Burnley F.C.

One of the earliest photographed Burnley sides, with the Lancashire Cup in the middle of the photo

On 18 May 1882, members of Burnley Rovers Rugby Club gathered at the Bull Hotel in Burnley to vote for a shift from rugby union to association football, since other sports clubs in the area had changed their codes to association football and more income could be generated by playing football.[1] A large majority voted in favour of change of sports. A short time later, the club secretary, George Waddington, met with his committee and put forward another proposal, to drop "Rovers" from the club's name, thereby "adopting the psychological high ground over many other local clubs by carrying the name of the town", which the committee members unanimously agreed on.[2]

On 10 August, Burnley Football Club played its first-ever match as an association football club against local club Burnley Wanderers, winning 4–0. The club played the match in a blue and white kit, the colours of the former rugby club, at Calder Vale, which had been the home of Rovers Rugby Club.[3] Burnley's first competitive game was in October 1882 against Astley Bridge in the Lancashire Challenge Cup, that game ending in an 8–0 defeat.[4] In February 1883, the club was invited by Burnley Cricket Club to move to a pitch adjacent to the cricket field at Turf Moor. Both clubs have remained there since, and only Lancashire rivals Preston North End has continuously occupied the same ground for longer.[5]

That same year saw Burnley win its first honour as an association football club. The "Dr Dean Trophy" (later known as the "Hospital Cup"), a knockout competition between amateur clubs in the Burnley area, was won in a final played at the new home ground.[6] The tournament was created as a fundraiser for the town's proposed new hospital, and Burnley won the cup on multiple occasions in the following years.[6] By the end of 1883, the club turned professional and signed many Scottish players, who were regarded as the better footballers at the time.[4] As a result of turning professional, Burnley renounced joining the Football Association (FA) and its FA Cup, since the association refused to allow professional players.[7] In 1884, Burnley had led a group of 35 other clubs in forming a breakaway, the British Football Association, to challenge the supremacy of the FA.[7][8] This threat of secession was to lead to the legalisation of professionalism on 20 July 1885 by the FA, making the new body redundant.[8] Burnley's main rivals at this point were neighbours Padiham and the fiery matches between the two attracted up to 10,000 fans.[4]

Burnley made its first appearance in the FA Cup in 1885–86, but was ignominiously beaten 11–0 when eligibility restrictions meant that the reserve side had to be fielded against Darwen Old Wanderers, as professional players were nevertheless barred from playing in the FA Cup that year.[9] A year later, on 13 October 1886, Turf Moor became the first professional ground to be visited by a member of the Royal Family, when Queen Victoria's grandson, Prince Albert Victor, was in attendance for a match between Burnley and Bolton Wanderers, after he opened a new hospital in the town.[10] When it was decided to found the Football League for the 1888–89 season, Burnley was among the twelve founders of that competition, and one of the six clubs based in Lancashire.[11] Burnley's William Tait became the first player to score a hat-trick in league football in only the second match, when his three goals gave the Clarets an away win against Bolton Wanderers.[12] The club eventually finished ninth in the first season of the league, but only one place from bottom in 1889–90, following a 17-game winless streak at the start of the season.[13] That season did, however, present Burnley with its first professional honours, winning the Lancashire Cup with a 2–0 final victory over local rivals Blackburn Rovers.[14] Burnley was at this point also known as "The Turfites", "Moorites" or "Royalites" as a result of the name of their ground and the royal connection.[15]

Before the club won a trophy again, Burnley was relegated to the Second Division for the first time in 1896–97. The team responded to this by winning the league the next season, losing only two of 30 matches along the way before gaining promotion through a play-off series, then known as test matches.[16] Burnley and First Division club Stoke City both entered the last match, to be played between the two teams, needing a draw for promotion (or in Stoke's case to retain their First Division place). A 0–0 draw ensued, reportedly "The match without a shot at goal",[17] and the league immediately withdrew the test match system in favour of automatic promotion and relegation, after Burnley director and Football League Management Committee member Charles Sutcliffe had already made a proposal to discontinue the test matches.[18] Ironically, the league also decided to expand the top division after the test match series of 1897–98 and the other two teams also went into the top division for the following year, negating the effect of Burnley and Stoke City's reputed collusion.[17][19]

Burnley was relegated again in 1899–1900 and found itself at the centre of a controversy when the club's goalkeeper, Jack Hillman, attempted to bribe the opponents, Nottingham Forest, in the last match of the season, resulting in his suspension for the whole of the following season. It was the earliest recorded case of match fixing in football.[20] During the first decade of the 20th century, Burnley continued to play in the Second Division, even finishing in bottom place in 1902–03 (but was re-elected).[21] Alarming performances on the field mixed with a considerable debt saw manager Ernest Mangnall leave the club for Manchester United in October 1903.[21] In 1907, 30-year-old Burnley supporter Harry Windle was invited onto the Burnley board to become a director. Two years later, he was elected chairman, and under his guidance Burnley's finances turned around.[22] The club reached the quarter-finals of the 1908–09 FA Cup, in which it was eliminated by Manchester United in a replay. In the original match, on a snowy Turf Moor pitch, Burnley had lead 1–0, when the match was abandoned after 72 minutes.[23] In 1910, Mangnall's successor Spen Whittaker died, after he fell off a train.[24] Under new manager John Haworth, Burnley changed its colours from green to the claret and sky blue of Aston Villa, the most successful club in England at the time, for the 1910–11 season, as Haworth and the Burnley committee believed it might bring a change of fortune.[25] The tides did indeed turn the following season, when only a loss in the last game of the season denied the club promotion.[26]

