Burnley Football Club is an English football club based in Burnley. The club was founded in 1882 and has competed in the English football league system from its conception in 1888. Their first season in Europe came when they entered the 1960–61 European Cup after winning the 1959–60 First Division Title, reaching the quarter-final stages, where they lost 5–4 on aggregate to Hamburger SV. Thus far, Burnley's only other appearance in European cup competition was in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in the 1966-67 season.
Contents
1960–61 European Cup
The Clarets won their second league championship in the 1959–60 season and thus qualified for the European Cup the following season. Their first opponents were Stade de Reims, the French champions. Burnley won the first leg 2–0 at Turf Moor, however lost the away leg at the Parc des Princes 3–2. This was enough to send the English club through to the quarter-finals, where the West German champions Hamburger SV awaited. Burnley again won the home leg, though a crushing 4–1 defeat at the Volksparkstadion saw them leave the competition.
1966–67 Inter-Cites Fairs Cup
After finishing third in the 1965–66 season, Burnley entered the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in the 1966–67 season, along with fellow English clubs West Bromwich Albion and the eventual beaten finalists Leeds United. Burnley, just as in the European Cup previously, would be undone by a West German team in the shape of Eintracht Frankfurt.
2010–11 UEFA Europa League
Burnley were also reported to have been in with a chance with qualifying for the UEFA Europa League in 2010–11 despite eventually finishing the 2009–10 season in the Premier League relegation zone. This was due to England possibly being offered an extra Europa League spot to the team highest placed in the UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking who hadn't already qualified for European football: the teams above Burnley with the exception of Fulham (Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Chelsea) had all already qualified; Fulham would join them if they beat Atlético Madrid in the 2010 UEFA Europa League Final. However, England dropped from third in the league to seventh meaning Burnley would not participate, and Fulham lost the Final meaning the place would have not been available to the Lancashire club anyway. The places eventually went to Gefle, Randers and MYPA.