1962 Pools cup tie has links to famous names

There’s nothing particularly exceptional about that information, but what is notable regarding the fixture is that Tom Burlison went on from an impressive career as a footballer (148 league appearances for Hartlepools) to a very successful career as a Labour Party politician, concluding his political endeavours as Baron Burlison of Rowlands Gill. He was the first former professional footballer to take a seat in the House of Lords – and he was a Poolie!

That’s quite something, and certainly a distinguished credit for the club, but, on a more personal level, the fixture carries a frustrating note regarding another matchday participant who, like Tom Burlison, went onto greater things. I have the programme from the match, and I also used to have the original hand-typed commentary notes belonging to the matchday commentator that day, none other than the great Kenneth Wolstenholme.

Wolstenholme, of course, four years after that match at Craven Cottage, was the commentator for the 1966 World Cup Final, when England famously beat West Germany 4-2. My frustration stems from the fact that I have somehow mislaid those typed notes and, despite searching high and low for them, I can’t find them anywhere. I would dearly love to find them again and reunite them with the programme, to keep amongst my Pools souvenirs.

Tom Burlison moved on from his days as a footballer to the corridors of power in Westminster. Kenneth Wolstenholme achieved international fame as a commentator held in high renown. Who could have predicted such successes, that January day in London!

Another nice little connection stemming from that game is the fact that Tom Burlison scored his goal that afternoon when he was in the box against George Cohen, the Fulham and England full-back who would also feature in that 1966 final. “I found myself in the area with the ball and somehow it got through the legs of Cohen,” Tom told The Northern Echo in 1993. 

I may or may not ever locate my missing commentary notes (I find it hard to believe I’ve actually lost them!), but at least I have been able to enjoy joining the dots between some of the characters who were involved in that 1962 cup tie.