Burnley F.C.
Steve Cotterill | league =
The Championship | season =
2005-06 | position =
Championship, 17th|
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Burnley Football Club is a professional
football club based in
Burnley, in north-east
Lancashire,
England.
Nicknamed
The Clarets due to their claret and blue strip, they have played at
Turf Moor since 1883. They were founder members of
The Football League in 1888, and are currently in the
Football League Championship.
Burnley have been
Football League Champions twice, in 1920-21 and 1959-60, and were
FA Cup winners on April 25, 1914, beating
Liverpool F.C. 1-0 at
Crystal Palace.
As recently as 1960 they were league champions, but have been outside the top flight since 1976 and from 1985 endured a seven-year spell in the lowest tier of the Football League. In 1987 they narrowly avoided relegation to the Conference. Since 2000, they have been in the second tier of the English league.
Golden Days: 1947-1976
Burnley enjoyed a long unbroken top flight spell ending in 1971 in which, more often than not, they were in the upper reaches of the League table. The 50s and early 60s saw the team revolve around the midfield engine room of
Jimmy Adamson and
Jimmy McIlroy. It was around these two that the championship-winning team of 1960 was built, managed by
Harry Potts. Two years later the Clarets narrowly missed out on a League and Cup double. Other stars included John Angus, Brian Miller, John Connelly and Gordon Harris. The departure of McIlroy to
Stoke City and retirement of Adamson coincided with a decline in fortunes; they nonetheless managed to finish 3rd in 1966. The remainder of the decade was otherwise one of mid-table mediocrity, with Potts being replaced by Adamson as manager in 1970. Adamson was unable to halt the slide and relegation followed in 1971.
Burnley won the Second Division title in 1973 with Adamson still in charge. In the First Division, led by elegant playmaker Martin Dobson, the side managed 6th in 1974, and 10th (despite Dobson being sold to
Everton early in that season) in 1975. Relegation from the First Division in 1976 saw the end of Adamson's tenure as manager, and the club have not been back in the highest level since.
Modern times
Burnley are one of the most famous clubs to fall from greatness in the last few decades. They won the league championship in 1960 but have been outside the top division since the 1970s, and for seven seasons after 1985 they were in the Fourth Division. They reached their lowest ebb in 1987, when only a win on the last day of the season saved them from relegation to the Conference.
In 1991-92, they were crowned champions in the last ever season of the Fourth Division before the league re-organisation, and two years later they won the new Division Two playoffs and gained promotion to Division One under Jimmy Mullen, only to suffer relegation after just one season. In 1997-98 they narrowly escaped relegation into Division Three with
Chris Waddle in the hot seat, but the appointment of
Stan Ternent that summer saw the club's fortunes turned around.
In 1999-2000 they finished Division Two runners-up and gained promotion to Division One, where they have remained since. For the next two seasons, Burnley emerged as serious contenders for a promotion play-off place. However, by 2002-03 the side's form had declined despite a good
FA Cup run, and conceded goals at an alarming rate. This was repeated the following season and in June 2004, Ternent's six-year reign as manager came to an end and since then Burnley have been managed by
Steve Cotterill. Steve Cotterill's first year in charge ended with two cup runs, knocking out
Premiership giants
Liverpool and
Aston Villa, and a 13th place finish in
The Championship. Cotterill overhauled the squad with younger players and a notable improvement in the side's defensive record in 2004-05. The season gave football its first real glance at Aston Villa's Gary Cahill - a future England star, on loan at Turf Moor during the season. The following year's
Carling Cup third round draw once again paired Burnley with Villa, though the Clarets travelled to
Villa Park this time round. The score finished 1-0 to Aston Villa and Burnley were knocked out of the Carling Cup.
The 2005/2006 season ended in disappointing fashion for The Clarets, with them finishing in 17th place. They were forced to sell
Ade Akinbiyi to
Sheffield United and Burnley's season then went on a downward spiral.
Steve Cotterill is expected to make a few signings during the
summer in order for Burnley to progress in
The Championship during the 2006/2007 season, and has started with the acquisition of
Steve Jones from
Crewe Alexandra. Then in June the Clarets yet again raided Crewe this time signing life long Crewe defender
Stephen Foster on another free transfer.
Since then Burnley have gone on to achieve an impressive unbeaten pre-season run (5 games in total) including coming back from 2 goals down at half time against Accrington Stanley and a 2-1 victory over Bolton Wanderers. The other results were a 0-0 at Bury, a 7-0 win over a Verona XI and a 4-1 win against Alense.
* Burnley Score FirstChampionship Table Position
| Pos | | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |align="center"|2| Burnley | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | +3 | 6 | |
As of 9 August, 2006:
In:*
Andy Gray from
Sunderland - up to £750,000
*
Alan Mahon from
Wigan - £200,000
*
Steve Jones from
Crewe - Free
*
Stephen Foster from - Free
Out:*
Jimmy McIlroy*
Jimmy Adamson*
John Connelly*
Tommy Boyle* Bob Kelly
* Bert Freeman
* Colin McDonald
*
Adam Blacklaw* Andy Lochhead
* Willie Irvine
* Brian O'Neil
*
Willie Morgan* Ralph Coates
* Frank Casper
* Martin Dobson
* Bobby Seith
* Brian Pilkington
* Tommy Cummings
*
Harry Potts* Ray Pointer
* Dave Thomas
* Steve Kindon
* Colin Waldron
* Leighton James
*
Brian Flynn*
Ian Wright*
Chris Waddle*
Paul Gascoigne*
Chris Woods* Mitchell Thomas
*
Gordon Cowans* Andy Payton
*
Lee Dixon*
Trevor StevenCurrent/Former International Players
;England
*
John Angus*
William Bannister*
Tommy Boyle*
Jack Bruton*
Ralph Coates*
John Connelly*
James Crabtree*
Jerry Dawson*
Lee Dixon*
Martin Dobson*
Billy Elliott*
Bert Freeman*
Paul Gascoigne*
Gordon Harris*
Jack Hill*
Jack Hillman*
Bob Kelly*
Colin McDonald*
Brian Miller*
Eddie Mosscrop*
Louis Page*
Brian Pilkington*
Ray Pointer*
George Waterfield*
Willie Watson*
Ian Wright*
Jack Yates;Jamaica
*
Micah Hyde*
Frank Sinclair;Greece
*
Nik Michopoulos*
Dimitrios Papadopoulos;Ireland
*
Alan Mahon;Guinea
*
Mohammed Camara;Northern Ireland
*
Kyle Lafferty*
Steve Jones*
Michael Duff *
Tommy Cassidy*
Terry Cochrane*
Alex Elder*
William Emerson*
Hugh Flack*
Phil Gray*
Billy Hamilton*
Willie Irvine*
Jimmy McIlroy*
Andy McCluggage*
Tom Morrison*
Sammy Todd*
Tom Willighan;Scotland
*
Jock Aird*
Adam Blacklaw*
Andy Gray*
Willie Morgan;Trinidad and Tobago
*
Ian Cox;Wales
*
Stan Bowsher*
Danny Coyne*
Brian Flynn*
Leighton James*
Billy Morris*
John Oster*
Gareth Taylor
