Burnley Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Burnley, Lancashire. Founded on 18 May 1882, the club was one of the first to become professional (in 1883), putting pressure on the Football Association (FA) to permit payments to players. In 1885, the FA legalised professionalism, so the team entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1885–86, and were one of the twelve founding members of the Football League in 1888–89. Burnley have played in all four professional divisions of English football from 1888 to the present day. The team have been champions of England twice, in 1920–21 and 1959–60, have won the FA Cup once, in 1913–14, and have won the FA Charity Shield twice, in 1960 and 1973. Burnley 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. They were the second to achieve this by winning the Fourth Division in the 1991–92 season. The record for most games played for the club is held by Jerry Dawson, who made 569 appearances between 1907 and 1928. George Beel scored 188 goals during his Burnley career and is the club's record goalscorer. Jimmy McIlroy made 51 appearances for Northern Ireland and so is the player who gained the most caps while with Burnley. The highest transfer fee paid by the club is the £16.1 million paid to FC Basel for Zeki Amdouni in 2023; the highest fee received is the £31.5 million paid by Tottenham Hotspur for Wilson Odobert in 2024. The highest attendance recorded at home ground Turf Moor was 54,775 for the visit of Huddersfield Town in a third round FA Cup match in 1924. All records and statistics are correct as of the 2023–24 season.

Honours and achievements

Burnley won their first honour in 1883, when they won the Dr Dean's Cup, a knockout competition between amateur clubs in the Burnley area. The club turned professional by the end of 1883, and was one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888. Burnley reached their first major final in 1914, beating Liverpool 1–0 in the FA Cup final. Burnley have been champions of England two times, in 1920–21 and 1959–60, and have won the Charity Shield twice, in 1960 and 1973. The side have competed in one of the four professional levels of English football from 1888 to the present day. They were the second, and are one of only five teams to have won all four tiers, along with Wolverhampton Wanderers, Preston North End, Sheffield United and Portsmouth. Burnley's honours include the following:

League

First Division (Tier 1) Second Division/Championship (Tier 2) Third Division/Second Division (Tier 3) Fourth Division (Tier 4)

Cup

FA Cup FA Charity Shield Texaco Cup Anglo-Scottish Cup Associate Members' Cup Budapest Cup Allison Trophy

Regional

Lancashire Cup Dr Dean's Cup Hospital Cup East Lancashire Charity Cup

Club records

Season records

Points

Goals

Clean sheets

Match records

Firsts

Record wins

Record defeats

Streaks

Attendances

Managerial records

Player records

Award winners

Appearances

Most appearances

Goalscorers

Overall scorers

Internationals

Transfers

Record transfer fees paid

Record transfer fees received