Lowly Burnley are knocking on the door of the Champions League elite — just 30 years after nearly dropping out of the Football League entirely.
Their remarkable rise continued with Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Stoke, which propelled Sean Dyche’s side to fourth — uncharted territory for arguably the Premier League’s most unfashionable club.
The Clarets leapfrogged Tottenham, Arsenal and Liverpool in the process, their extraordinary progress owing everything to Dyche — affectionately dubbed the Ginger Mourinho by the Lancashire side's loyal fan base.
Dyche declared after the Stoke match that he was “the proudest man in Proudsville,” and it is certainly a far cry from just 13 years ago when then-chief executive Dave Edmundson was organising sponsored bike rides, celebrity dinners and even going around the town with a begging bucket to keep the club going.
With a population of just 73,500, Burnley is the smallest town to boast a Premier League club.
Its people may have voted overwhelmingly in favour of Brexit - 66.6 per cent – but the market town’s football team are doing their best to make it back into Europe.
The average weekly wage of Burnley’s squad is £26,375-a-week, a fraction of what some of the Premier League’s top players earn, and proof success can be achieved on modest budgets and sensible financial planning.
Burnley spent around £33million in the summer, but made a profit with the £30m sale of Michael Keane to Everton and Andre Gray to Watford for £18.5m, further proof of their astute approach to spending.
Contrast that with Everton, who spent £140m in the same window and were talked up as candidates for a Champions League spot before the season, who are currently in mid-table, 12 points adrift of Burnley.
The Clarets deserve credit for sticking with Dyche, who is now the third longest-serving boss in the Premier League, when they were relegated from the top-flight in 2015.
Burnley’s reward for keeping faith with Dyche was promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt as Championship winners, with this season’s success further vindication of their belief in him and his approach.
They may not be free-scoring – they have just 16 goals in 17 games – but they are tight at the back, having conceded just 12, fewer than Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs.
Dyche’s stock continues to rise and he will no doubt be in demand by Premier League clubs with bigger profiles and budgets next summer if he continues to perform miracles at Turf Moor.
But the 46-year-old, who began his career under Brian Clough at Nottingham Forest, refused to take sole credit for Burnley’s rise and also remains aware of the pitfalls ahead.
“The challenge for me, year on year at this club, is to keep it moving forward, and I’ve spoken a lot about this recently because it’s important to me,” said Dyche.
“Every year we’ve been trying to move forward, both on and off the pitch. I think we’re doing that and I think there are clear signs the group’s getting stronger and more assured.
“The league doesn’t lie, in one way. It’s unpredictable we are where we are, just because of how good the other teams are, but on the other hand we’ve earned the right to be where we are.
“I’m proud of a lot of things, it’s not just the league position.
“I’m proud of how the club is managed, from top to bottom, how we’re bringing it forward each season, I’m proud of all of that.
“And even when a bad day comes, you’re still proud, because it’s not an easy job that we all have to do.
“We don’t want to take anything for granted, because it owes you nothing, this game. We’re on a good run again, but the next one owes you nothing, so we’ve got to make sure we’re on top for the next game.”