Burnley Football Club () is a professional football club based in Burnley, Lancashire, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football, following relegation from the Premier League in the 2025–26 season. Founded in 1882, Burnley were one of the first to become professional (in 1883) and subsequently put pressure on the Football Association to permit payments to players. They entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1885–86 and were one of the 12 founder members of the Football League in 1888–89, the world's first league football competition.
Burnley are one of only five sides to have won all four professional divisions of English football, and have twice been crowned champions of England, in 1920–21 and 1959–60. They have won the FA Cup once, in 1913–14, and have won the FA Charity Shield twice, in 1960 and 1973. The team have also finished as runners-up in both the First Division and FA Cup on two occasions. During the 1920–21 campaign, Burnley embarked on a 30-match unbeaten league run, setting an English record. who voted for a shift to association football as the sport was gaining prominence in the area. The suffix "Rovers" was dropped a few days later. By the end of the year, the club turned professional and signed many Scottish players, who were regarded as the best footballers by the Burnley committee. As a result, Burnley refused to join the Football Association (FA) and its FA Cup because the association barred professional players. In 1884, Burnley led a group of 35 other clubs in the formation of the breakaway British Football Association (BFA) to challenge the FA's supremacy. The FA changed its rule in 1885, allowing professionalism, and Burnley made their first appearance in the FA Cup in 1885–86. In October 1886, Burnley's Turf Moor became the first professional ground to be visited by a member of the royal family, when Prince Albert Victor attended a friendly between Burnley and Bolton Wanderers. In the second match, William Tait became the first player in history to score a league hat-trick, with his three goals against Bolton Wanderers securing Burnley's inaugural win in the competition.
Burnley usually finished in mid-table during the early seasons of the Football League, before being relegated to the Second Division in 1896–97. Burnley finished third in 1898–99, their then-highest league finish, It is possibly the earliest recorded case of match fixing in football. The side continued to play in the Second Division and even finished in bottom place in 1902–03—but were re-elected—as the club got into financial difficulties.
thumb|right|Team photograph of the Championship-winning side of the [[1920–21 Burnley F.C. season|1920–21 season|alt=A black and white picture of Burnley posing behind a football trophy]]
Harry Windle was named chairman in 1909, under whom the club's finances improved. In 1910, the Burnley directors changed the club's colours from green to claret and blue, and appointed John Haworth as the team's new manager. In 1912–13, the side won promotion to the first tier, and the following season, Burnley won their first major honour, beating Liverpool in the 1914 FA Cup final. The team finished second to West Bromwich Albion in 1919–20, before winning their first ever First Division championship in 1920–21. Nine seasons later, the team were relegated to the Second Division. They struggled in the second tier and avoided a further relegation in 1931–32 by two points. The years through to the outbreak of the Second World War were characterised by mid-table league finishes. Alan Brown, captain of Burnley's 1946–47 side, was appointed the club's manager in 1954, with Bob Lord becoming chairman a year later. Burnley were one of the first to set up a purpose-built training ground, at Gawthorpe, and they became renowned for their youth policy and scouting system, which yielded many young talents. Potts often employed the then unfashionable 4–4–2 formation and he implemented a Total Football playing style.
thumb|left|[[Gawthorpe Hall|Gawthorpe (2017 photograph) was one of the first purpose-built training grounds.|alt=Burnley's training ground at Gawthorpe]]
Burnley clinched a second First Division title in 1959–60. The squad cost only £13,000 () in transfer fees—£8,000 on McIlroy in 1950 and £5,000 on left-back Alex Elder in 1959. The other Burnley players had progressed through the club's youth academy. The following season, Burnley played in European competition for the first time in the 1960–61 European Cup. They defeated former finalists Reims in the first round, but went out against Hamburger SV in the quarter-finals. The team finished the 1961–62 First Division as runners-up to newcomers Ipswich Town after winning only one of the last ten matches, and had a run to the 1962 FA Cup final but lost against Tottenham Hotspur. Adamson was named FWA Footballer of the Year, however, with McIlroy as runner-up.
