Long before Burnley’s charge to the Championship title brought a century of points and perhaps even more plaudits, Alan Pace experienced a different kind of charge. It was a more unwelcome sight. Some 15 months ago, before the game against Newcastle that decided their destiny, the Burnley chairman declared they would remain in the Premier League “for a long time.” A couple of hours later, they were relegated.
Cue the rancour. “To have people come up to the directors’ box on their way out and almost charge at the directors’ box, and yell and scream and tell you to eff off and go die, I don’t think people are really ready for that,” Pace reflected. “I know I wasn’t. And then walking down the street and people are waving with one of their five fingers and yelling stuff. The hardest part was being with family when people were telling us to go home: this is home.” It is safer for him to show his face in public now. “It is way, way better when things are going well. People are very respectful and kind.”