King George V presents the 1914 FA Cup trophy to Burnley captain Tommy Boyle

The team photograph of the Championship-winning side in the 1920–21 season

Burnley continued to improve, as the 1912–13 season saw them win promotion to the First Division once more, as well as reaching the FA Cup semi-final, only to lose to Sunderland. The next season was one of consolidation in the top flight, but more importantly the first major honour, the FA Cup, was won, against fellow Lancastrians Liverpool in the final (1–0).[27] Ex-Evertonian Bert Freeman, whose father travelled from Australia to see his son play in the final,[28] scored the only goal, as Burnley became the first club to beat five First Division clubs in one cup season.[29] This was the last final to be played at Crystal Palace and King George V became the first reigning monarch to attend an FA Cup Final and to present the cup to the winning captain, in this case to Tommy Boyle.[29]

Burnley finished fourth in the First Division in 1914–15, before English football was suspended during wartime. Upon resumption of full-time football in 1919–20, Burnley finished second in the First Division to West Bromwich Albion, but this was not a peak, merely presaging Burnley's first ever league championship in 1920–21.[30] Burnley lost the opening three matches that season before going on a 30-match unbeaten run, a record for unbeaten games in a single season that lasted until Arsenal went unbeaten through the whole of the 2003–04 season.[31] Burnley could not retain the title and finished third the following season. The successful John Haworth became the second Burnley manager to die while in office in 1924, when he died of pneumonia.[32] In April 1926, centre-forward Louis Page scored a club record six goals in an away league match against Birmingham City.[33] Thereafter followed a steady deterioration of their position, with only fifth place in 1926–27 offering respite from a series of near-relegations which culminated in demotion in 1929–30.[34] Burnley struggled in the second tier, narrowly avoiding a further relegation in 1931–32 by two points. The years through to the outbreak of the Second World War were characterised by uninspiring league finishes, broken only by an FA Cup semi-final appearance in 1934–35 and the arrival (and equally swift departure) of centre-forward Tommy Lawton.[35] Burnley participated in the varying football leagues that continued throughout the war, but it was not until the 1946–47 season that league football proper was restored.[36]

In the first season of post-war league football, Burnley gained promotion through second place in the Second Division. The club's defence was nicknamed "The Iron Curtain", since they only conceded 29 goals in 42 league matches.[37] Additionally, there was a run to the FA Cup Final for the second time, with Aston Villa, Coventry City, Luton Town, Middlesbrough and Liverpool being defeated before Charlton Athletic beat Burnley 1–0 after extra time at Wembley.[38] Burnley immediately made an impact in the top division, finishing third in 1947–48 as it began to assemble a team capable of regularly aiming for honours.[39]

From 1955 to 1981, under the reign of lifelong Burnley supporter and newly appointed chairman Bob Lord, later described as "the Khrushchev of Burnley" as a result of his authoritative attitude,[40] the club became one of the most progressive around.[41][42] On account of manager Alan Brown, appointed in 1954, and Lord, Burnley became one of the first clubs to build a purpose-built training centre (Gawthorpe), which opened its doors on 25 July 1955,[43] while most teams trained on public parks or at their own grounds.[41] Gawthorpe was built on the outskirts of the town and as well as using paid labour, manager Brown helped to dig out the ground himself.[44] Brown also "volunteered" several of his players to help out. Further, Burnley became, after foundations were again laid by Lord and Brown,[40][45] renowned for its youth policy and scouting system, which yielded many young players over the years such as Jimmy Adamson, Jimmy McIlroy, John Connelly, Willie Morgan and Martin Dobson.[46][47] An acclaimed scout employed by Burnley during this period was Jack Hixon, who was based in North East England and beyond, and scouted many players, including Brian O'Neil, Ralph Coates and Dave Thomas.[48]

In his relatively short spell at the club from 1954 to 1957, Brown also introduced short corners and a huge array of free kick routines, which were soon copied across the land.[49] The 1955–56 season saw Burnley reach the fourth round of the FA Cup, where the club was knocked out by Chelsea after four replays.[50] In 1956–57, Ian Lawson, a product of the Burnley youth academy, scored a record four goals on his debut as a 17-year-old versus Chesterfield in third round of the FA Cup.[51] That same season saw a club record 9–0 victory over New Brighton in the FA Cup fourth round[52] — despite missing a penalty — and the following season former Burnley player Harry Potts became manager. The team of this period mainly revolved around the midfield duo of one-club man Jimmy Adamson and playmaker Jimmy McIlroy. Potts often employed the, at the time unfashionable, 4–4–2 formation and he introduced Total Football to English football in his first managerial seasons at Burnley.[53][54]

