Burnley is a club with a ceiling, even if Sean Dyche, the seventh-placed finish and European football temporarily removed it to let supporters stare at the stars. Burnley is a relatively unfashionable East Lancashire family club with roughly 20,000 matchday supporters that will always struggle to increase revenue significantly and thus has no right to expect consistent Premier League football.
But six years ago, Burnley were about to finish in the top half of the Premier League and thus ensure their fifth straight top-flight season. Under the majority ownership of Mike Garlick and John Banaszkiewicz, Burnley had no external debt and managed to break even during the pandemic season, a significant achievement. The worst that ever seemed likely was bobbing along for a little too long without excitement and so allowing apathy to creep in.
That changed in December 2020, when ALK Capital, led by Alan Pace, bought out Garlick and Banaszkiewicz and took 84 per cent of the club’s shares. The takeover was leveraged by debt, similar to the Manchester United buyout by the Glazer family, with loan repayments and interest rates agreed and finance provided by MSD UK Holdings. In simple terms: Burnley now had a mortgage.
Debt-leveraged takeovers are controversial because they create risk on the part of the club by a new owner that did not exist before. In June 2023, Premier League clubs voted unanimously to cap leveraged buyouts to avoid clubs being laden with excessive debt. In Burnley’s case, that loan was reported to be £65m.
When Burnley were relegated from the Premier League in 2022, a significant part of that loan became due. Burnley’s debt now stands at £113m, costing them an estimated £10m a year.
But finding full information on Burnley’s owners isn’t easy. The 2020 takeover was completed by a company named Calder Vale Holdings Ltd, a subsidiary of Velocity Sports Ltd (Velocity was controlled by ALK Capital). Calder Vale Holdings is now in liquidation having never filed any accounts. The club transferred to Velocity Capital – Companies House lists the filing of their accounts, due by December 2024, as still overdue.
Premier League clubs having external debt is not, in itself, necessarily an issue. But Burnley have got worse on the pitch, too. They went from an overachieving, semi-stable Premier League club into a yo-yo team that will soon suffer its third relegation in five seasons. The Premier League experience has become so depressing that many supporters actively prefer the Championship.
The problem with that? Burnley now need the revenue. In their last two seasons, the club have spent around £208m on transfer fees and recruitment has been largely unsuccessful.
Last summer, over £70m was spent on Lesley Ugochukwu, Armando Broja, Loum Tchaouna and Bashir Humphreys. The final three of that list have started 26 league games between them in 2025-26.
In previous years, Burnley have offset the loss of Premier League revenue by selling key assets: James Trafford, Wilson Odobert, Sander Berge, Dara O’Shea. But now it is hard to envisage who higher-end clubs would conclude to be viable. Maxime Esteve and Quilindschy Hartman, perhaps; little much else.
This new Burnley existence may not cause much harm while the relationship lasts. Although debt-leveraged buyouts are unpopular with fan organisations, there is no suggestion that ALK Capital’s intentions are not honourable and they will consider promotion again next season as a reasonable ambition if they are indeed relegated.
But on Saturday, the mood at Turf Moor became toxic, a sea of harrumphs and groans at displeasing football until Burnley inevitably fall behind and more existential questions about the direction of the club. Supporters on social media have begun to offer concerted criticism of an ownership group that they believe has failed their club.
Before the West Ham game, Pace was interviewed by BBC Sport about supporter criticism and hardly poured cold water on a growing fire of malcontents.
“Have you ever had a three-year-old kid throw a temper tantrum in the middle of an event?” Pace asked the reporter.
“At the end of it, you get embarrassed and you say you’re sorry and you hope that they grow up. And, when they do grow up, you hope that they contribute to society.”
Your next read
The problem here is the unknown. For so many years, Burnley were a dependable, reliable, safe football club that tried to do the best it could and looked after its people by ensuring that it would always be there. No debt, no doubt.
Now Burnley have become something different, a blurry identity and a financial future that is in the hands of a few more than the many.
The dangers are obvious and the advantages simply have not been realised. Burnley’s ownership has failed the club.
from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/0FOPkeW
Post a Comment