Burnley Rovers started out as a rugby football club, but they switched to Association rules in 1882 and moved into their current home, Turf Moor, the next year. They were one of the original 12 clubs in the Football League, and one of their players got the first hat trick in league history. After that, it is very much a standard small-club…

Among all the Lancashire teams, Burnley and Blackburn Rovers agree that they hate each other the most. Those games are called East Lancashire derbies or Cotton Mill derbies, the teams being separated by just 19 miles and in former mill towns. As a neutral, I’m beyond thrilled that this one is back on; the local police, perhaps not so…

Burnley Women FC play in the third-tier Women’s National League North. Home games are at County Ground in

They have a fun one about Owen Coyle, who played and managed at Bolton and then managed Blackburn Rovers when they got relegated to League One. It includes the lines: Owen Coyle’s a bastard. He wears a bastard hat. He was a Bolton wanker, He’s now a Blackburn twat. After goals they play “Tom Hark” by the Piranhas. You think you don’t know it, but…

Turf Moor—what a name. And it is old school: we sat on a wood seat next to an older gentleman with pin badges all over his vest. He said of the place, “It’s a proper footballing ground.” And indeed it is—all 21,944 seats of it. Their home since 1883 is also the longest continually used stadium ever to be in the Premier League. (And do the math:…

GETTING THERE: To get to Burnley, you should come over from Manchester on the bus. The train ride is fine, and you can take it back for convenience, but the bus is a scenic trip over a hill through villages and sheep country. It’s called the Witch Way for some reason and has run continuously since 1948! Catch it at the Manchester Coach Station in…