Blacklaw

Cummings

Miller

Angus

Elder

Adamson

McIlroy

Connelly

Pilkington

Robson

Pointer

The frequently used line-up by manager Harry Potts in 1959–60

Burnley endured a tense 1959–60 season in which Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers were the other protagonists in the chase for the league title. The club ultimately clinched its second league championship on the last day of the season at Maine Road with a 2–1 victory against Manchester City with goals from Brian Pilkington and Trevor Meredith.[55] Although the team had been in contention all season, Burnley had never led the table until this last match was played out.[42] Potts only used eighteen players throughout the whole season, as John Connelly became Burnley's top scorer with 20 goals.[53] The Lancastrians' title-winning squad only cost £13,000 in transfer fees — £8,000 on McIlroy in 1950 and £5,000 on left-back Alex Elder in 1959.[46] The other players of the team each came from the Burnley youth academy.[46][42] The town of Burnley became the smallest to have an English first tier champion, since it only counted 80,000 inhabitants (the town had about 100,000 people in 1921).[56] After the season finished, Burnley went to the United States to participate in the inaugural international football tournament in North America, the International Soccer League.[57]

The following season Burnley played in European competition for the first time, in the European Cup,[58] beating former finalists Reims, before losing to Hamburger SV in the quarter-finals. The club lost the FA Cup semi-final to Tottenham and finished fourth in the league. Burnley finished the 1961–62 season as runners-up (after winning only two of the last thirteen league matches)[59] to newly promoted Ipswich Town and had a run to the FA Cup Final, where a Jimmy Robson goal, the 100th FA Cup Final goal at Wembley,[60] was the only reply to three goals from Tottenham. Jimmy Adamson was, however, named Footballer of the Year in English football after the season ended.[61] Burnley also had, due to their success, several players with international caps in this period, including, for England Ray Pointer, Colin McDonald, and John Connelly (a member of the 1966 World Cup squad), for Northern Ireland Jimmy McIlroy and for Scotland Adam Blacklaw.[62]

Nonetheless, although far from a two-man team, the controversial departure of McIlroy to Stoke City and retirement of Adamson coincided with a decline in fortunes. Even more damaging was the impact of the abolition of the maximum wage in 1961, meaning clubs from small towns, like Burnley, could no longer compete financially with teams from bigger towns and cities.[63] The club managed, however, to retain a First Division place throughout the decade finishing third in 1965–66, with Willie Irvine becoming the league's top goal scorer that season,[64] and reaching the semi-final of the League Cup in 1968–69. Burnley had also reached the quarter-finals of the 1966–67 Fairs Cup, in which it was knocked out by German side Eintracht Frankfurt.[65]

Since the remainder of the decade was one of mid-table mediocrity, Potts was replaced by Adamson as manager in 1970 after a 12-year spell. Adamson was unable to halt the slide and relegation followed in 1970–71 ending a long unbroken top flight spell of 24 consecutive seasons during which, more often than not, Burnley had been in the upper reaches of the league table.[66] Burnley won the Second Division title in 1972–73 with Adamson still in charge. As a result, Burnley was invited to play in the 1973 FA Charity Shield where it emerged as winners against the reigning holders of the shield, Manchester City.[67] In the First Division, led by elegant playmaker Martin Dobson, the side managed to finish sixth in 1973–74 as well as reaching another FA Cup semi-final; this time losing out to Newcastle United.[68] The following season the club achieved tenth place, despite Dobson being sold to Everton during the campaign, but were victims of one of the great FA Cup shocks of all time when Wimbledon, then in the Southern League, beat Burnley 1–0 at Turf Moor.[69] Relegation from the First Division in 1975–76 saw the end of Adamson's tenure as manager.[66] Over the past seasons, as a result of declining home attendances combined with a growing debt, Burnley had to sell their best players, which ultimately led to a rapid fall through the divisions.[70]

Graph showing Burnley's performance from the inaugural season of the Football League in 1888–89 to the present

Three nondescript seasons in the Second Division followed before relegation to the Third Division for the first time in 1979–80. Of 42 league games, Burnley could not manage a win in either the first or last 16. In September 1981, with the club in the Third Division relegation zone, and close to bankruptcy, Lord decided to retire.[71] The remainder of the season, under the management of former Burnley player Brian Miller,[72] saw only three more defeats since October, as Burnley was promoted as champions in its centenary year.[73] However, this return was short-lived, lasting only one year; albeit a year in which the team reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and the semi-final of the League Cup, recording victories over Tottenham and Liverpool in the latter. Burnley won 1–0 against Liverpool in the League Cup semi-final second leg, but it was not enough for an appearance in the final, as Burnley lost the first leg 3–0.[74]

Managerial changes continued to be made in an unsuccessful search for success; Miller was replaced by Frank Casper in early 1983, he by John Bond before the 1983–84 season and Bond himself by John Benson a season later.[75] The unpopular Bond was the first Burnley manager since Frank Hill (1948–1954) without a previous playing career at the club. He was criticised for signing wrong expensive players, which increased Burnley's debt, and for selling young talents Lee Dixon, Brian Laws and Trevor Steven.[76] Benson was in charge when Burnley was relegated to the fourth level of English football for the first time at the end of the 1984–85 season. It also marked the fifth relegation in the past fifteen seasons, most strikingly, finishing 21st in each of those five seasons. Martin Buchan (briefly) and then Tommy Cavanagh saw the side through 1985–86 before Miller returned for the 1986–87 season, the last match of which is known as "The Orient Game".[77]

