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Burnley F.C.

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Burnley F.C.
Burnley crest
Full nameBurnley Football Club
Nickname(s)The Clarets
Founded1882
GroundTurf Moor
Burnley
Capacity22,546
ChairmanBarry Kilby
ManagerEngland Steve Cotterill
LeagueThe Championship
2005-06Championship, 17th

Burnley Football Club are 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.

History

Golden days: 1947-1976

Burnley enjoyed a long unbroken top flight spell ending in 1971 during which, more often than not, they were in the upper reaches of the League table. The 1950s and early 1960s saw the team revolve around the midfield engine room of Jimmy Adamson and Jimmy McIlroy, after whom a new stand was named in the 1990s. It was around these two that the championship-winning team of 1960 was built, managed by Harry Potts, who gives his name to the road which Turf Moor occupies. 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.

Near oblivion

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 against Leyton Orient on the last day of the season saved them from relegation to the Conference

The recovery begins

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 1997-99 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.

The Millennium promotion

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.

Cotterill's Clarets

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 - tipped by some as 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 made signings during the summer in order for Burnley to progress in The Championship during the 2006/2007 season, starting with the acquisition of Steve Jones from Crewe Alexandra. Then in June the Clarets yet again raided Crewe this time signing lifelong Crewe defender Stephen Foster on another free transfer. Cotterill also signed Andy Gray permanantly from Sunderland AFC after having him on loan since January 2005.

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 made a great start to the 2006/7 season and looked well on the road to regaining the top division place which they had last held some 30 years earlier, but their form during December was less convincing due to an injury to prolific striker Andy Gray and by 3 January 2007 they occupied 12th place in the Championship. Their form during December included losses against 2 of the bottom 4 teams (Barnsley fc and Hull City A.F.C.)and a draw against high flyers Derby County F.C.. This currently puts them four places and six points adrift of the playoff zone. But after capturing the signature of former fan favorite Ade Akinbiyi, less than 12 months after he left, for a fee of around £750,000 the fans are hoping for the goals to be flowing again.

Club colours

In the early years, various designs and colours were used by the Burnley club. The first kit was a white shirt with white knickers. Other early kits included a dark blue shirt with dark blue knickers. Other shirt designs were white with a blue sash, light blue and white stripes and claret and amber stripes. For much of the 1890's a combination of black with amber stripes was used, although the club wore a shirt with pink and white stripes during the 1894-95 season. Between 1897 and 1900 the club used a plain red shirt. From 1900 until 1910 the club changed to an all green shirt with white shorts. In 1910 it was decided to adopt the claret and blue of the football league champions Aston Villa. As history shows, this move had a positive effect.[[1]]

Former Club Crest

Burnley shirt badge 1960-69

From around the 1920's, Burnley's club crest was the town's coat of arms. After the championship success of 1960, the club were given permission to wear the crest for all matches. This crest remained on the shirt until the end of the 1968-69 season.


Current squad

As of 1 January 2007: Players in bold have international caps. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Wales WAL Danny Coyne
2 DF England ENG Wayne Thomas (captain)
3 DF England ENG Jon Harley
4 DF England ENG John McGreal
5 DF Jamaica JAM Frank Sinclair
6 DF Northern Ireland NIR Michael Duff
7 MF Ireland EIR James O'Connor
8 MF Ireland EIR Alan Mahon
9 FW Northern Ireland NIR Steve Jones
10 FW Scotland SCO Andy Gray
11 MF England ENG Wade Elliott
No. Pos. Nation Player
12 GK Denmark DEN Brian Jensen
14 MF Ireland EIR Garreth O'Connor
15 MF England ENG Graham Branch
16 MF Ireland EIR Chris McCann
17 FW Northern Ireland NIR Kyle Lafferty
18 MF Jamaica JAM Micah Hyde
19 MF England ENG John Spicer
20 FW Nigeria NGA Ade Akinbiyi
21 FW England ENG Gifton Noel-Williams
22 DF England ENG Stephen Foster

Club Mascot

The club mascot is Bertie Bee


Summer 2006 transfers

In:

Out:

January 2007 transfers

In:

Famous players

Past and present international players

Managers

Manager Period Manager Period
Arthur Sutcliffe (1893-1896) Joe Brown (1976-1977)
Harry Bradshaw (1896-1899) Harry Potts (1977-1979)
Ernest Magnall (1899-1903) Brian Miller (1979-1983)
Spen Whittaker (1903-1910) John Bond (1983-1984)
R. Wadge (1910-1911) John Benson (1984-1985)
John Haworth (1911-1925) Martin Buchan (1985)
Albert Pickles (1925-1932) Tommy Cavanagh (1985-1986)
Tom Bromilow (1932-1935) Brian Miller (1986-1989)
Alf Boland (1935-1939) Frank Casper (1989-1991)
Cliff Britton (1945-1948) Jimmy Mullen (1991-1996)
Frank Hill (1948-1954) Adrian Heath (1996-1997)
Alan Brown (1954-1957) Chris Waddle (1997-1998)
Billy Dougall (1957-1958) Stan Ternent (1998-2004)
Harry Potts (1958-1970) Steve Cotterill (2004-present day)
Jimmy Adamson (1970-1976)

Famous fans

Honours

League

Division One

  • Champions - 1920/21, 1959/60
  • Runners-Up - 1919/20, 1961/62

Division Two

  • Champions - 1897/98, 1972/73
  • Runners-Up - 1912/13, 1946/47, 1999/00

Division Three

  • Champions - 1981/82

Division Four

  • Champions - 1991/92

Cup

F.A. Cup

  • Winners - 1913/14
  • Runners-Up - 1946/47, 1961/62

FA Community Shield

  • Winners - 1973/74
  • Shared - 1960/61

Anglo-Scottish Cup

  • Winners - 1978/79

Club records

Current players

The players with more than 100 appearances still at the club as of January 2007 are:

Graham Branch : 262
Brian Jensen : 134
Michael Duff : 109
Micah Hyde : 102

Current players

The four players with the most goals still at the club as of January 2007 are:

Graham Branch : 17

Ade Akinbiyi : 16

Andy Gray : 13

James O'Connor : 8

External links


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