The maximum wage in the Football League was abolished in 1961, which meant that clubs from small towns like Burnley could no longer compete financially with sides from larger settlements. The controversial departure of McIlroy to Stoke City in 1963 and Adamson's retirement in 1964 also damaged the club's fortunes. Burnley retained their place in the First Division throughout the decade, however, finishing third in both the 1962–63 and 1965–66 seasons, and qualifying for the 1966–67 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. Potts was replaced by Adamson as manager in 1970. Adamson hailed his squad as the "Team of the Seventies", but he was unable to halt the slide as relegation followed in 1970–71. Burnley won the Second Division title in 1972–73, and were invited to play in the 1973 FA Charity Shield, where they emerged as winners against Manchester City. In 1975, the team were victims of one of the great FA Cup shocks of all time when Wimbledon, then in the Southern League, won 1–0 at Turf Moor. Adamson left the club in January 1976, and relegation from the First Division followed later that year. During this period, a drop in home attendances combined with an enlarged debt forced Burnley to sell star players such as Martin Dobson and Leighton James, which caused a rapid decline.
Near oblivion and recovery (1976–2020)
thumb|upright=2.0|Graph showing Burnley's performance from the inaugural season of the [[The Football League|Football League in 1888–89 to the present|alt=Refer to caption]]
The team were relegated to the Third Division for the first time in 1979–80. they returned to the second tier as champions in 1981–82. However, this return was short-lived and lasted only one year. Benson was in charge when Burnley were relegated to the Fourth Division for the first time at the end of the 1984–85 season.
thumb|right|[[Wade Elliott's goal earned Burnley a 1–0 victory over Sheffield United in the 2009 Championship play-off final.|alt=A football player in a red and white shirt and a football player in a light blue shirt are watching the ball approaching the goal, while the goalkeeper is diving to his right-hand side]]
In 1988, Burnley played Wolverhampton Wanderers in the final of the Associate Members' Cup but lost 2–0. The match was attended by 80,000 people, a record for a match between two sides from the fourth tier. The team won the Fourth Division in 1991–92 under manager Jimmy Mullen. He had succeeded Casper in October 1991 and won his first nine league matches as manager. By winning the fourth tier, Burnley became only the second club to win all four professional divisions of English football, after Wolverhampton Wanderers. Burnley won the Second Division play-offs in 1993–94 and gained promotion to the second tier. Under manager Stan Ternent, Burnley finished second in 1999–2000 and won promotion to the second tier. In early 2002, financial problems caused by the collapse of ITV Digital brought the club close to administration. Ternent was sacked in 2004, after he avoided relegation with a squad composed of several loaned players and some players who were not entirely fit. The 2008–09 campaign, with Owen Coyle in charge, ended with promotion to the Premier League. Sheffield United were defeated in the Championship play-off final, which meant a return to the top flight after 33 years. Burnley also reached the semi-final of the League Cup for the first time in over 25 years but were beaten on aggregate by Tottenham in the last minutes of the second leg.
thumb|upright=0.7|Manager [[Sean Dyche guided Burnley to two promotions to the Premier League.|alt=Sean Dyche during an interview]]
Promotion made the town of Burnley one of the smallest to host a Premier League club. The team started the season well and became the first newly promoted side in the competition to win their first four home games. However, Coyle left the club in January 2010 to manage local rivals Bolton Wanderers. He was replaced by former Burnley player Brian Laws, but the team's form plummeted and they were relegated after a single season. Sean Dyche was appointed manager in October 2012. In his first full season in charge, Dyche guided Burnley back to the Premier League in 2013–14 on a tight budget and with a small squad. The team went down after one season but won the Championship title on their return in 2015–16, ending the season with a run of 23 league games undefeated. In 2017, the club completed construction of Barnfield Training Centre—the replacement of Gawthorpe—with Dyche being involved in the training ground's design. The team failed to reach the group stage as they were eliminated in the play-off round by Greek club Olympiacos.
Foreign owners (2020–present)
In December 2020, American investment company ALK Capital acquired an 84% stake in Burnley for £170 million, with Alan Pace becoming the club's new chairman. It was the first time the club was run by anyone other than local businessmen and Burnley supporters. Dyche was sacked during 2021–22, and Burnley were relegated to the Championship at the end of the campaign after they lost on the final day and finished in 18th place. It ended a six-season spell in the top flight, the club's longest since the 1960s and early 1970s. During his first months in charge, he rebuilt the squad on a budget, signing mostly young and foreign players. Kompany also implemented a possession-based, attacking style of play. Burnley secured promotion back to the Premier League in 2022–23 with seven matches remaining—a Championship record—before winning the Championship title following a 1–0 victory at local rivals Blackburn Rovers. The following season, Burnley were relegated again from the Premier League, finishing 19th. Shortly afterwards, however, Kompany went to Bayern Munich for a fee of £10.2 million, which made him one of the most expensive managers in history.
