Burnley 1, Sheffield Utd 0:AFTER 33 years spent lurching around the lower divisions and an energy-sapping campaign that has encompassed 61 matches, Burnley are a top-flight club once again.
A Lancashire town that has endured life in the shadow of Blackburn Rovers for too long has burst into the limelight. Their elevation back among the elite constitutes a staggering achievement by one of the Championship’s thinnest squads and brightest young managers. The Premier League is coming to Turf Moor.
The masses that had migrated south were still pinching themselves as they drifted, delirious in their exhilaration, back to the English north-west last night. No town this small has graced the Premier League since English top-flight football reinvented itself in the early 1990s.
“When Manchester United play at Old Trafford there are more people there than in the whole of Burnley,” reflected Owen Coyle in the giddy aftermath.
Sheffield United will merely be left with a lingering sense of shock. Kevin Blackwell, beaten while in charge of Leeds United on this stage three years ago, is contemplating his resignation, aware that the financial implications of failure at a club whose parachute payments are now spent are significant.
There was fury at Mike Dean’s denial of two penalty claims, both of which seemed plausible, with Jamie Ward sent off for two deliberate handballs and another, later substitute, Lee Hendrie, dismissed after the final whistle for abusing the referee.
Yet, United were beaten by a better team. Burnley’s has been a wondrous season. This side had already beaten Arsenal, Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur (in a second leg), Chelsea and West Bromwich Albion in cup competitions, and they will tackle the Premier League with gusto. It is only 22 years since a last-day victory over Leyton Orient preserved their Football League status. Now, revived by an ambitious manager and propelled by a free-flowing style, their transformation is complete.
The decisive goal was Burnley’s. Some 13 minutes in, Wade Elliott collected a throw-in and charged forward at pace. Stephen Quinn and Nick Montgomery melted in his slipstream, the latter recovering only as Elliott prodded Chris McCann into the area at his side. Matt Kilgallon’s challenge was excellent yet, true to the Blades’ dismal luck, the ball merely spun back out to Elliott who clipped a first-time shot from 25 yards beyond Paddy Kenny.
The tireless Martin Paterson, Steven Thompson and, most clearly of all, Joey Gudjonsson and Robbie Blake should have made the contest safe, the last two denied fortunately by Montgomery and magnificently by Kyle Walker.
Blackwell’s complaints at the other end centred on a trip by Graham Alexander on Brian Howard and a clearer shoulder barge from Christian Kalvenes on Walker. Neither was given. This occasion can be insanely cruel.
So, of course, can be the aftermath. Coyle emerged from the celebrations to discover his side had been made favourites for relegation in a year, with his own odds to replace Gordon Strachan at Celtic slashed. “It’s flattering that people mention my name, but I’m with Burnley,” he said. “I’ll concentrate on what I’m doing here.”
It will be 50 years next season since Burnley won the title and the anniversary will be celebrated back among the elite.
Guardian Service
BURNLEY:Jensen, Duff, Carlisle, Caldwell, Kalvenes, Elliott, Alexander, McCann (Gudjonsson 27), Blake (Eagles 69), Thompson (Rodriguez 73), Paterson. Subs not used:Penny, McDonald. Booked:Carlisle, Kalvenes.
SHEFFIELD UNITED:Kenny, Walker, Morgan, Kilgallon, Naughton, Montgomery, Howard (Lupoli 82), Cotterill (Ward 58), Stephen Quinn (Hendrie 85), Halford, Beattie. Subs not used:Bennett, Bromby. Sent off: Ward (80). Booked:Ward, Lupoli.
Referee: M Dean (Wirral).
