen who was an idol of the supporters and a key figure in Burnley’s return to the Championship in 2000.

A right-winger, Little’s style was highly effective and the former Reading man has special memories from his years at Turf Moor: “Straight away when I heard of Burnley's interest, I thought what an opportunity,” said Little.

“Having been a local lad at Palace I grew up at 10 years from nine-years old and ended up at Glentoran.

“I came from Glentoran and it was a big step up. The Turf was a great place to play. It was something of a rollercoaster but I had a great time.

"It was such a shame that I didn’t get to play in the Premier League for Burnley, although I am delighted that they did get there later.”

“I was excited really to play professionally in England. Straight away I’d been there a month then I was playing in the third round of the FA Cup then Liverpool at Anfield. I went from playing in front of 3,000 people at Cliftonville to then sitting on the bench at Anfield.

“Early on there was a game against Bury managed by Stan and that was live on Sky, it was the first time I’ve ever been on Sky, even though I’d just signed.”

Little had a keen eye for goal too and scored the winner as the Clarets clinched promotion to Division One at Scunthorpe in May 2000.

The first two seasons at the higher level were successful, with Burnley just missing out on the play-offs both times. Little reached his peak early in the 2001/02 season as the Clarets’ starman as Ternent’s side topped the table and looked on course for promotion to the Premier League.

“We just missed out on the play-offs in my first season, I remember going to a few games and I was the dreaded 15th man!

"We got to the end of the season and Adrian Heath had left, Stan Ternent came in again, it was a real struggle and we did well to stay up, there was a lot of excitement when Ian Wright came in, I scored the winning goal at Scunthorpe and that was it.

“For the majority of my career, Burnley and Reading were my two clubs. When I look back at my time, I would have loved to have helped Burnley to get in the Premier League.

"I think we were the only team to be top at Christmas, not to reach the play-offs. I would have loved to have played in the Premier League with Burnley, but I was delighted that it worked out well with Reading."

Despite spending only a season in the Championship with Sheffield United, Little only had praise about the club and it's supporters.

“It’s a great place to play,” he said. “I didn’t play many games at Sheffield United. But they still had 28/29,000 on a cold Tuesday night.

"As an away player, there was always a great atmosphere. I don’t know why it was Stan and Neil Warnock, but as a player you always knew it was a big game, there was a bit of needle between the two managers. For Reading, there was always us and Sheffield United in the play-offs and we always seemed to go up together.

“I had one season at Sheffield United. It’s a great club. Both Burnley and Sheffield United have gone up and not got going yet, which is a shame. It's a big game this weekend for both teams."