Episode 5 Late Kick Off North West

With their chairman stepping down, could Burnley be the next North

West club to be taken over by foreign owners? Welcome to Late

Also tonight. Been there only interview together, burly chairman

Barry Kilby and his wife talk about his cancer, the club and the kind

of successor he does not want. A touch of frost at Tranmere - the

story of the dreaded pitch inspection. Holding back the years,

reuniting to likely lads on the Isle of Man. Also... Just what was

the answer that had the Morecambe team in stitches? Stay tuned for

another cracking One On One. With us in the studio tonight, the

Chairman of Macclesfield Town, Mike Rance, and the man in charge of our

top performing League One team, Bury boss Richie Barker. Welcome,

gentlemen. More in a moment. First, he's been at the helm of his

hometown club for 13 years, guided them through financial peril and

eventually into the Premier League. But last week, Burnley chairman

Barry Kilby announced he was stepping down for health reasons.

Barry and his wife enjoyed -- agreed to one interview after the

state he will leave the club then and his concerns. That interview

was for Late Kick Off. I started by asking Sonia about his cancer.

is a dreadful patient. We do not do sickness. As Alastair Campbell said.

We do not like being treated any differently so life goes on

normally. Did it cross your mind to try and battle on while fighting?

Yes, because it is a massive wrench after being somewhere for 30 years

and being chairman. But looking at this dinner cold light of day, it

is the right decision. You are staying on as a director. How

important is that? I want to keep my connection, and I can do. Yes, I

will not walk away. How do you feel about that, Sonia? There are family

barriers and professional barriers, is there a danger he would just be

as attentive with the club has ever? That will not change but we

have always done this as a family, we have been to all of the matches

as a unit and my sons, as often as possible and the other kids. People

know that I am tears to protective but this is his absolute love and

it has been a tough 13 years, long at times, but we have thoroughly

enjoyed it. There have been remarkable stories and some

headlines about television and messages from the fans. What do you

both make of that? I have been overwhelmed, it has been touching

so many people, they have got in touch, people from back over those

13 years and also the Burnley fans, which has been overwhelming. It is

quite humbling, really. I have been very moved. We had a few tears this

week because the message boards have been tremendous and people

within that football fraternity have been amazing, people who have

moved on, it has been a very emotional. Or on the day you step

down, where is the club financially? We aren't decent shape.

We are negotiating and we have the parachute money that will run out

and you have to think of the contracts and as to what you will

do but we are in good shape, we'll have no external debt and we have

good directors. They can support the club. And you're a successor?

We don't want names, but what kind of qualities does he have to have

and where might you come from? Someone in the wings? We need

somebody to buy shares to do that. The current board, the five of us,

four other directors and what happens in practice is the

directors of the company elect the chairman. There will be five of us

at the end of me and I would think the chairman will emerge from the

other four directors that are already here. Someone from outside,

they would have to be a shareholder of a certain size and come from the

outside. Outside is an interesting word. Outside, elsewhere, has led

to problems but they are not fans of Burnley. The big chains that I

have seen have been in 13 years is the influx of foreign owners. Only

eight teams in the Championship who do not have English honours. People

coming from the outside, totally alien to the place, that has been

the big change. And that has happened in football. I don't think

there many Russians are Arabs, to Burnley! If someone came sniffing

from Russia or the Middle East, would you use your shares to

caution against that? You only have to look at clubs where people have

had to look at buying back and things going wrong and it's easy to

walk away and leave a big mess. If that did happen, we would be really

careful. But it is up to the shareholders. We have over 2000

shareholders. It is a real community club. Has been chairman

in hamster lives or has it been a trial? I would not swap this for

anything. The emotional roller- coaster, you deal with that, it

becomes like an addictive drug because it is in your blood and it

does dominate your life. I cannot think of anything better, I was 49

became here. I had sold my business and I really cannot think of

anything better to carry on her life with. 13 years coming to an

end, what has been the high point? Promotions, Cup finals, they're

easy, but for me, stepping down, it is the knowledge that Burnley is a

championship team now. We are gripped with bigger provincial

cities. We are natural bedfellows, rather than the lower leagues which

he seems to be destined for forever. It isn't spectacular but that is

the high. Everybody at Late Kick Off which is Barry very well for

the future. Is the role of the chairman undervalued in football?

