I would also say that for many of us older ones, the best memories we have are of 1991-92 when we were so dominant in Division 4. It's hard to compare but I would say that I enjoyed that season just as much as any in the Premier League.

My most enjoyable season - actually I should say the first half a season - was the John Bond one!

Hipper wrote:Whilst I don't want to interfere in how you bring your son up I can't help thinking that you should try and wean him off being so involved with the club and its results. I was like that, and still am if I see a Burnley match, and I'm not sure it is a good thing to be lumbered with.

I think it does just get a little bit easier as you get older but I still don't like us losing. Having said that, I'd rather see us competing against the top teams in the country than playing in the Championship or even below.

Yes, but still attempting to progress however we can. Who knows what will happen, say if the top 6 peel away to a European super league. For me above all its about the town and community pride.

Erasmus wrote:I would also say that for many of us older ones, the best memories we have are of 1991-92 when we were so dominant in Division 4. It's hard to compare but I would say that I enjoyed that season just as much as any in the Premier League.

I did so enjoy that time and still miss the trips to Wrexham.

Hipper, but then you miss out on so much joy as well.

alf_resco wrote: Next season will be exactly the same; scrapping and scraping the odd point or three off the 13 other also-rans in another effort to stay at the "top table."
History shows we don't compete/can't be arsed in the cups.
So, same old, same old?

Not strictly true.
Last season we finished seventh and qualified for Europe, the knock-on effect from that and injuries to two exceptional goalkeepers (arguably) got us into an unexpected relegation battle.
If last year we had finished tenth, I imagine this year we'd be around the same position and pushing for ninth or eighth place which would be seen as exceptional progress.

Yes. Think last week just highlighted how powerful the PL is and to be competing at this level at this moment gives me great pride. Long may it continue.

Living in Clitheroe and having had to suffer Rovers finishing higher in the league than us for 32 years the last 7 years have been an absolute dream. The only chance for us long term is to produce our own players and we need premier league status for the foreseeable future to attract the best young talent.Didn't Dwight say in 2014 he could have chosen Rovers but because we were a team on the up he came to us.Can you imagine watching him playing in blue and white? Premier League every time!

So no one thinks scratching around in the bottom half without the odd cup run will get a bit tedious? For me I don't find it enjoyable going to games like City away knowing you're going to get thumped, and the fact that we couldn't sell out this year for a Saturday afternoon suggests I'm not the only one. I know there's no guarantee of success if we go down, but I just don't think it would be the disaster some on here make it out to be. The club won't cease to exist.

jrgbfc wrote:.......................... and the fact that we couldn't sell out this year for a Saturday afternoon.

Dis we always sell out Saturday afternoons in the Championship?

jrgbfc wrote:So no one thinks scratching around in the bottom half without the odd cup run will get a bit tedious? For me I don't find it enjoyable going to games like City away knowing you're going to get thumped, and the fact that we couldn't sell out this year for a Saturday afternoon suggests I'm not the only one. I know there's no guarantee of success if we go down, but I just don't think it would be the disaster some on here make it out to be. The club won't cease to exist.

Nobody suggesting the club will cease to exist. I want us to stay in the PL as long as possible. A time will come when we get relegated so I say make the most if it. I enjoy going on.

YES.............having followed the clarets in all 4 divisions, the objective each season was to get as high as possible in each league, preferably to get promoted. If promotion not possible then to avoid relegation. Having risen from near relegation to the Conference, to buying my season ticket for a season in the Premier League.................I want to watch all the best teams for as long as is possible, and see where we can finish in the best league in the world each season.........why would I want anything else???

alf_resco wrote:We survived.
Again.
Everyone seems to be happy.
Fine. I am too.
But to what end?
Next season will be exactly the same; scrapping and scraping the odd point or three off the 13 other also-rans in another effort to stay at the "top table."
History shows we don't compete/can't be arsed in the cups.
So, same old, same old?
Are we all happy with this scenario ad infinitum?

Yes because it's brilliant for the area and prestige of the town..... It won't last forever so make the most of it.

Don't it always seem to go,
That you don't know what you're got till it's gone...