For the 1986–87 season, the Football League had decided to introduce automatic relegation and promotion between the Fourth Division and the Conference League, the top tier of non-league football. Although, in retrospect, this has only served to blur the lines between professional and semi-professional leagues in England, at the time it was perceived that teams losing league status might never recover from this.[78] Additionally, Burnley had a new local rival in Colne Dynamoes who were rapidly progressing through the English non-league system at the same time as the former champions of England were in the lowest level of the Football League. Colne's chairman-manager, Graham White, had multiple proposals rejected by the Burnley board for a groundshare of Turf Moor, as he even attemped to buy Burnley in early 1989.[79] Two years earlier, the Burnley board had attempted to purchase almost bankrupt Welsh club Cardiff City and relocate it to Turf Moor, if Burnley would be relegated, in what would have been the Football League's first franchise operation.[80] In a disastrous season, which also saw a first round FA Cup 3–0 defeat at non-league Telford United, Burnley went into the last match needing a win against Orient. A 2–1 win, in front of about 17,000 attendees (the club's average home league attendance before the match was 2,800),[81] with goals from Neil Grewcock and Ian Britton, was enough to keep Burnley in the Fourth Division, although even that achievement still relied on a loss by Lincoln City in their last game of the season.[82]

In May 1988, Burnley was back at Wembley; this time to play Wolverhampton Wanderers in the final of the Football League Trophy, which Burnley lost 2–0. The match was attended by 80,000 people, a record for a tie between two teams from English football's fourth tier.[83] In 1990–91, the club qualified for the Fourth Division play-offs, where it was eliminated in the semi-final by Torquay United.[84] The following season, Burnley fared better, as it became champions under new manager Jimmy Mullen in the last ever season of the Fourth Division before the league reorganisation. By winning the Fourth Division title, the Clarets became only the second club to win all top four professional divisions of English football, after Wolves.[85] In 1993–94, Burnley won the new Second Division play-offs and gained promotion to the First Division. After winning 3–1 on aggregate against Plymouth Argyle in the semi-final, Burnley faced Stockport County in the final at Wembley. Burnley won 2–1, in a fierce battle (two Stockport players were sent off) in front of approximately 35,000 Burnley supporters (the total attendance was 44,806).[86] Relegation followed after one season and in 1997–98 only a last day 2–1 victory over Plymouth ensured a narrow escape from relegation back into the fourth tier. Chris Waddle was player-manager in that season and Glenn Roeder his assistant,[87] but their departures and the appointment of Stan Ternent that summer saw the club start to make further progress.[88] In 1999–2000 they finished second in the Second Division and gained promotion back to the second tier, with the club's striker and lifelong Clarets fan Andy Payton being the division's top goal scorer.[89]

Wade Elliott's goal earned Burnley a 1–0 victory over Sheffield United in the Championship play-off Final, which resulted in the Clarets reaching the highest level of English football for the first time in 33 years

Burnley immediately made an impact, as during the 2000–01 and 2001–02 seasons, it emerged as serious contenders for a promotion play-off place. In the latter season, Burnley missed the last play-off place by a single goal.[90] In early 2002, financial problems caused by the collapse of ITV Digital brought the club again close to administration.[91][92] By 2002–03, the form on the field had declined as well, despite a good FA Cup run, where it reached the quarter-finals. In June 2004, Ternent's six years as manager came to an end, narrowly avoiding relegation in his last season with a squad composed of many loanees and some players who were not entirely fit.[93] Steve Cotterill was then appointed as manager.[94] Cotterill's first year in charge produced two notable cup runs, knocking out Premier League clubs Liverpool and Aston Villa. In the 2006–07 campaign, the team set a club record for consecutive league games without a win (18 matches) stretching from December to March, meaning it had gone one fixture further than the 17 league game streak of the 1889–90 season.[95] The sequence of draws and losses was finally broken in April, as Burnley beat Plymouth Argyle 4–0 at home. After that, a short run of good form in the final weeks of the competition saw Burnley finish comfortably above the relegation places, ensuring that it remained in the Championship.[96]

The following season Burnley's poor early-season results led to the departure of Cotterill in November 2007. His replacement was St Johnstone manager Owen Coyle.[97] The 2008–09 season, Coyle's first full season in charge, ended with the Clarets' highest league finish since 1976; fifth in the Championship.[98] That was enough to qualify for the Championship play-offs. Burnley beat Reading 3–0 on aggregate in the semi-final, and the team went on to beat Sheffield United 1–0 in the final at Wembley Stadium, promoting Burnley to the Premier League, a return to the top flight after 33 years. Wade Elliott scored the vital goal in a match known as "The £50,000,000 final",[99] due to the increased revenues available to Premiership clubs after the agreement of substantially higher TV rights payments.[100] Furthermore, Burnley reached the semi-final of the League Cup for the first time in over 25 years, after beating local clubs Bury and Oldham Athletic and London-based clubs Fulham, Chelsea and Arsenal.[101] In the semi-finals Burnley faced another London club, Tottenham, and the club lost the first leg 4–1. After being up by three goals to nil at home after 90 minutes, the away goals rule comes into play after extra time has been played in the League Cup,[102] the Clarets crashed out after two Spurs goals in the last two minutes of extra time, preventing two Wembley appearances in one season.[103]