It isn't necessarily undervalued but understood -- misunderstood.

You have to make difficult decisions and like Barry, if you

have a passion for the club, sometimes those decisions don't

seem to add up for supporters. supporters' have no idea what it is

like to be chairman. Those sleepless nights, worrying about

finances and the performance. is right. It is difficult to get

that message across to people, that ultimately, it has to be a business

to an extent, if not more than a business. You have to make sure

that the numbers add up each week. And that sometimes is a challenge.

Why do you do it? My wife asks me that all the time! I love it. I

love the game, I have a real passion. It is one way we you can

make a difference to the local community. Briefly, what about the

players? I they aware of what happens at the board level? Does it

matter or will they just carry on? I do not think they are aware of it

but when something like this comes out, it will hit the players hard

but when I moved into management, you attend board meetings and meet

the chairman and you realise how much work goes in. The thank you

both very much. The Kilbys were on the south coast at the weekend for

Burnley's match with Southampton. But Sarah Mulkerrins starts her

Championship roundup on the Fylde coast with Blackpool. Unbeaten in

2012 and placed in 4th in the table, Blackpool were looking to continue

this promotion clash against Portsmouth on Saturday. Just before

the break, the form book was upset to put the visitors ahead.

Blackpool persevered with a late challenge against Stephen Crainey.

The shot curled and beautifully to give Blackpool the home draw.

Burney travelled to Southampton for the second best away form and the

Championship but that form eluded them on Saturday. Eight minutes

afterwards, this cross from Southampton soon found Adam Lallana

and he headed the Somme. Then something the Clarets will want to

forget. This scrappy goal credited to Billy Sharp. Not a great day out

on the south coast for any high's Burnley. A disappointing weekend

for our Championship teams, then. Let's see how it has affected their

promotion chances. Blackpool remain in the playoff places but Burnley

have lost ground on the top six and are now five points off the pace.

Without a win in 13, Tranmere Rovers were desperate for

Saturday's game against Preston to go ahead. But even though they had

the covers on at Prenton Park since last Tuesday, the game was still in

doubt on Saturday morning because of last week's freezing weather.

Andy Johnson was there as the referee made the decision as to

whether the game could go ahead. Prenton Park, Saturday morning. No

visible sign of frost but parts of the pitch are causing concern.

have got to areas on the touchlines and it is strange because on one

step it is soft on born on the next it is very hard so we have decided

to have another look at 11 am. We will save there is any improvement

and if so, we might get the game on. Said and put it, it is a waiting

game? That was the one decision we did not want to have to make. We

wanted yes or no. That is the way it is, I can see why he has done

this. He desperately want the game to go ahead? The boys are excited,

they want to come back from that disappointing result last week.

They have been really up for this all week. An hour later and it's

decision time. It last week at Scunthorpe the entire pitch was

frozen. This area, that seems to be getting better. No difference here.

No change. With that element of doubt, we might play safe and the

sensible decision is to call this off. OK? Preston were due to travel

at 11.30am half so calls have to be made. Disappointment all round. We

have worked hard all week. We had the covers on since Monday.

Temperatures at midweek have beaten us. Down to around minus five

degrees. The frost covers only work to around minus four degrees. We

had the slight increase in temperature during the week. What

this has beaten us in the end. We would need another three degrees.

Key 80% of the pitch is playable but those two frozen parts near the

touchline mean the game has to be called off and it isn't just

frustrating for players, managers and fans what it's about money.

