12 www.burnleyexpress.net Friday, May 1, 2015BURNLEY EXPRESS

“It is a privilege to repre-sent Burnley FC. It’s very spe-cial to go to a Cup Final and I’m really looking forward to it.”

More than 1,300 people ap-plied to take part in the pre-game ceremony, where the hymn has been a permanent fixture since it was first per-formed in 1927.

The collection of fans, with ages ranging from early 20s to

100, will join The Band of The Bridge of Gurkhas and will be led by Songs of Praise conduc-tor Steve Thompson.

Margaret is a season-ticket holder at Turf Moor and her successful competition entry recounted her visit to watch Burnley take on Tottenham Hotspur in the 1962 final.

“The noise and sheer size of the stadium was unbelievable.

Belting it out for ClaretsOne lucky Clarets supporter is thrilled after being selected to join a football fan choir and sing “Abide With Me” at this year’s FA Cup final.Margaret Lupton, from Colne, will represent the Clarets when she takes to the Wem-bley pitch on May 30th as one of 64 Songs of Praise competi-tion winners.

The BBC invited support-ers to submit stories that reflected their personal mem-ories and passion for the cup, with individuals from all the clubs who made this season’s Third Round being selected.

The 67-year-old said: “It’s obviously very exciting news. I’ve known for a couple of weeks now unofficially, but had to wait until Friday to be able to tell everybody.

“I’m not really nervous. I don’t have any recent expe-rience of singing, but with so many of us there is strength in numbers.

By Ben Pringleben.pringle@jpress.co.uk@pendlenews

Margaret now and on her last visit in 1962

The crowd was 100,000 strong back then,” she said.

“As a fashion conscious 14 year old, I was not happy to be told I must wear my school uniform so that I could be eas-ily spotted in the crowds.

“My dad managed to secure two tickets, but wanted to take both me and my elder sister to Wembley. Optimistically, he hoped to be able to purchase

a third ticket outside the sta-dium. Sadly, the ticket touts would not release their tick-ets at a reasonable price, and he ended up listening to the match standing by a transis-tor radio at an ice-cream van.

“He then had to drive us back home to Lancashire (a round trip of just under 500 miles) and to cap it all, Burnley lost 3-1!” That wasn’t Marga-ret’s first trip to the famous old stadium, having watched Bol-ton Wanderers defeat Man-chester United in the 1958 showpiece event as a present for passing the 11+ exam.

“We made a full day out of it, sight-seeing in the morn-ing, then the match followed by the Victoria Palace Theatre in the evening to see the Crazy Gang,” she said.

While it may be some time before the Clarets are back at Wembley again, she remains proud of her team in what has been a challenging campaign.

“It’s a special season for us. They’ve played their hearts out, so this will round off the season very nicely for me,” she said.

Margaret now and on her last visit in 1962

A teenager armed himself with a hammer, smashed s o m e w i n d o w s a n d punched a boy after he was accused of stealing his can-nabis stash.

The 17-year-old had lost his temper after the vic-tim’s house in Colne was ransacked and he turned up at the defendant’s home, pointing the finger at him.

The teenager broke windows at the victim’s property, causing £200 damage and punched him in the face, Burnley Youth Court was told.

The defendant told the bench: “I’m really sorry about what happened. He caused it. He was threaten-ing me. I don’t take nicely to people threatening me.”

He was accompanied to court by his mother and admitted assault by beat-ing and criminal damage. He was sentenced to a six month referral order and the magistrates made £270 compensation orders.

Teenager went on a rampage in temper

On MAY 7th - VOtE LABOURBECAUSE BURnLEY AnD PADIhAM DESERVES BEttERThe Lib Dem’s have betrayed Burnley and Padiham byjoining forces with the Tories.the Lib Dem tory Government has:

Cut funding here by over 50%Scrapped funds forhousing regenerationDecimated ourpublic servicestrebled tuition feesBrought in the bedroom taxMassively increasedzero hours contractsPushed thousands of workingpeople into needing to use foodbanks.given a huge tax cut to millionaires .

A catalogue of broken promises is the legacy of our LiberalDemocrat MP. Burnley and Padiham deserves better.

A BEttER PLAn – A BEttER FUtUREFOR BURnLEY AnD PADIhAMLabour will balance the books in a fairer way.Labour will:

Reverse the coalition tax break for millionairesScrap the Bedroom taxGuarantee a GP appointment in 48 hoursIncrease theMinimumWage to£8 / hour before 2020Freeze energybills until 2017Guarantee everyyoung person ajob or training

Julie CooperPromoted by Burnley Labour Party on behalf of Julie Cooper all at 2 Victoria Street, Burnley BB11 1DD

Vote May 7th | Polls open 7am - 10pm