Burnley's promotion made the town of Burnley the smallest to host a Premier League club, since the rebranding of the league divisions in 1992.[104][105] Burnley started the season well, becoming the first newly promoted team in the Premier League to win its first four league home games, including a 1–0 win over defending champions Manchester United.[106] However, manager Coyle left Burnley in January 2010, to manage local rivals Bolton Wanderers. He was replaced by Brian Laws, but Burnley's form plummeted under the new manager, and the club was relegated after a single season in the Premier League.[107] Laws was dismissed in December 2010 and replaced by Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe.[108] Howe guided Burnley to an eighth-place finish in the Championship in his first season, narrowly missing out on a play-off place. Nonetheless, he left the club in October 2012 to rejoin his hometown club Bournemouth; Howe citing personal reasons for the move.[109] He was replaced in the same month by Watford manager Sean Dyche.[110]

Manager Sean Dyche has guided Burnley to two promotions to the Premier League

Before the start of the 2013–14 season, Burnley was tipped as one of the relegation candidates, as Dyche had to work with a tight budget and a small squad, and they had lost top goal scorer Charlie Austin to Championship rivals Queens Park Rangers.[111] However, Burnley finished second and was automatically promoted back to the Premier League in Dyche's first full season in charge, as the new strike partnership of Danny Ings (who also won the Championship Player of the Year award) and Sam Vokes had 41 league goals between them.[112] Dyche only used 23 players throughout the season, which was the joint-lowest in the division, and he paid a transfer fee for only one player since his appointment — £400,000 on striker Ashley Barnes.[113] But again, the stay in the Premier League only lasted a single season as Burnley finished 19th out of 20 clubs and was subsequently relegated. Burnley won the Championship title on its return in 2015–16, equaling its club record of 93 points of 2013–14, and ending the season with a run of 23 league games undefeated.[114] New signing Andre Gray finished as the league's top goal scorer with 25 goals.[115]

With a combination of excellent home form with poor away results, Burnley finished the 2016–17 season in 16th place, six points above the relegation zone, and was thus ensured to play consecutive seasons in the top flight for the first time since 1975–76.[116] Burnley completed construction of a new training centre, Barnfield Training Centre, in 2017, which replaced the 60-year-old Gawthorpe.[117] Dyche was heavily involved in the design of the training centre and had willingly tailored his transfer spending as he and the board focused on the club's infrastructure and future, as former Clarets manager Brown had done in the mid-1950s when building Gawthorpe.[118] 2017–18 started off with an away win against defending champions Chelsea (3–2).[119] It was a start signal for a reversed away form, as Burnley finished the season with more points collected on the road than at home. Burnley ultimately secured an unexpected seventh place at the end of the season, the highest league finish since 1973–74, and thus qualified for the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League, meaning the club qualified for a competitive European competition for the first time in 51 years.[120] The European campaign was already over in August, as Burnley crashed out in the play-offs against Greek side Olympiacos, after it had eliminated Scottish club Aberdeen and Turkish side İstanbul Başakşehir in the previous qualifying rounds.[121]

As of 30 January 2020[122][123]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Nick Pope 2 DF Matthew Lowton 3 DF Charlie Taylor 4 MF Jack Cork 5 DF James Tarkowski 6 DF Ben Mee (captain) 7 MF Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson 8 MF Josh Brownhill 9 FW Chris Wood 10 FW Ashley Barnes 11 MF Dwight McNeil 12 MF Robbie Brady 13 MF Jeff Hendrick 14 DF Ben Gibson

No. Position Player 15 GK Bailey Peacock-Farrell 18 MF Ashley Westwood 19 FW Jay Rodriguez 20 GK Joe Hart 23 DF Erik Pieters 25 MF Aaron Lennon 26 DF Phil Bardsley 27 FW Matěj Vydra 28 DF Kevin Long 30 GK Adam Legzdins 34 DF Jimmy Dunne 42 DF Ali Koiki 44 MF Mace Goodridge

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 41 MF Aiden O'Neill (at Brisbane Roar)

Tommy Boyle, who captained the Clarets during their 1913–14 FA Cup and 1920–21 First Division title wins, was chosen as one of the "Clarets' legends" by the club's supporters in 2015

Burnley has been represented by numerous high-profile players over the years, most notably Jimmy McIlroy and Jimmy Adamson, the latter earning the Footballer of the Year award in 1962, the first and to date only time a Burnley player has won this award.[61] Four years later, Burnley youth graduate Willie Irvine became the First Division top goal scorer, also a unique feat in the club's history.[64] Welshman Leighton James is the only Burnley player to have been included in the PFA Team of the Year while playing in the first tier, when he was selected as a member of the 1974–75 squad.[124] In total, 29 players have won full England caps during their time with the Clarets, Bob Kelly having won the most caps (11) and scored the most goals (6) for the English national team.[125]

The English Football Hall of Fame, which is housed at the National Football Museum, in Manchester, currently contains five former Burnley players: Tommy Lawton, Jimmy McIlroy, Mike Summerbee, Ian Wright and Paul Gascoigne; the latter three had, however, relatively short spells at the Clarets and were at the end of their playing careers.[126] Three of these five players, Gascoigne, Lawton and McIlroy, also featured in a list entitled "The Football League 100 Legends", as Burnley's only representatives.[127] The list was released by the Football League in 1998, to celebrate the 100th season of league football. Jimmy McIlroy was voted as PFA Fans' Favourite by Burnley fans in July 2007.[128]

