Burnley v Sheff Utd - the £60m game

[Toon Toon Blue army]

I said Burnley were going to go up at the begining of the season, I was planning on betting 15 quid on it, but never got around to it.. bollocks.

[Super_horns]

Ofcourse they will find it very hard in the top flight (maybe..) but Burnley deserved the win and its a credit to the manager and his limited squad size albeit with some quality that they can come through so many games and earn promotion - and playing very good football.

I don't think Sheffield United can complain too much...at best one penalty maybe rather than the 3/4 Blackwell's feels they could have had and Ward is added to the daft moments footballers have in big matches.

Much like in 2006 against us Blackwell bottled it in a final.

We always lose at Burnley as well...so another reason for being pleased for them.

[Volvicanus]

V. pleased for Burnley.... would have hated to see Sheffield United go up.

[Royal Rother]

Pisses me off all this crap about the so called £60m game, what a load of bollocks.

When we went up 3 years ago we spent very little on new players, but the additional costs of security, hospitality, staffing and infrastructure, plus of course players' wages meant that we made no more than £6m profit despite finishing 8th in the PL.

In the 2nd year we again spent very little on new players and came down. Again we made circa £6m. If we had spent more we could have stayed up I suppose, and broken even - great eh? Is that a recipe for building a successful and established PL club? No, it's just treading water.

We are now a financially stable and self-sufficient club, no longer reliant on the money of John Madejski to keep it going. We have a vibrant academy now producing a crop of excellent young players who will serve us well next season (I hope!).

That has not been achieved on the back of our 2 year PL adventure, but as a result of 10+ years of planning and vision.

If Burnley win this afternoon, wherever they finish in the next 2 seasons, I will be amazed if they have made more than £12m profit from the adventure - in fact it is highly likely they will come out of it with no profit whatsoever.

The £60m game - pah!

Anyway, as for the game itself, I don't really mind who wins, but after Burnley's extraordinary Cup runs I just about favour them though one always feels justice is served when the team finishing 3rd goes up from the play offs.

It does boost revenue by the best part of 60m though, which is the whole point

Is that all you've got?

[rg6royal]

Congrats to Burnley. Think they have a good chance of staying up next season as long as they can bring in some fresh faces to cover for the older boys who play such a vital role in the team such as Alexander.

[FiNeRaIn]

Im sorry but I don't like burnley. They were lucky 3 games we played them this season and got the most ridiculous amount of luck in those play-off games. Everything they hit went in and im still bitter about us pounding them the whole game and then losing to two fluke goals out of the blue at the mad stad.
They are a crap side and hopefully they come back down to the championship as they were nowhere near good enough to get promotion.

[TFF]

Im sorry but I don't like burnley. They were lucky 3 games we played them this season and got the most ridiculous amount of luck in those play-off games. Everything they hit went in and im still bitter about us pounding them the whole game and then losing to two fluke goals out of the blue at the mad stad.
They are a crap side and hopefully they come back down to the championship as they were nowhere near good enough to get promotion.

Yeah, but better them than the Blades eh?

Would've been a bit much to see that thug Morgan lift a trophy.

[susieroyal]

Can't find a link (well, can't be bothered to look for one) about 7000 Burnley fans will get their season tickets free as bought 2 year ticket where the 2nd season was free if they got promoted. Will cost Burnley approx £2m. Whoops!

[susieroyal]

Can't find a link (well, can't be bothered to look for one) about 7000 Burnley fans will get their season tickets free as bought 2 year ticket where the 2nd season was free if they got promoted. Will cost Burnley approx £2m. Whoops!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009 ... n-play-off

Didn't actually take much effort!

[Deathy]

V. pleased for Burnley.... would have hated to see Sheffield United go up.

'greed.

[Victor Meldrew]

Well done Burnley.
When I were a lad Burnley were a top tier club and per head of population it has been said many times they are the best supported club in the country.
Whether they can stay up with their income stream from gate receipts lower than anybody else who knows but they have shown what can be done by spending so little and having a young eager manager and I don't think they will play with any fear after their commendable cup exploits this season-good luck to them.

As for RRs original post I still think there is something not quite right in our accounts for the two Premiership seasons and if we haven't made a significant profit this season with players on reduced wages,£11 million of parachute payments,some TV money,decent home gates and extra fixtures as well as income of around £10 million plus from transfers and ongoing receipts from London Irish and club shop sales there is something seriously wrong with the financial management of our club.

[Flyingkiwi]

So...

Wolves.
Brum.
Burnley.

What price Burnley ending bottom next year with a record low points tally? And, given that Hull held on this time but I'd stake a pound to a pile of sh1t that they won't next year, things are looking rosey for Wolves which means it'll be at least two years before we see that banner again!

(Fair play to them however).

[winchester_royal]

Burnley will get fukced on next season. No financial backing at all; which will mean no investment in a very thin and limited squad. They were lucky in all 3 playoff matches, and, despite possessing a couple of quality players in Paterson and Elliot, don't have much talent.

[cmonurz]

Burnley will get fukced on next season. No financial backing at all; which will mean no investment in a very thin and limited squad. They were lucky in all 3 playoff matches, and, despite possessing a couple of quality players in Paterson and Elliot, don't have much talent.

Well then thank f*ck WE didn't go up.

[Dr Hfuhruhurr]

What price Burnley ending bottom next year with a record low points tally?

Burnley are better than Derby ever were.

[soggy biscuit]

So...

Wolves.
Brum.
Burnley.

What price Burnley ending bottom next year with a record low points tally?

That is exactly what all the football brains on here said last year about Stoke

[papereyes]

Burnley will get fukced on next season. No financial backing at all; which will mean no investment in a very thin and limited squad. They were lucky in all 3 playoff matches, and, despite possessing a couple of quality players in Paterson and Elliot, don't have much talent.

The only thing that makes me doubt that is their very impressive cup runs this season.

Suitable and prudent signings to both strenthen and reinforce could see them compete. As Hull showed, you can get most of the work in being safe done by Xmas ...

If anything, I'd tentatively rank them now as Wolves, Burnley, Birmingham but happy to accept that there's a whole summer and season to go before it matters.

[Royal Rother]

As for RRs original post I still think there is something not quite right in our accounts for the two Premiership seasons and if we haven't made a significant profit this season with players on reduced wages,£11 million of parachute payments,some TV money,decent home gates and extra fixtures as well as income of around £10 million plus from transfers and ongoing receipts from London Irish and club shop sales there is something seriously wrong with the financial management of our club.

Something not quite right? What could be wrong with the accounts? It's all there in black and white and the numbers all made perfect sense.

As for the season just ended, I would like to think that we at least broke even but whether or not that is the case I am happy that the financial management of our club is second to none in the entire Football League.

[Tony Le Mesmer]

Whats all this come on Burnley stuff?

Burnley spawned it and had everything go their way in the play offs. They even had the luxury of Bristol City not turning up on the last day which meant they got to play us.

Burnley is a truly unwelcoming, bitter town with horrible fans.

Where as Sheff Utd have a nice ground always a good atmosphere there. Oh well each to their own.

[susieroyal]

Whats all this come on Burnley stuff?

Burnley spawned it and had everything go their way in the play offs. They even had the luxury of Bristol City not turning up on the last day which meant they got to play us.

Burnley is a truly unwelcoming, bitter town with horrible fans.

Where as Sheff Utd have a nice ground always a good atmosphere there. Oh well each to their own.

Agreed +1