"Were we ready to get to the next level?" - Marlon Beresford on Burnley's Wembley win in 1994 and promotion to the First Division

But he wonders whether the side, in just their second season in the third tier after winning the Fourth Division, were promoted too soon.

Beresford joined the Clarets from Sheffield Wednesday for £100,000 in September 1992, just as Burnley were adapting to the Second Division after seven years in the basement.

The club would finish mid-table that season under Jimmy Mullen, and they went on to finish six the year after, beating Stockport County 2-1 at Wembley in the play-off final.

Burnley had been 12 points behind Plymouth Argyle - who they beat in the semi-final - and County in the table, having only won four away games, compared to 17 at Turf Moor.

And they were immediately relegated from the First Division the following season.

Mullen managed to land Chris Vinnicombe, Liam Robinson and Mark Winstanley that summer, with the likes of John Gayle, Kurt Nogan and Steve Thompson also recruited that season, but it wasn't enough to prevent the drop.

Beresford said: "Wembley has got to be the stand out, looking back, I played every game my first two seasons, and it ended in the final at Wembley, which was fantastic.

"Stockport were a good side, they had big Kevin Francis, who was a thorn in anyone's defence. They were 12 points ahead, but they didn't help themselves by having two sent off! Total stupidity.

"I don't think I had much to do that day, it was relatively comfortable for me.

"That summer, Jimmy tried to keep the team together, when, with hindsight, we needed to, not rebuild, but add to it at a higher level.

"Maybe a few more signings would have helped us to maybe consolidate.

"He kept with the bulk of the lads who had been promoted, and unfortunately it didn't work out.

"If you look back, were we ready to get to the next level?

"We'd finished sixth in the Second Division, just made the play-offs, and our away form that season wasn't great, I think we only won three.

"It was on the back of our home form that we got into the play-offs, so you just think maybe another season at that level and maybe the club could have established itself and maybe been better prepared."

Beresford was named in the PFA team of the season in 1994, and had made an instant impression at the club, with a string of superb saves on his debut against Rotherham in 1992, before saving a penalty against Chester in his second outing - something he would become renowned for.

He had been eager to play first team football, having had his way to the side at Sheffield Wednesday barred by the likes of Kevin Pressman and Chris Woods, who would later take over the gloves from Beresford after his sale to Middlesbrough in 1998: "It was a great grounding at Sheffield Wednesday, with Howard Wilkinson, it was a tough upbringing, but I did my apprenticeship and was given a pro contract.

"I did the loan thing, and it's a great system for a kid coming through, going out to get experience, play some games and learn the trade.

"It just got to a point where I was coming up to 21, 22 and needed to get out and play regularly. The time was right.

"Pressman was there, Chris Woods, Chris Turner, and as much as Ron Atkinson was telling me at the time 'I'll give you your debut' - and I got close down at Luton, but it didn't happen, and Trevor Francis came in.

"He offered me a good contract for a young lad, but I just wanted to go and play.

"I met Jimmy Mullen one summer's afternoon, walked round the cricket field while the lads had a game of cricket going on - I remember Mono (Mark Monington) hitting a few fours and sixes!

"There used to be a game against the cricket club, a regular thing.

"But I walked round with Jimmy, met a few of the lads, and that was it really, a deal was done.

"I hadn't come across Jimmy before, even though he was ex-Sheffield Wednesday, and he was at Rotherham, it was the first time I'd met him.

"It took off straight away really, I remember playing Rotherham, 1-1 I think, and the feel was just right. I felt right, I was in a good place, had a good debut, it was a good fit and we clicked, the club, the fans."

Burnley had used five goalkeepers in winning the Fourth Division, and Beresford added: "I wasn't aware that they'd gone through a few keepers the season before, Pearcey was there, Dave Williams, they flitted around with a few keepers on loan, albeit they won the Fourth Division title.

"They'd done well but couldn't establish a number one, so it was a good fit.

"I wasn't really concious of the recent history, I just came along, wanted to do my job, to do well, and it's only later you look back and see that it was something of a transition period for the club and the town in general, coming through the Orient Game, getting out of the Fourth Division and getting established again.

"It was a turning point and a bit of an upward trend for the club, which was great.

"At the time, it was just right for me and I was enjoying playing football regularly."

In the first season after relegation from the First Division, Mullen was sacked in the February after four-successive defeats, and Beresford's old roommate was brought back as his replacement.

Burnley fell away in the last few games of Adrian Heath's first full season at the helm, finishing ninth, before he left to rejoin Howard Kendall at Everton.

Enter another of Beresford's former teammates: "Inchy was good, he was my roommate, I was close with him, then things change a little bit when he becomes manager.

"I got on fine with him, and it's no surprise he's done well in the States.

"It was good to see him get his chance at Burnley.

"We didn't quite make it in his first full season.

"Then Chris (Waddle) came in. That was a funny one, it came out of nowhere.

"He had no managerial experience.

"I was at Sheffield Wednesday with him when I was a young lad, and got on well with him, I had a good connection with Chris.

"I was on holiday in Portugal once and bumped into him, and had a couple of nights out with him, so I knew him from Sheffield quite well.

"It was surprising, the way he wanted to play, everything about him - you just thought 'he'll do well - but it didn't work out at all, and he's not been seen since as a manager.

"I enjoyed it, but it never worked. He brought a few players in, but it just didn't work for one reason or another.

"He probably needed to be a bit more pragmatic about the level he was at, how you needed to go about it."