This costs clubs like Tran mere delay. We it is costly, as well as

financially, it is frustrating. Because of the weather, we always

anticipate that this could be the case. It was one of those cases

where on the catering side, that is a big loss, we spoke to the chef

and said, we will look at menus that we can possibly key next week.

On that side, we have done well. The programme is always difficult

so we had to go to print. We will look to rearrange this within the

next couple of weeks. More from Les on the pressures on him a moment

but you must be able to identify It is a real problem. The earlier

you call it the better it is because you can plan things behind

the scenes. If it is a late call it is very different -- difficult.

do you cope preparing your team if you know it it will probably be

off? He would rather say there is no chance, then you can organise

training, the players know when they will be in or off. But when it

gets back late you have prepared on a Friday for the game to go ahead,

when the game is off, where you go from there? Q What already prepared

to, it is a fairly easy day, and then you have had three or four

days off. Preparations generally are going well. Your season is

swimming along. It was up until the frost came along. To be sitting

The start of the season, just come up, if I had said February, it you

To be sitting 10th or 11th now, above some of the teams we are

above, way beyond what we expected. What has happened this season? Have

the players come up a stage and realise they can hold their own?

That took a while to stop most of our -- most of our players hadn't

played in League One for a while. It was a matter of convincing them

they were good enough to play at that level. Obviously we have lost

four, sold four, but he was a matter through September where we

had a difficult time but it was about that self-belief, working and

letting them believe they could succeed. Losing Ryan Lowe must have

been a challenge. When we told him he had scored seven in seven. The

top scorer in the whole of the Football League. For a club of

outside to lose a player like that was a big blow. Bash away size. He

took some replacing. Andy bishop stepped up. You have hinted at the

expectation, people will be saying why can't we do the play-offs?

have had some letters where play- offs are not only hope for, they

are expected. A good place to be. Fantastic. We would rather be where

we are than sitting third, 4th, 5th from bottom but we have got to get

from 50 points. If we get there from end -- from then onwards we

will see where we are. Bottom club at home coming up? It might not

mean anything. With the pressing game off Les Parry missed the

chance to improve on Tranmere's run. Andy Johnson asked him if he was

feeling the heat. I suppose I am. No good kidding you are not. You

start worrying about games a little bit more then you would do, killing

of your tracks a little bit more than you did do before. -- going

over. I don't feel pressure for my job. But when I go, which they will

go, whether tomorrow or three years, we don't know, I will shrug my

shoulders and say thank you very much, I have done my best. I don't

think anybody could have done any better. That will be it. At the

moment it is not a worry about my own position. It is a worry about

the club. I hold it dear to my heart. The margins for success and

failure are so small. 12 points away from the play-off places,

seven from the drop zone. A few results either way make a big

difference. Yes. And within those games it is a thin line. Last week

we thought we had equalised in the 92nd minute, the linesman decided

to give it offside. We showed it to the lads on Monday. Half the squad

said yes, half said it wasn't. That is how close it was. We are on the

back of 52-One defeats on the posts away from home and the last three

we have been leading -- 5, 2-1 defeat. Tran where are away to

Carlisle tomorrow night. -- Tranmere. The only other game to

get -- team to get a game at the weekend was more come. They were

inches from taking the lead when Phil Jevons lifted the ball past

the home keeper. Rovers went ahead in the second half. Lee Brown with

a final touch. They doubled their lead from the spot after Danny

Carlton. The Shrimps got back into the game three minutes from time.

The substitute Neil Eid and a point at the death but this was Sue Brian

On to Macclesfield, not a very healthy lead position, what is the

mood like? I think it is still positive. We

have a great cup run. That has got in a way of our league performances.

We have had a really seriously rash of injuries but we are playing

Morgan tomorrow, fingers crossed. was going to talk about the

injuries, perhaps the weather has come to your aid, given them the

chance to recover. The ones that are fit, difficult to train in

these conditions so you lose a bit as well.