Burnley won promotion back to the top flight at the first attempt under Scott Parker, ending the 2024–25 season with a club record 33-match unbeaten run. The team conceded only 16 goals in 46 matches—an average of 0.35 per game—setting the best defensive record in English league history, among several other national records. Despite this, they finished second behind Leeds United on goal difference, becoming the first team in Football League history to earn 100 points without winning the title. The next season, Burnley went down to the second tier again, with Parker departing shortly before the end of the campaign. The team finished with a club record low tally of 22 points and recorded only four wins.
Kits and colours
In the early decades, Burnley used a variety of home kit designs and colours. During the first eight years, they used various permutations of blue and white, the colours of their forerunners Burnley Rovers. In the late 1890s, the club used an all-red shirt and from 1900 until 1910 it wore an all-green jersey. Burnley may have been inspired by Villa, who were the reigning Football League champions, although contemporary newspapers such as the Burnley Express only noted a similarity in colours rather than a direct influence. which they have had for most of their history, save for a spell in white shirts during the second half of the 1930s and the Second World War. The change in colours also contributed to the emergence of Burnley's nickname, "the Clarets".
Burnley's kits have been supplied by various manufacturers since 1975, when Umbro produced the club's jerseys, and have featured shirt sponsors since 1982. The first sponsor's name to appear on Burnley shirts was that of Poco Homes, a Manchester-based building firm, which featured from 1982 to 1983. The club's longest-running shirt sponsorship was with Endsleigh Insurance, lasting from 1988 to 1998.
Crest
thumb|right|The town of Burnley's coat of arms formed the foundation for the club's current crest.|alt=The coat of arms of Burnley with an inscription on the bottom reading "Pretiumque et causa laboris"
Burnley's jerseys first sported a crest in December 1887, when the team wore white shirts with a blue sash featuring the coat of arms of the Prince of Wales, commemorating Prince Albert Victor's visit to Turf Moor the previous year—the first by a member of the royal family to a professional football ground. and the town's arms became a permanent feature on Burnley's jerseys for nearly a decade following their 1959–60 First Division title win. From 1969 to 1979 on home kits, and until 1976 on away shirts, the team wore a stylised "BFC" cypher. The resulting crest was officially adopted by the club in 1973, and first appeared on Burnley's away kits at the start of the 1976–77 season, before being introduced on the home shirts in 1979. In 2023, the crest's elements were rendered in white and placed on a claret shield, and appeared on the home kit from the 2024–25 season.
The club's current badge is based on the town of Burnley's coat of arms. The stork at the top of the crest refers to the Starkie family, who were prominent in the Burnley area. In its mouth it holds a Lacy knot of the de Lacy family, who held Burnley in the Middle Ages. The stork stands on a hill and cotton plants, which represents the town's cotton heritage. The hand below symbolises the town's motto "Hold to the Truth", derived from the Towneley family. The two bees reflect the town's hard work ethic, the lion represents royalty, and the chevron symbolises the River Brun, which runs through Burnley. The Turf Moor site has been used for sport since at least 1843, when Burnley Cricket Club moved to the area. In 1883, they invited Burnley to a field adjacent to the cricket pitch. From the mid-1940s until the mid-1960s, crowds in the stadium averaged in the 20,000–35,000 range, and Burnley averaged a club-record attendance of 33,621 in the 1947–48 First Division. The attendance record for a single match was already set in 1924 against Huddersfield Town in an FA Cup third round tie, when 54,775 spectators attended. In 1960, in an FA Cup fifth round replay game against Bradford City, there was an official attendance of 52,850. Some of the gates were broken down, however, and many uncounted fans poured into the ground.
Turf Moor's field had a slope until 1974, when the pitch was raised to minimise it. In 2019, the club built two corner stands for disabled home supporters between the Jimmy McIlroy and both the North and Bob Lord Stands to meet the Accessible Stadium Guide regulations. Turf Moor currently has a capacity of 21,944 and consists of four stands: the North Stand (formerly the Longside), the Jimmy McIlroy Stand (formerly the Bee Hole End), the Bob Lord Stand, and the Cricket Field Stand for home and away fans.
During a pre-season friendly against Italian side Lazio at Turf Moor in August 2025, Burnley became the first football club in history to live stream a game in immersive virtual reality.