They say imitation is the highest form of flattery, and in 1910, Burnley changed their colours from green to claret in order to emulate Aston Villa, England’s most successful club at the time. Perhaps it worked, because the 1912-13 season saw them win promotion to the first division. They also marched all the way to the FA Cup final only to be defeated by another quality team of the day, Sunderland. Burnley consolidated their place in the top flight the following season, but more importantly they claimed their first major honour, the FA Cup, with victory over Liverpool in what was the last FA Cup to be played at Crystal Palace. This historic occasion was made even more special by the fact that this was the first FA Cup final in which the reigning monarch presented the cup to the winning captain, with King George V handing the trophy over to Tommy Boyle. The winning team even received special medals engraved with “English Cup winners” instead of the normal “FA Cup winners” inscription.

 

Unfortunately, like most European clubs, World War I had a large impact on Burnley, and they fell to fourth place in the league in the 1914-15 season as English football took a back seat to the conflict.  Once full-time football resumed in 1919, Burnley finished second to West Bromwich Albion, but they were not satisfied with this. On the back of a 30 match unbeaten run the following season, Burnley claimed their first ever top flight title. This record for unbeaten games in a single season stood for decades until Arsenal went through the entire 2003-04 season unbeaten. However, after this great achievement Burnley began on a downwards slope. They finished third the following season and only a fifth place finish in 1926-27 provided respite from a series of near-relegations as they progressively finished lower and lower until they were finally demoted in 1929-30. Things went from bad to worse in the following years as they struggled in the Second Division, narrowly avoiding further relegation by only two points. Their brief run of success had well and truly ended.

Achievements: English First Division – Champions x1 Runners up x1
                            FA Cup – Winners x1

Star Player: Tommy Boyle 29 January, 1886, Hoyland, England

The only player to have captained a Burnley team in an FA Cup winning final. A born and bred Yorkshireman, he began his career in Barnsley but he crossed the Pennines in 1912 to sign for Burnley for what was then a record transfer fee of £1,150. Boyle was described as a great handler of the ball and an excellent passer with superb leadership abilities and one of the best players to ever represent Burnley. His league championship winning season in 1920-21 was his last with the club, before he moved to Wrexham and ended his career. He then coached in Germany for a spell.