Burnley's 12-month slide: from Wolves high to relegation, record home drought and fan unrest

Failure on the field, unrest in the stands

Lyle Foster scored a 95th-minute winner as Burnley beat Wolves 3-2 on 26 October 2025, lifting the Clarets five points clear of the Premier League's relegation zone. It was their first back-to-back top-flight wins in more than three years, and there was genuine optimism around Turf Moor.

Twelve months on, that optimism has all but vanished. Burnley are relegated, bottom three in the Championship, and on the verge of an unwanted home record. Growing unrest among supporters over the ownership of Alan Pace and ALK Capital has added to the pressure.

A broken bounce-back record

Since 2010, Burnley have won promotion to the Premier League five times. Of their five subsequent relegations, they bounced straight back three times, but a fourth immediate return now looks increasingly unlikely.

Scott Parker left towards the end of last season. Nicky Hayen was appointed less than a month before the new Championship campaign started, after a move for Wales boss Craig Bellamy fell through. Joe Redmond, creator and host of the Turfcast podcast, said: "I think there is an element of sympathy among the fans for Hayen but two things can be true at the same time - you can sympathise and also think he's out of his depth."

Hayen was brought in after pre-season had started, was forced to work with coaches left over from Parker's era, and saw his main striker, Zian Flemming, sold on transfer deadline day. A total of 11 new players arrived over the summer, with 10 departing.

Former Watford and Reading midfielder Jobi McAnuff, now an EFL pundit, told the BBC's podcast 72+: "I look at that squad and it's been scattergun. They bounce up, come down, go up, come down and they haven't handled that well enough." He added that Jamie Vardy, now 39, could not be expected to be the main man all season.

Turf Moor terrors

Burnley's success was long built on home form. Before this season they had lost only one of their previous 46 Championship games at Turf Moor, winning 30. That has collapsed. Their last home league win came against Leeds on 18 October 2025, and since then they have lost 10 and drawn 11 of 21 league games, scoring just 21 goals.

A failure to beat Portsmouth on 31 October would set a new English record for the longest time without a home win, surpassing Sheffield Wednesday's mark of 376 days.

BBC Radio Lancashire commentator Scott Read said: "They've let leads slip against Bristol City, Derby, Charlton and Wolves." The latest home defeat, by Wolves, was followed by boos at full-time.

Hayen said: "I can't blame the fans, they want the best for their team and if you have losses like this it is normal. You know when you are losing, the atmosphere changes into negativity and I can accept it as a reality."

McAnuff warned of the effect on players: "They've had leads, conceded late and you can feel the energy, tension and nervousness around the stadium which is absolutely having an impact on those players."

Pace under pressure

Pace and ALK Capital completed their takeover of Burnley in December 2020. The buyout of previous major shareholders Mike Garlick and John Banaszkiewicz raised unease among supporters, as it involved a £65m loan to complete the deal. Last season's relegation, the delay in appointing a head coach and the poor start to this campaign have increased pressure on Pace, and anti-Pace chants and banners were displayed during the Wolves game.

Read said there was no indication ALK was looking to sell, and that with the club's debt, a sale would be hard. Hayen, who left Belgian top-tier side Genk for his first taste of English football, said: "Our expectations are much higher but we are working really hard and 100% we can change it, but if we change everything into negativity in our support then we will be in trouble."

Time running out

Redmond summed up the mood: "It's going wrong absolutely everywhere at Turf Moor and the only way it changes is with changes in personnel, whether they be in the dugout, boardroom or hopefully both. Surely if we lose to Lincoln something has got to change?"

Burnley's trip to Lincoln on Saturday comes with patience running thin both in the dugout and among those paying through the turnstiles.