Throughout our wanderings in the wilderness post 1976 we did have our small time successes, like an unexpected away win at say Stockport or Tranmere for example and we also had rather more significant successes like odd seasons finishing just below a league on play off spot or a good result against a higher ranked team in one of the cups and like many on here I really, really enjoyed some of those days and have some amazing memories, BUT surely, ultimately, during all the wanderings and the lows and the small time highs and the ups and downs, inside we held a dream that one day we could and would get back to the top table where we'd spent so long previously and been a virtual fixture at one time. If we didn't secretly hold that dream, however faint or unrealistic it seemed, then what was the point in any of it. Surely fans of ALL clubs outside the PL, however big or small, hold that dream. This now is what we spent all those years dreaming about and it's the culmination of the efforts of all those players (good, bad and indifferent) who passed through us down the years, from Billy Hamilton, Ashley Hoskin, Ian Britton, Ray Deakin, Mickey Conroy, Chris Pearce, Mickey Mellon, Glen Little, David Eyres, Mark Winstanley, Gary Parkinson, Steve Davis, Gareth Taylor, Kurt Nogan, Lee Brisco and on and on and on....... If we weren't genuinely aspiring to be up there, then what would be the point in celebrating any success at all. I agree that by the time we've returned things have changed dramatically since we left it and it's like a totally different world and not absolutely all of it is great, but after all we went through over so many years I am bloody enjoying it (and this time, unlike back in the 60's and 70's, I'm realistic enough not to assume it will last forever.)

Yes. The Prem is unfair in its bias against the smaller clubs in just about every way it can be but there we are, bucking the trend and not only surviving but doing damned well against some of Europe's finest.
If the alternative is the amateurish garbage served up by Derby and Leeds on Saturday evening then I'm more than happy to see Sean and the boys tackle the best, however grim it may be at times, and scrap for every point we can.

Much as i have to accept that the PL is where it's at I can't help but think that my happiest days following BFC have been our successes at lower levels.
Our resurgence under Jimmy Mullen and Stan Ternent will live long in my memory,.

Correct there about Derby v Leeds it was Dire... We really have come a long way regardless of our style of play...and we'd have beat them both I'm sure.

The aim of any club is to better itself. It is proved that by not aiming for the best you end up with the worst. These are fantastic times for the Club and for supporters. Burnley FC are now getting a reputation as for how a Club should be run in the PL.
I am at a loss as to why some on here cannot seem to enjoy it and talk of the championship as some kind of ideal. There are a couple of leagues below that and many non-league clubs that were recently in the league so to want something less than what we now have is beyond belief.

Burnley’s 40 year progress from the Orient game, has been a remarkable journey, a rags to riches success for a poor small town club. It’s tough at the top. We don’t win many matches but every game that comes along has so much riding on it. Every point has been hard earned. We’ve shown the football world that with proper management we can survive and compete among the best. We’ve earned it. UTC

mikeS wrote:Burnley’s 40 year progress from the Orient game

Blimey, I'm older than I thought.

boatshed bill wrote:Much as i have to accept that the PL is where it's at I can't help but think that my happiest days following BFC have been our successes at lower levels.
Our resurgence under Jimmy Mullen and Stan Ternent will live long in my memory,.

But you are only remembering the good days. There were many, many more poor days. Did you enjoy 7 seasons in the 4th Division and the embarrassing home results and attendances?

Rose tinted glasses boys.

Most of the previous 40 years have been crap with a few stand out moments...then along came Sean Dyche and rescued us. End of story.

It's not the end of the world if we drop down to the Championship,however the longer we remain at the top table,the club will be able to improve the infrastructure,without the PL money would Barnfield have ever seen the light of day.

The reality is half of the league are just playing to survive,and maybe hoping for a cup run now and then.

Arguably finishing 7th raised expectations to a daft level.

Our PL positions and points for the 5 seasons at this level

2009/10 18th 30 points

2014/15 19th 33 points

2016/17 16th 40 points

2017/18 7th 54 points

2018/19 15th 40 points

You don't have to be Einstein to spot the outlier in that list.

Our natural level is a lower-mid table PL side,and it only takes a run of injuries or loss of form to see us fall through the trap door.

Fortunately the purple patch in Jan/Feb garnered enough points to get us over the line this time.

Chip Harrison wrote:But you are only remembering the good days. There were many, many more poor days. Did you enjoy 7 seasons in the 4th Division and the embarrassing home results and attendances?
.

That's exactly what I said, it was the resurgence and recovery from those bad years that I enjoyed.

“Be all and end all”? No, but I’d rather be here than not, and if you don’t want to see your team play at the highest possible level, there isn’t a lot of point to it all.

Having said that, the history of clubs like ours suggests our time at the top level will be limited, and I’d like to have something to show for it when it does end, like a cup win, or at least a final.

Personally, I was very disappointed we didn’t give Europa more of a go. Opportunities like that don’t come round very often, and I would have loved to have seen more of it regardless of the consequences on our league form.