Burnley have had a tough start to the season and, like fellow promoted clubs Luton and Sheffield United, come into the weekend in the bottom four in the table.
They have lost all five of their home games, but picked up four points from their three away matches by winning 2-1 at Luton and drawing 1-1 at Nottingham Forest.
The Clarets could not have had a harder start to the campaign – hosting champions Manchester City, a game they lost 3-0.
Their opening away fixture at Luton was postponed because of redevelopment work at Kenilworth Road, and they then lost back-to-back games at Turf Moor to Aston Villa (1-3) and Spurs (2-5), before opening their points account at the City Ground.
Since then they have suffered three more defeats – Manchester United (0-1) and Chelsea (1-4) at home and Newcastle (0-2) away, with the rearranged Luton victory coming in-between.
They have at least reached the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with wins at Nottingham Forest (1-0) and Salford (4-0) earning them yet another away tie – this time at Everton in a couple of weeks’ time.
This is Burnley’s fourth spell in the Premier League.
Their first in 2009-10 was their first in the top flight since 1976, and between those two seasons they played in all four divisions and even come close to losing their Football League place.
On 9 May, 1987, the Clarets were bottom of Division Four and entertained Leyton Orient in the final game of the season knowing that their fate was out of their hands.
They trailed Tranmere, Rochdale and Torquay by a point and Lincoln by two, so even a victory would not guarantee keeping them out of the Conference.
After a 15-minute delay to kick-off because of crowd congestion, Burnley took the lead. They soon learned that Lincoln were losing to Swansea and quickly doubled their advantage.
Orient pulled a goal back early in the second half but Burnley held on to finish a point clear of the Imps, who were relegated, and Torquay, who survived by scoring in time added on after ex-Brentford defender Jim McNichol was bitten by a police dog!
Burnley’s second Premier League season was 2014-15, before they enjoyed a six-year stay from 2016.
Last season, they won the Championship – clinching promotion with seven games to spare, a record since the division was renamed in 2004/05 – and finished with 101 points. That made them the first side to top 100 points since Leicester in 2013/14.
WHO’S IN CHARGE
Vincent Kompany was appointed as Burnley boss in the summer of 2022, after interim manager Mike Jackson had taken over from Sean Dyche towards the end of the previous season.
The former Manchester City captain had been in charge of Belgian side Anderlecht, his boyhood club, for two years, leading them to fourth and third-placed finishes in the Belgian league.
He had originally rejoined Anderlecht in 2019 as player-manager, but stepped down after four games to concentrate on playing.
In 11 years at City he won 10 major trophies, including four Premier League titles.
He also won 89 caps for Belgium in a 16-year international career and played in the World Cup finals in both 2014 and 2018.
WE’VE MET BEFORE
We have a poor recent record against Burnley, with our win over them in March 2022 our first in eight league and cup games across three separate divisions and the FA Cup going back to 1998.
They have not been regular opponents in recent years, after many meetings during the 1980s and 90s.
In our seven-year spell in the Championship, our paths only crossed in one season – 2015/16 when they did the double over us – and we had not played them again before our first Premier League campaign.
Michael Keane’s 26th-minute goal was enough to give the Clarets their first victory of the season as they beat us 1-0 at Turf Moor at the end of August 2015. Andre Gray, who had left us for the Clarets the previous day – sat out the match.
James Tarkowski declared himself unavailable to play for us in the televised Friday night return game at Griffin Park in January. He joined Burnley a couple of weeks later.
Without him, we were 3-0 down by the 39th minute thanks to superb goals from Scott Arfield and George Boyd from long range, and a brilliant free-kick by Joey Barton.
Alan Judge pulled one back for us just before the hour mark but even though Andre Gray could not score against us on his return to TW8, Burnley’s 3-1 triumph was our third successive league defeat.
We lost 3-1 at Turf Moor in our first season in the Premier League – our first away defeat in our fifth game on the road.
It was all over by half-time as goals from Chris Wood, Matt Lowton and and Maxwel Cornet put the Clarets on the way to their first league win of the season.
Saman Ghoddos pulled one back with a superb volley late in the game – his first Brentford goal – but it was only a consolation.
In the return at the Gtech in March, two late goals from Ivan Toney earned us a 2-0 win – our second successive victory, and first at home in five attempts since January.
Toney headed home Christian Eriksen’s 85th-minute cross for the opener, before converting a penalty deep into stoppage time after he had been fouled by future Bee Nathan Collins, who was shown a straight red card for the challenge.
The win moved us up to 15th, nine points clear of Burnley, who were in 18th place.