You mentioned your cup run, but the league run, what do you say as

chairman to Gary Simpson? How do you operate? We talk a lot. There

is never a day I don't talk to him. You are not tempted to pick his

team for him? I do but he ignores me. He knows we have got to get the

show back on the road and get some points on the board, hope filly

tomorrow night. We alluded to it earlier round, at the stresses of

being a chairman. What is the strain of running a club like

Macclesfield? Substantial in many ways. Particularly if you're

drifting downwards. Great to be in the top half and looking upwards.

We were there not long before Christmas and that makes things

easier. I wouldn't relish another relegation battle and neither would

Gary. Used to play for Macclesfield. Have they got the ability to haul

themselves up the table? They have got some young players, obviously

the size of the club they have had a good record recently of bringing

young players through and moving them on. I don't think there is

anything in it. Obviously bigger clubs in League Two now. Outside

the top three or four they have got a real chance of getting Bacup

there. I must ask you about the new ground.

We are making progress. I was talking to one of the key members

of the Cabinet on Cheshire East this morning. We are still a way

away from making it happen but the town once the stadium and the

council has been supportive. Just to give the fans some level of hope,

five years, 10 years, two years? Not as short as to, hopefully not

as long as five, definitely not as long as 10.

Anybody who saw last week's programme will never forget that a

baby swan is called a cygnet, or a duck if you play for Crewe. It is

the turn of more come to take on Who won the men's 200 metres at the

Beijing Olympics? Usain Bolt. What It spread! -- it is bread! What is

What is the capital of a Australia? Melbourne. Sydney. Brisbane. Perth.

I am sure it is Melbourne. I should know this. Canberra. I knew that.

Hearse. It is called a fall. -- foal.

Another one next week. Rick old men in the early 90s, the hold of the

leak. Which is topped it was finding the net. While Andy crops

up on the sofa, what happened to Rick? He moved to the Isle of Man

and his in the physio business and popped across to relive the good

old days. The one thing we all want is a winner's medal. It meant

everything to actually be successful. You hate that

On a Friday, remember we used to bring the biscuits in. It became a

big competition. See who would bring in the most sweet. Somebody

brought fruit in. That was ridiculous. That turned into a

freak throwing competition. It did. I remembered Joe coming in, it was

in full flow, bananas and apples and everything. You had just thrown

one right into the corner near the door. As it hit the wall Joe had

just opened... He just turned and walked out. He did you really think

was the Golden nugget in that team that got promotion? The best player

we had to who should have played for England was Ian Marshall.

chips it up, Marshall! The X Aberdonian has hit a beautiful goal.

-- ever Tony in. Never got the credit he deserved. Didn't get the

England caps he deserved. I didn't, you don't know. A lot of players

were playing for England and they were not as good. Every week we

used to destroy them in the Premier League or First Division. I knew we

had England nationals in that squad that went. Marshall, to me, was the

best all-round player. He had I used to love the Rover's old

ground, the smell, the surroundings. Kicking the beggars outside the

dressing rooms, it was that small. How many years now? 16th year, this.

That hiatus they used caused at Barnsley. I visited to and fro.

thought of retiring? You are joking, I have got three kids. He doesn't

quite have the pace. Or does he? A bit short, Richie! Andy Ritchie.

The best thing about being a professional footballer, wake up in

the morning, have breakfast, down to train, what a privilege. It is a

short career, you have got to make the most of it. People don't

appreciate how difficult it is when you come out of it to get on with

the rest of your life. It might be a distinguished career but it ends

up extinguished and you have got to do something else. That is really

difficult. Good stuff. Can't help noticing how

many of his anecdotes revolve around feet.

We may have had precious little football at the weekend but all our

boss but Richard's and will remain in charge at Rotherham. All

coverage on your BBC local radio Thank you very much to my guest.

Good luck against Chesterfield, it you are at Morecambe. We are always