In 2015, 31 "Clarets' legends" from different eras in the club's history were picked by the fans of Burnley via an online vote. The chosen players had an artwork depicting them hung beside the turnstiles of Turf Moor. It was a cooperation between the club and members of the Burnley supporters' clubs, to "improve the appearance of the ground and provide a vivid history of some of the greatest players to wear a claret and blue shirt".[129] The Clarets' first international, John Yates, had to be omitted because no suitable image of him could be found, therefore giving his spot to George Halley. Including Yates, the following 32 players were picked:[130][131]

As voted by the club's supporters at the end of every season.[132]

Year	Position	Winner
2002–03	FW	Gareth Taylor
2003–04	FW	Robbie Blake
2004–05	DF	Gary Cahill
2005–06	DF	Jon Harley
2006–07	MF	Wade Elliott
2007–08	MF	Wade Elliott
2008–09	DF	Graham Alexander
2009–10	FW	Steven Fletcher
2010–11	FW	Jay Rodriguez
2011–12	DF	Kieran Trippier
2012–13	GK	Lee Grant
2013–14	FW	Sam Vokes
2014–15	MF	George Boyd[133]
2015–16	MF	Joey Barton[134]
2016–17	GK	Tom Heaton[135]
2017–18	GK	Nick Pope[136]
2018–19	MF	Ashley Westwood[137]

The following table contains the managers who have all won at least one (major or minor) trophy when in charge of Burnley.[138][100][114]

In bold = Major honour

Name	Nationality	From	To	Played	Won	Drew	Lost	Win%[nb 1]	Honours
Harry Bradshaw	England	1896	1899	108	46	27	35	042.59	Football League Second Division champions: 1897–98
John Haworth	England	July 1910	December 1924	464	203	106	155	043.75	FA Cup winners: 1913–14 Football League First Division champions: 1920–21
Harry Potts	England	February 1958	February 1970	605	272	141	192	044.96	Football League First Division champions: 1959–60 FA Charity Shield winners (shared): 1960
Jimmy Adamson	England	February 1970	January 1976	272	104	74	94	038.24	Football League Second Division champions: 1972–73 FA Charity Shield winners: 1973
Harry Potts (2)	England	February 1977	October 1979	123	42	32	49	034.15	Anglo–Scottish Cup winners: 1978–79
Brian Miller	England	October 1979	January 1983	166	57	50	59	034.34	Football League Third Division champions: 1981–82
Jimmy Mullen	England	October 1991	February 1996	249	97	67	85	038.96	Football League Fourth Division champions: 1991–92 Football League Second Division play–off winners: 1993–94
Owen Coyle	Ireland	November 2007	January 2010	116	49	29	38	042.24	Football League Championship play–off winners: 2008–09
Sean Dyche	England	October 2012		338	128	91	119	037.87	Football League Championship champions: 2015–16

Chairman Mike Garlick holds 49.24% of outstanding shares of Burnley F.C. and member of the board of directors John Banaszkiewicz another 28.2%. The other five members of the board hold, between them, a total of 16.36%. The total holding of shares by all board members amounts to 93.8%.[139]

Burnley is one of the few clubs in the top two tiers which is British-owned. Every director at the club is locally born or based, a Claret supporter and receives no wages. As of 2019–20, Burnley is debt-free.[140]

Burnley's strip in the inaugural season of the Football League (1888–89). Note that the actual kit had long sleeves.

In the early years, various designs and colours were used by Burnley. Throughout the first nine years these were various permutations of blue and white, the colours of the club's forerunners Burnley Rovers Rugby Club.[3] After two years of claret and amber stripes with black shorts, for much of the 1890s a combination of black with yellow stripes was used, although Burnley wore a shirt with pink and white stripes during the 1894–95 season. Between 1897 and 1900 the club used a plain red shirt and from 1900 until 1910 it changed to an all green shirt with white shorts. In 1910, Burnley changed the colours to claret and sky blue, the colours that it now has had for the majority of the history, save for a spell in white shirts and black shorts during the 1930s.[141] The adoption of the claret and sky blue colour combination was a homage to league champions Aston Villa, who wore those colours. The Burnley committee and manager John Haworth believed it might bring a change of fortune.[25] Burnley's away kit for the 2006–07 season, a yellow shirt with claret bar, yellow shorts and yellow socks, won the "Best Kit Design" award at the Football League Awards.[142]

Since 2019, Burnley's kits have been manufactured by Umbro, who also were the club's first shirt manufacturers from 1975 to 1981.[141] Previous manufacturers include Spall (1981–87, 1988–89), En-s (1987–88), Ellgren (1989–91), Ribero (1991–93), Mitre (1993–96), Adidas (1996–99), Super League (1999–2002), TFG Sports (2002–05), Erreà (2005–10) and Puma (2010–19).[141] The clubs' shirts are currently sponsored by LoveBet.[143] Previous shirt sponsors include POCO (1982–83), TSB (1983–84), Multipart (1984–88), Endsleigh (1988–98), P3 Computers (1998–2000), Lanway (2001–04), Hunters (2004–07), Holland's (2007–09), Cooke (2009–10), Fun88 (2010–12, 2014–15), Premier Range (2012–14), Oak Furniture Land (2015–16), Dafabet (2016–18) and LaBa360 (2018–19).[141]

