Burnley Football Club promotion parade sees thousands of Clarets fans welcome open-top bus tour
A sea of claret and blue rippled with delight when Burnley Football Club’s latest generation of heroes celebrated a return to the promised land of the Premier League.
Thousands of ecstatic fans thronged the streets as Burnley football stars addressed them from the balcony of the town hall before they climbed on board an open-top bus, which snaked its way through the crowds.
Clarets supporters began massing on Manchester Road from late afternoon where a huge screen had been set up to capture the town hall balcony’ interviews conducted by Radio Lancashire’s Scott Read.
First up was one of Burnley’s stand-out performers from the season, cultured French centre-back Maxime Estève who spoke about the team’s record-breaking defensive record of just 16 goals conceded in 46 matches. Burnley also became the first side in English league history not to concede more than one goal in any fixture throughout an entire season.
Club captain Josh Brownhill later appeared from the balcony, while huge cheers and chants came bellowing forth for cult hero Ashley Barnes, Tunisian midfielder Hannibal Mejbri and Dutch forward Zian Flemming.
Earlier, players and staff, including manager Scott Parker and chairman Alan Pace, mingled with civic guests at the Burnley Mechanics for a pre-parade reception.
Guests included Burnley MP Oliver Ryan, Mayor of Burnley Coun. Shah Hussein, Burnley Council chief executive Lukman Patel, Burnley Council leader Coun. Afrasiab Anwar, Lord Wajid Khan of Burnley, and local businessmen Barnfield Construction managing director Tim Webber MBE, and Crow Wood Leisure owner Andrew Brown.