Before that, they knocked us out of the FA Cup in a rare fourth round appearance for us in 2002/03, and took four points off us in Division Two (now League One) in 1999/2000.
The 2-2 draw at Turf Moor in the October featured one of our most memorable moments against them when captain Paul Evans, who had scored from the halfway line against Preston the previous Saturday, hit another superb long-range goal from just inside the Clarets half.
They won the Griffin Park return 3-2, with ex-England and Arsenal star Ian Wright scoring their second goal.
We drew 1-1 in Lancashire in February 1998, meaning our last win over Burnley before the March 2022 one came in September 1997.
Carl Hutchings gave us a second-minute lead but Mark Ford equalised soon after half-time. Burnley then had Lee Howey sent off in the 75th minute before Kevin Rapley hit a dramatic 89th-minute winner.
OPPOSITION VIEW
BBC Radio Lancashire’s Burnley reporter Scott Read analyses the Clarets’ season so far, their summer transfer business and discusses their chances of establishing themselves in the Premier League.
Q – How would you assess Burnley’s start to the season?
A – I think under the circumstances its been a pretty understandable start to the season, when you consider the turnaround in playing staff, with 15 new arrivals in the summer, and six of last season’s top eight to face in the opening months of the season. They’ve got better as the season has gone on, individual mistakes have cost them against better opposition.
Q – How much – if anything – has Vincent Kompany changed from the way the Clarets played last season?
A – Little to be honest, he has so far stuck to his principles and his beliefs in the way he wants his side to play. This has always been an intriguing question, and whether he adapts and alters throughout the season will be interesting to watch.
Q – What did you make of the club’s summer transfer business – both in and out?
A – Eventful, just like his first summer window. He signed 15 players this summer, some of last season’s players leaving having been recalled by their parent clubs. He’s been backed, almost £100m spent is quite frankly unheard of for Burnley. Its more than Sean Dyche spent in a decade.
Q – How optimistic are you of the club defying the pundits and staying up this season?
A – As the cliché goes I think most fans would take fourth from the bottom now. I think they’ll take points from the teams around them, already away at Nottingham Forest and Luton Town. That could be the difference.
Q – Burnley have reached the Carabao Cup fourth round – a welcome distraction or something they could do without?
A – The club’s record in cup competitions has been dreadful for a decade or more. I think a good cup run would be welcome by most fans.
Q – What are your memories of past meetings between the teams?
A – Pretty fond memories, I know they lost on their last visit, but they’ve had a decent record at Brentford over the years. I remember a 3-2 win in April 2000 when Ian Wright scored for the Clarets and they went on to win promotion that season.
Q – Finally can you give me a possible Clarets formation and line-up please?
A – I would love to, but unlike the previous manager the current one is almost impossible to predict. I think the back four won’t change, Cullen and Brownhill in midfield, Foster up front. The rest – your guess is as good as mine.
HOW TO FOLLOW THE GAME IF YOU CAN’T BE THERE
If you can’t get to the Brentford Community Stadium for Saturday’s 3.00pm kick-off and want Brentford commentary, audio coverage is available via Buzz Box for free.
Coverage starts half an hour before kick-off and is advert-free, with Mark Burridge and Carl Hutchings.
IAN WESTBROOK
@ianwestbrook
PUBS IN BRENTFORD AND TRAVEL NEWS
For Burnley fans coming to the Gtech Community Stadium, there are plenty of pub options pre and post-match and all are most welcoming and away-fan-friendly (as it should be).
The pub areas are split into two zones. There is the area around Brentford’s old Griffin Park stadium. The pubs there are still very busy on match day frequented by Bees locals before heading down the road to the stadium at Kew Bridge which is only 15 mins walk.
Then there is the area in and around the stadium in Kew Bridge.
It is possible, if you have a good early start, to savour a few pubs in and around Griffin Park and Brentford zone before heading off to the pubs in the Kew zone or even vice versa if you so fancy.
Pubs in Griffin Park/Brentford zone
When at Griffin Park, Brentford was well known for its four pubs – one on each corner of the ground. Three are still operating.
The Griffin is closest to the old away end and has always been very popular with both home and away fans and has its regulars who still make the journey down to the new stadium from there on matchday. The New Inn is on the other side which used to also be popular with away fans before the move. The Brook pub is the other option if you want to savour a pub in and around what is left of our old home. Worth a peep if you want to reminisce about old Brentford.
