Chairman
Peter Pike
Peter Pike started supporting the Clarets in 1946/47 in the first season after the war when Burnley won promotion to the old First Division and also got to Wembley in the Cup Final. Has supported the team in the very good days and also the very gloomy days.
Was the Member of Parliament for Burnley from 1983 to 2005 and prior to that was Leader of Burnley Borough Council.
Joined the Trust on the night it was formed and became a Board Member on retiring as MP. In 2005 also became Chair of the Trust. In Parliament was Secretary of the All Party Football Group.
Believes Burnley Football Club is of great importance to Burnley as a whole and firmly puts the town on the map.
Terry Hephrun
Born, bred and living in Burnley, Clarets supporter for 60 years. Married to Janet with two (fairly) grown up daughters – all four of us are season ticket holders in James Hargreaves Upper.
Civil servant for 35 years working in various parts of the North of England. Second career working for a charity/voluntary organisation in Burnley for 12 years until retirement in September 2014.
Other interests/roles include Secondary School Governor, Trustee/Director of Burnley Leisure, active member of KSC and Catenians, voluntary work for Cabinet Office and the Lancashire Lieutenancy. Loves most sport and currently trying to relive youth by playing walking football
Martin Barnes
Hello!
I have been involved with the Trust since its inception in 2006, having filled several positions on the board. I am now the membership secretary and have been for quite a few years now!
Originally from Brierfield, via Bradford, Wrexham, Paris, Bolton and now Sheffield, I have also been the editor of Burnley fanzine “When The Ball Moves…” since March 2000 and have had a season ticket since the Ian Wright-inspired mini season ticket offer.
I now travel to the games with one of my three children, and they help keep me busy, as you can imagine! My eldest is now playing the game, and I have a level one FA coaching qualification and am planning to start my refereeing training ready to don the uniform for the 2017-18 season…
Up The Clarets!
John Trippier
My name is John Trippier and I have been a member of the Clarets’ Trust Board for over ten years.
I have followed the Clarets ‘man and boy’ since the early 1960s. Although I was just too late (or young) to have been present at Maine Road for the Football League Championship winning game in 1960 and the Cup Final of 1962. I have been present at most other important matches in the Club’s subsequent history even though I played in local football for most of the late 60s and 70s.
During the 1980s I decamped from the Northwest to London and became an active member of the London Supporters Club which was (and continues to be) one of my most pleasurable times watching Burnley even during the dark days of the 1980s.
I am a great believer in increased supporter involvement in the affairs of professional football clubs at all levels of the game and it has been my pleasure to have been involved through the Clarets Trust in moving in this direction at Burnley, an initiative that I hope will continue for many years to come.
Mike Benyon
I was born within a mile of Turf Moor on Reed Street and with my father being a season ticket holder I was always destined to be a Clarets fan. Taken by my father to my first match on 14 March 1959 by 1962/63 I had bought my first season ticket & have since held one for 47 years. The exceptions being the eight bleak seasons from 1983/84 to 1990/91.
Educated at Heasandford Primary & Junior Schools & then Burnley Grammar School I began working for the Inland Revenue in 1966 in Burnley before a move down south in early 1978 initially to Stevenage office & then Bedford office for seven years. A move to HMRC head office in London followed in 1987 with a final posting in the Treasury building. Early retirement was taken at the end of 2006.
After being brought up in the Queensgate area of Burnley the work move south brought residence in Sandy, Bedfordshire before a move to Bedford itself, where I still live. I joined the London Clarets in 1977, in anticipation of the move south, and become treasurer 1991, a position I still hold. I have also been the match ticket officer for six of the last eight seasons.
I was an early member of CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale Ltd), joining in 1975, & was chairman of the East Lancashire branch in 1977/78. A spell on the sidelines followed until joining the North Bedfordshire branch committee in 1983 & becoming treasurer of both branch & Bedford beer festival, positions still held. Becoming active nationally I began working at the CAMRA’s Great British Beer Festival in 1985 & was its treasurer in 1991 to 2013 before standing down on health grounds.
I am now also the treasurer of the Clarets Trust, having been co-opted onto the Board in that role on 26 May 2012 then formally elected to the Board at the AGM on 8 June 2013.
Jane Pike
Growing up a stones throw from Turf Moor it was inevitable I’d become a lifelong Burnley fan. I would plead with my dad to take me on to matches in the 1970s when sadly football wasn’t the friendliest of environments for a little girl. I’ve flown the flag for Burnley wherever I’ve gone – travelling back from University just to make it to crunch games in the early 90s, to wandering off in the Salt pans in Bolivia to get radio reception for the final scores.
I spent 20 years living in London – working both in Parliament and in the voluntary sector on policy, research and campaign projects: including – among other things, work on homelessness; food safety policy; and supporting the All Party Parliamentary Football Group (I ensured Burnley FC were invited to give evidence to an enquiry into governance of football).
I was actively involved with the London Clarets, serving on the Committee for 10 years or so: representing the Supporters Club at APFSCIL (the Association of Provincial Supporters Clubs in London) which shared and sought to progress shared concerns and issues like travel to games, as assisting Editor and then Editor in Chief of the bi-monthly magazine “Something to Write Home About”.
So a varied past! I returned to the North in 2012 and was co-opted to the Clarets Trust a couple of years later before being elected to the Board. A chronic illness sufferer (with M.E.), I remain a season ticket holder at Burnley. There’s no doubting the importance of the Club within the town – Burnley FC plays a pivotal role in the community and, as the largest small shareholder, I hope to see the Trust’s role develop as lynchpin between community, club and a voice for the small shareholders.
Tim Blackledge
My family moved to Burnley in 1990. I have been a Burnley supporter since my first game against Nottingham Forest, in the league cup second leg, on 10th of October that year. From that game I went to every home game as well as reserve team matches up until I left Burnley.
I left the town in the early 90’s and haven’t lived in the area since – with stints in the USA, Brighton, Nottingham and Aberystwyth over the years. I now live with my wife in Penrhyn Bay, just outside Llandudno.
I joined the trust in 2012 and, following a request for help, started working on the site in 2013.