With Burnley formally confirmed as a Premier League team on 4 June, football writers Ben Bloom and Adrian Clarke look at the club's history, key players and what we can expect from Scott Parker's side in 2025/26.
Club analysis: Burnley
Origins
One of 12 founder members of the Football League in 1888, Burnley had begun life as a rugby club before switching codes to football in 1882.
They claimed their first major piece of silverware with the 1914 FA Cup, and went on to make history when going 30 matches unbeaten on their way to lifting the 1920/21 First Division title. That unbeaten run stood as a Football League record until Arsenal's "Invincibles" surpassed this in 2003/04.
The club’s golden era of the 1950s and 1960s yielded another First Division title, an FA Cup final appearance and a couple of European campaigns, but they only narrowly avoided slipping out of the Football League altogether with a tense victory in their final Fourth Division match of the 1986/87 season.
They became only the second team to win all four professional tiers of English football when claiming the 1991/92 Fourth Division title.
Modern history
For the first decade of the Premier League’s existence, Burnley largely played their football in the third tier before rising up the ranks and securing a return to the top flight for the first time in 33 years.
That inaugural season, in 2009/10, saw them become the first promoted side in the competition’s history to win their first four home matches. But that was not enough to prevent immediate relegation back to the Championship.
They have been promoted on a further four occasions and, under Sean Dyche, finished seventh in 2017/18 to bring European football to Turf Moor for the first time in more than half a century, reaching the UEFA Europa League playoff round.
Their promotion in 2024/25 maintained Burnley's record of making an immediate return to the Premier League in each of their last three Championship seasons.
2024/25 promotion
One word: defence. Conceding just 16 goals in 46 matches, Burnley set the best defensive record in English League history, at one point going 12 successive league matches without conceding a goal between December and March.
They also kept a record 30 clean sheets, never conceded more than one goal in any match and became the first side to post a three-figure points total in the same division twice (finishing on 100 points here, to add to the 101 they managed in 2022/23).
Yet, despite all of those achievements, they could only finish second, becoming the first team in English football history to hit a century of points without winning the title.
While Burnley were perhaps not the most exciting Championship team going forward, they did possess the league’s second-highest goalscorer in captain Josh Brownhill.
It was their backline that was the envy of the division, with goalkeeper James Trafford joining centre-backs CJ Egan-Riley and Maxime Esteve in the Championship Team of the Season.
Promotion was the third of Scott Parker’s managerial career, and his side will begin their 2025/26 Premier League campaign unbeaten in a club-record 33 matches.
Fact file
Premier League seasons: Nine
Highest Premier League finish: Seventh (2017/18)
Honours: First Division (1920/21, 1959/60), FA Cup (1913/14), Second Division/Championship (1897/98, 1972/73, 2015/16, 2022/23), Third Division (1981/82), Fourth Division (1991/92)
Most Premier League appearances: Ben Mee (217)
Most Premier League goals: Chris Wood (49)
Three key players
Maxime Esteve
French central defender Esteve made defending look easy at Championship level, effortlessly keeping opponents at bay in a dominant campaign.
The 23-year-old has sharp recovery speed and whenever Burnley appeared to be stretched it was usually Esteve who reacted swiftly to snuff out the danger. His determination not to concede goals stood out across the 46 matches and he was fiercely protective of the Clarets’ phenomenal defensive record.
Esteve made 41 blocks, a tally bettered by only three defenders in the division, and his duel success rate was over 63 per cent. Those resilient qualities should serve him well as he makes a return to top-flight football.
This classy centre-back can also pass the ball with distinction. Making around 62 passes per match, his accuracy levels were an impressive 90.57 per cent.
With a valuable season’s experience of English football behind him, Esteve has the potential to thrive in the Premier League.
James Trafford
As brilliant as Burnley’s defensive record was last season, there was still a major reliance on goalkeeper Trafford to produce regular heroics between the posts.
The 6ft 6in 'keeper was sensational, ending 2024/25 with a stellar save percentage of 84.47 per cent, which was way ahead of anyone else in the Championship.
Best Championship save percentage, 24/25
| Goalkeeper | Save % |
| James Trafford (Burnley) | 84.5% |
|---|---|
| Michael Cooper (Sheff Utd) | 77.1% |
| Mark Travers (Middlesbrough) | 76.2% |
| Alex Palmer (West Brom) | 74.1% |
According to Opta, Trafford also prevented an extra 12 goals being scored against the Clarets.
His first experience of Premier League football was challenging, but the 22-year-old has matured greatly across the last 12 months.
Reaching several notable milestones has certainly boosted his confidence.
Where Trafford made his saves, 24/25
Trafford's 12 clean sheets set the record for the most consecutive shutouts in Championship history. He also equalled the record for the most clean sheets in English football, with 29.
His stock is high for a reason, so the Clarets will be desperate to fend off interest in Trafford this summer.
Josh Brownhill
Burnley skipper Brownhill is a box-crashing central midfielder with a serious eye for goal.
His knack for popping up inside the area to score at key moments was one of the trademarks of a stunning campaign for Parker’s side – and without a prolific marksman up front, they desperately needed his 18 goals.
In the end, Brownhill only missed out on a share of the Championship’s Golden Boot by a single strike, which is quite some achievement for an orthodox central midfield player.
At Premier League level he may not get as many opportunities to find the back of the net, but opponents will need to track his runs into the penalty area.
Brownhill's shot location map, 24/25*
*Key: Red circles = goals
Brownhill’s big chance conversion rate was by some distance the best in last season’s second tier.
Best Championship attackers 24/25*
| Big chance conversion | Chance conversion | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Josh Brownhill | 77.8% | Mustapha Bundu | 28.6% |
| Milo Ivanovic | 60.0% | Josh Brownhill | 27.3% |
| Dan James | 58.8% | Josh Maja | 25.0% |
*Minimum 10 goals
Head coach: Scott Parker
After claiming his third promotion to the Premier League with different clubs, Parker’s reputation has been well and truly restored at Turf Moor.
At the start of 2024/25 he saw a clutch of key players sold at the end of the transfer window, so the way he rebuilt Burnley into the force they were was a remarkable achievement.
His side were arguably the best coached side in the Championship.
Parker used six different formations, but his first-choice shape was a 4-2-3-1. Interestingly, his No 10 was usually a hardworking presser, rather than a naturally creative type. Burnley right-back Connor Roberts would invert into central midfield on a regular basis, releasing Brownhill to take up more advanced positions.
As his record suggests, the former England international knows how to set up a well-drilled, compact team, who work tirelessly off the ball to ensure they are hard to break down.
That core strength will be needed when Burnley make their Premier League return in August.
Click here to find out more about Burnley's Premier League history.
