Burnley FC

Burnley FC came into fruition in 1882 when the members of an old rugby club in the small Lancashire town decided to switch to football, believing it to have more opportunities for monetary gain. Their stadium, Turf Moor, opened in 1883 and still plays host to Premier League games today, holding a modest capacity of 22,000. The club’s nickname “The Clarets” comes from the colours in which they play - claret and blue. Legend has it that they switched colours a lot in the early days but decided to stick with claret and blue in an attempt to emulate Aston Villa, who were at that time one of the most successful clubs in the country.

The team enjoyed success in the early 1900s, winning the FA Cup in 1914 and the old Division One in 1921. Decades later, they had another period of relative glory in the 1960/61 campaign, in which they experienced a European adventure before losing to Hamburg in the European Cup quarter-finals, finished runners-up in the league and lost the FA Cup final to Spurs. The invaluable duo of captain Jimmy Adamson and playmaker Jimmy McIlroy were largely responsible for those successes, the former winning the Footballer of the Year award that season with the latter finishing runner-up for the prize.

The decades which followed saw the club struggle with large debts which led to the sale of those aforementioned top players and young prospects like Lee Dixon, which led to a dramatic decline in results on the pitch. Some very difficult periods for fans followed, most notably in the 1980s and early 1990s when they dropped down as low as Division Four.

After bouncing back in the mid 1990s, they existed in what is now known as the Championship, more or less constantly, until being promoted to the Premier League under Scottish manager Owen Coyle in 2008-09. Unfortunately after a poor run of results the next season, he was sacked and the team subsequently relegated.

After some yo-yoing under current boss Sean Dyche, they managed to establish themselves as a permanent fixture in the Premier League, now going into their fifth season in the top division. The Clarets even enjoyed a brief moment in the sun when they finished 7th in 2017-18 and qualified for the Europa League. Sadly, they failed to reach the group stage, losing to Greek giants Olympiacos in the preliminary round.

The club play local derbies against Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers due to the proximity between the towns, but the rivalries are not notoriously heated or well known outside the region.

Aside from the legends of yesteryear, fans are likely to appreciate the skills of the strong centre forwards they have relied on in the modern era, like Sam Vokes, Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes, all of whom return respectable goal tallies in the Premier League. They are known for being an extremely hard working and defensively organised side under Sean Dyche, and despite being one of the smaller clubs in the top flight, every manager in the league will tell you they never relish a trip to Turf Moor.