Burnley became the first club to have the right to wear the Royal Arms on the shirt

The coat of arms of the town of Burnley formed the foundation for the club's current crest

The Clarets' first recorded usage of a crest was on 17 December 1887, when the club wore the Royal Arms on the shirt.[141] The Prince of Wales, Prince Albert Victor, visited Turf Moor a year before when Burnley was playing Bolton Wanderers, which was the first ever visit to a professional football ground by a member of the Royal Family.[10] Afterwards, Burnley was presented a set of white jerseys featuring a blue sash and embellished with the Royal Arms to commemorate the visit, making the Clarets the first ever club to have the right to wear it on the shirts.[144] The club would regularly wear the royal crest until 1895, when it disappeared from the shirts.[145] When Burnley played the 1914 FA Cup Final and King George V was in attendance, the Royal Arms featured once again on the claret and blue shirts.[146]

From 1914 Burnley played again in unadorned shirts, albeit the coat of arms of the town of Burnley was worn in the FA Cup semi-final in 1935 and the 1947 FA Cup Final. In 1960, when Burnley won the First Division for a second time, it was allowed to wear the town's crest on the shirts for an indefinite period of time.[144] The town's coat of arms was worn until 1969, when it was replaced with the simple vertical initials "BFC". In 1975, the initials were placed horizontally and were lettered with gold. Four years after that, in 1979, the club used a new designed badge based on the town's crest, before returning to a horizontal version of the "BFC" initials in 1983, which were lettered in white this time.[141] In the 1987–88 season Burnley returned to the former designed crest of 1979.[141]

The latest major change to Burnley's crest came in the 2009–10 season. To mark Burnley's first ever season in the Premier League, since the rebranding of the First Division in 1992, and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1959–60 First Division league title win, Burnley decided to return to the crest used from 1960 to 1969.[141] The following season, the town's Latin motto "Pretiumque et Causa Laboris" (English translation: "The prize and the cause of [our] labour") was replaced with the inscription "Burnley Football Club".[147]

Burnley's current badge is based on the town's coat of arms and many components of the badge — depicting cotton, history, industry, royalty — refer to the history of the club, the town of Burnley and surrounding areas.[147] The stork at the top of the badge is a reference to the Starkie family, who were prominent in the rural area of Burnley until the 20th century.[148] In its mouth it holds the Lacy knot, the badge of the de Lacy family, who held Burnley and Blackburnshire in medieval times.[148] The stork is standing on a hill (the Pennines) and cotton plants — which represents the cotton making heritage of the town.[147] In the black band, the hand represents the hand of friendship and the town of Burnley's motto, "Held to the Truth", derived from the Towneley family.[132] The two bees refer to the town's "busy ambience" and the saying "as busy as a bee", but also allude to the old Bee Hole End (currently the Jimmy McIlroy Stand) at Turf Moor.[149] Beneath, the wavy, claret-coloured line refers to the River Brun, which runs through the town.[148] The English Lion represents England and refers to the visit of Prince Albert Victor in 1886.[132]

Burnley fans at a Premier League match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in 2017

With many other Football League clubs in the North West, supporters of Burnley are mainly drawn from East Lancashire and the western part of West Yorkshire.[159] Burnley is, however, one of the best supported clubs in English football per head of population, with average attendances of 20,000 in the Premier League in a town of approximately 73,000 inhabitants.[155][160] In 1959–60, when the club won the First Division, the fan-ratio of Burnley was twice the top flight average, as Turf Moor had an average home attendance of 26,978 and the town counted about 80,000 residents; a ratio of about 34 per cent.[46] Although as well as having a loyal, local fan base, the Clarets also have numerous supporters' clubs across the United Kingdom[161] and overseas, with supporters' clubs in Australia, Canada, Finland, Nigeria, Poland, Republic of Ireland, Spain, Thailand, and United States amongst others.[162] The club is still popular to the older generation of the African island of Mauritius, since Burnley played a few games in Mauritius and Madagascar as part of an Indian Ocean tour in 1954.[163] Burnley has a long-standing supporters' friendship with Dutch club Helmond Sport since 1997. Burnley and Helmond have a small following who regularly make an overseas journey to visit each other's matches.[164] A frequently sung chant by Burnley supporters since the early 1970s is "No Nay Never", an adaptation of the traditional Irish song "Wild Rover", which has lyrics to offend the club's main rivals Blackburn Rovers, although the song was also adapted by Blackburn supporters in the late 1970s.[165]

When falling down to the lower leagues and the simultaneously growing presence of hooliganism in English football in the 1980s, a hooligan firm linked to Burnley was established, called the "Suicide Squad", which became infamous for violently clashing with many other firms and fans in the country.[166] They also featured in the television documentary series "The Real Football Factories" presented by Danny Dyer.[167] The squad officially disbanded in 2009 after a high-profile incident with supporters of Blackburn Rovers, in which afterwards twelve members of the Suicide Squad were sentenced to jail for a total of 32 years.[168]

In 2019, Burnley fan Scott Cunliffe had been honoured by the UEFA with the #EqualGame award "for his work as role model highlighting diversity, inclusion and accessibility in football". During the 2018–19 campaign, he ran to every single away match, starting every travel at Turf Moor. It was labelled the "RunAway Challenge" and he raised more than £50,000 for Premier League clubs' community trusts and local charities in Burnley, as he covered more than 3,000 miles.[169] Notable fans over the years have included football pioneer Jimmy Hogan,[170] who was a regular attendee at Turf Moor until his death in 1974, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Edward Heath,[150] who also opened the Bob Lord Stand in 1974, and journalist Alastair Campbell,[171] who has been regularly involved in events with the club.