About five minutes’ walk away from the old ground are two pubs which are enormously popular. The Globe (Windmill Rd) is a “lively but comfortable” pub on matchday. Incredibly friendly and cosy, it has always been popular with a selection of away fans who fancied having a beer a few minutes further walk away from the ground without having to queue six persons deep. After the move to the new ground, The Globe has retained many of lot its regulars from the Griffin Park days and with screens throughout the pub and in its sheltered beer garden, it shows both Premier League and EFL football before and after each match.
Meanwhile around the corner, The Lord Nelson (Enfield Rd) is another incredibly friendly and cosy away-friendly pubs about one minute walk from The Globe. Again with a TV screen for live sports and a lovely beer garden, this is another pub frequented by “away fans in the know”.
The other pub worth checking out in the Griffin Park region is The Black Dog Beer House, formerly The Albany, on Albany Road, if you like your real ales.
There are plenty of other pubs in and around Brentford High Street including real ale pub Magpie and Crown (Brentford High Street) and the cosy Brewery Tap (Catherine Wheel Road) near the river.
For a Griffin Park area pub crawl before heading over to Kew we recommend the following: Take the Piccadilly line to Northfields station. Turn left and walk for 2 mins and you will come to The Plough (Northfields Ave). Then walk to The Lord Nelson (10 min walk from The Plough) & then The Globe (1 min walk from The Nelson) en-route before hitting The Griffin (8 min walk from The Globe) and then The Black Dog (2 mins from The Griffin). You can also try and do the other three pubs on the corner whilst down here if you fancy.
Then you can then either walk (15 minutes from The Globe/The Nelson and The Griffin/Black Dog ) or take a train from Brentford station (which is five minutes walk away from both The Globe/The Nelson and The Griffin/Black Dog) or a bus (237/267) to Kew Bridge.
Trains run at 24 and 54 minutes past the hour to Kew Bridge from Brentford and take 2 mins.
Pubs in the Kew Bridge zone
Right next to Kew Bridge station, you will find the Express Tavern – an ale pub with a retro feel. The pub has been refurbished in readiness for the new football season and needless to say, is popular before the match due to its close proximity to the stadium.
Across the road by the river is One Over the Ait – a spacious boozer right next to Kew Bridge. This pub is situated on the location of the now-demolished Oxford & Cambridge pub where Brentford Football Club was founded in 1889.
Across Kew Bridge and the River Thames, there are two pubs on Kew Green – the Cricketers and the Greyhound – very close to the pier where Brentford fans have embarked on their away journeys by water to F*lham, Orient, Charlton, West Ham and even Southend.
North of the river along hoity-toity Strand on the Green, you will find The Steam Packet, in an old Cafe Rouge, and The Bell. A bit further down are The City Barge and the Bulls Head – two pubs side-by-side in which you would often see Ant and Dec hanging out.
There is also The Pilot which you can get to coming out of the BACK entrance of Gunnersbury station and we believe the old John Bull pub at the front of the station has been refurbed as The Gunnersbury but we have never been there so can’t give it a or a
Transport to Brentford and Kew Bridge
**** There is a train strike on National Rail on Saturday so please check ahead of your journey – there is no strike on the London Underground. ****
The simplest on paper to get to Brentford FC from town is to get the tube to Waterloo (Northern, Jubilee lines) or Vauxhall (Victoria Line) and then take the Overground train to Kew Bridge, which is right by the stadium. Brentford is one stop further on if you are on an ‘Original Griffin Park Pub’ mission.
With trains from Waterloo being only twice an hour (22 and 52) and taking 28 minutes, we normally recommend people jump on the tube from Kings Cross or Euston and head to Northfields or South Ealing on the Piccadilly Line as it is quicker (including the time getting across London and waiting at Waterloo) and trains are more frequent.
It is only 40 mins max station by tube to station meaning you could be in a Brentford pub within an hour of embarking your train at Kings Cross, Euston or Liverpool Street.
The other station option is Gunnersbury. You can walk to the stadium from Gunnersbury tube station (District line) in 25 minutes or take a bus (H91, 237, 267, 110), but note that it is closed for entry for one hour after the match.
For the Brentford/Griffin Park pubs you can get the Piccadilly line tube to Northfields station from King’s Cross or Euston (35 minutes) then walk down to The Plough, The Globe, The Lord Nelson and The Griffin and other pubs from there.
The new stadium is around 25 minutes’ walk from South Ealing station – if you don’t fancy Gunnersbury – or you can get on the 65 bus from across the road which will drop you almost outside in 15 minutes.
You can also pick up the 65 bus from Ealing Broadway (district and central line) which will take you to the new stadium in 25 minutes.
You can check out Transport for London’s guide to travel on the Tube and Overground.
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