I first became aware of Tony Waiters in the early 70’s.
Technically his playing career had already ended, yet here he was answering an emergency call at Burnley, whose first-choice goalkeeper of the time, Peter Mellor, had sustained an injury.
It was over three years since he’d last played, having announced his retirement at his only previous Football League club, Blackpool, when they suffered relegation in 1967. Between then and joining The Clarets he worked as a regional coach for the Football Association and then in youth development for Liverpool.
Waiters played another 38 league games for Burnley before retiring from playing a second time to concentrate on coaching, in 1972.