Since the First World War, Burnley's "unofficial match day drink" has been "Bene 'n' Hot" — the French liqueur Bénédictine topped up with hot water.[172] This is as a result of Great War soldiers of the East Lancashire Regiment acquiring a taste for the drink whilst stationed in France during the War. The soldiers drank it with hot water to keep warm in the trenches and the surviving soldiers returned to the East Lancashire area with the liqueur.[172] In excess of 30 bottles are sold at each home game, making the club one of the world's biggest sellers of the liqueur, and Turf Moor is the only British football ground to sell the liqueur.[173]

Traditionally, Burnley's main rivals are Blackburn Rovers, with whom it contests the East Lancashire Derby, named after the region both clubs hail from.[174][175] Games between these clubs from former mill towns are also known under the name "Cotton Mills derby", although not as common.[175] It is known as one of the longest standing derbies in world football, as both clubs are founder members of the Football League and have won the First Division and the FA Cup.[174] The two clubs are separated by 14 miles (22.5 kilometres) and besides the geographical proximity,[175] the clubs have a long-standing history of fierce rivalry too; the first competitive clash being a Football League match in 1888, in the inaugural season of the competition.[176] Four years earlier, however, they had met for the first time, although in a pre-league friendly, with considerable pride at stake.[177] Including the pre-league matches, there have been 115 matches played between both, with Burnley having the slightly better head-to-head record of the two teams, the Clarets winning 49 games and Blackburn 45.[176][177] Burnley's closest geographic rival is actually Accrington Stanley but, as they have never competed at the same level (although defunct club Accrington did), there is no significant rivalry between both.[178]

Other rivalries exist with local clubs Blackpool, Bolton Wanderers and Preston North End.[178] Burnley has regularly played them in the league and cup competitions and the encounter between Burnley and Preston is, as of 2019–20, the most frequently played match in both club's histories.[179] When in the same tier, Burnley stages a Roses rivalry with nearby West Yorkshire clubs Bradford City and Leeds United.[180][181] The Clarets also contested heated matches with Halifax Town, Plymouth Argyle, Rochdale and Stockport County in the 1990s, when Burnley was playing in the lower leagues, although feelings of animosity were mainly one-sided.[180]

Burnley is one of only five teams (and was the second) to have won all top four professional divisions of English football, along with Wolverhampton Wanderers, Preston North End, Sheffield United and Portsmouth.[85] The club's honours include the following:[182][183]

First Division/Premier League (Tier 1)[nb 2]

• Winners (2): 1920–21, 1959–60
• Runners–up (2): 1919–20, 1961–62

Second Division/First Division/Championship (Tier 2)

• Winners (3): 1897–98, 1972–73, 2015–16
• Promoted (3): 1912–13, 1946–47, 2013–14
• Play–off winners (1): 2008–09

Third Division/Second Division/League One (Tier 3)

• Winners (1): 1981–82
• Promoted (1): 1999–2000
• Play–off winners (1): 1993–94

Fourth Division/Third Division/League Two (Tier 4)

• Winners (1): 1991–92

FA Cup

• Winners (1): 1913–14
• Runners–up (2): 1946–47, 1961–62

FA Charity Shield

• Winners (2): 1960 (shared), 1973
• Runners–up (1): 1921

Texaco Cup

• Runners–up (1): 1973–74

Anglo-Scottish Cup

• Winners (1): 1978–79

EFL Trophy

• Runners–up (1): 1987–88

Lancashire Senior Cup (nowadays for reserve teams)[184]

• Winners (12): 1889–90, 1914–15, 1949–50, 1951–52, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1992–93

As of the 2019–20 season, Burnley has played 121 seasons in English league football. 57 of these have been spent in the first tier (most recently in 2019–20), 46 in the second (most recently in 2015–16), eleven in the third (most recently in 1999–2000) and seven in the fourth (most recently in 1991–92).[155]

• Quelch, Tim (2015). Never Had It So Good: Burnley's Incredible 1959/60 League Title Triumph. Pitch Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1909626546.
• Quelch, Tim (2017). From Orient to the Emirates: The Plucky Rise of Burnley FC. Pitch Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1785313127.
• Simpson, Ray (2007). The Clarets Chronicles: The Definitive History of Burnley Football Club 1882-2007. Burnley Football Club. ISBN 978-0955746802.
• Smith, Mike (2014). The Road to Glory: Burnley's FA Cup Triumph in 1914. Grosvenor House Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1781486900.
• Wiseman, David (2012). The Burnley FC Miscellany. DB Publishing. ISBN 978-1780911045.