Burnley F.C.

Beginnings and the first major honours (1882–1946)

The club was founded on 18 May 1882 by members of rugby team Burnley Rovers, 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. The side won their first silverware in 1883: the Dr Dean's Cup, a knockout competition between amateur clubs in the Burnley area. 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. The club was among the twelve founders of the Football League in 1888–89, the world's first league football competition, and one of the six based in Lancashire. 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 were the second, and are one of only five teams to have won all four professional divisions of English football, along with Wolverhampton Wanderers, Preston North End, Sheffield United and Portsmouth. The club's honours include the following: League

First Division (level 1) Champions: 1920–21, 1959–60 Runners-up: 1919–20, 1961–62 Second Division / Championship (level 2) Champions: 1897–98, 1972–73, 2015–16, 2022–23 Promoted: 1912–13, 1946–47, 2013–14, 2024–25 Play-off winners: 2009 Third Division / Second Division (level 3) Champions: 1981–82 Promoted: 1999–2000 Play-off winners: 1994 Fourth Division (level 4) Champions: 1991–92 Cup

FA Cup Winners: 1913–14 Runners-up: 1946–47, 1961–62 FA Charity Shield Winners: 1960 (shared), 1973 Runners-up: 1921 Texaco Cup Runners-up: 1973–74 Anglo-Scottish Cup Winners: 1978–79 Associate Members' Cup Runners-up: 1987–88 Regional

Lancashire Cup Winners (14): 1889–90, 1914–15, 1949–50, 1951–52, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1992–93, 2022–23, 2025–26