Dan Black's verdict: Burnley crowned champions but the day belonged to Ashley Barnes

And nothing or nobody was ever going to change that.

Ashley Barnes was quite rightly the protagonist on another special day for Burnley.

The striker's time at the club was coming to an end after nine-and-a-bit glorious years at Turf Moor.

The Clarets' captain for the day was making his 293rd and final appearance as the champions were crowned at home to Cardiff City.

It was the 33-year-old's last hurrah as he departed a three-time promotion winner and a fully-certified, cast iron, cult hero.

His first home goal for the club [against Wigan Athletic] was the one that had rubber-stamped Burnley's Premier League return in 2014.

The ex-Brighton forward's last - number 54 in total - pushed Vincent Kompany's side over the 100-point mark, a milestone only achieved by Reading (106), Sunderland (105), Newcastle United (102), Leicester City (102) and Fulham (101) before them.

The visit of the Bluebirds wasn't just a celebration of the division's best side in almost a decade, it was recognition and remembrance of one of this Milltown's favourite sons.

From his arrival as Sean Dyche's first cash buy, to his equaliser against Manchester City at the Etihad, to rubbing Jose Mourinho and Nemanja Matic up the wrong way against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

There was a last-minute winner against Crystal Palace, an important, season-saving opener in the corresponding fixture at Selhurst Park, and the finish against Stoke City that propelled the Clarets into fourth in the top tier.

Remember the acrobatic finish against West Brom, the goal against Aberdeen in Europe, a late winner at home to Spurs, the confrontational kiss for Joe Bennett, and the penalty that halted Liverpool's remarkable run at Anfield during Covid.

The theatrical falls, the post-Sunderland rise, the reinvention, a derby double versus Rovers, the forceful shove on Thomas Kaminski and the finish at the Riverside that confirmed the Clarets' return to the big time.

His final 75 minutes in a Burnley shirt, and the moments that followed, brought all those memories flooding back, like a cinematic playbook of all the successes that have earned him his legendary status.

We'll eulogise for years to come, his name will always ring synonymous with one of the greatest periods in this club's recent history, there'll be calls to have him immortalised in bronze, a tip of the hat to his loyalty and longevity.

"You think of other legends of this club who went out last year, who should've been here longer, or should've gone out through the big door, the likes of Ben Mee, and other players who left this club and were just as big as Barnesy," said Kompany.

"Because of the situation in football you don't choose your moment and Barnesy got to do everything he needed to do to leave this club. He's a legend, he'll be remembered.

"I explained to him, when he decides the time is right to end your career, five years later the kids won't know who you are anymore, but when you're a legend at a club, the kids forthe next 20 years growing up will be taught who you are. That's something that very few footballers are able to leave with."

Barnes's final contribution was textbook, hammering a first-time shot past Ryan Allsop off the underside of the crossbar after Mahlon Romeo failed to deal with Josh Brownhill's cross.

It was the perfect ending to a beautiful story, a script so expertly-written it could've been in contention for a Pulitzer Prize. Barnes portrayed the same emotion on this occasion as he did when opening his account for the club against Charlton Athletic all those years ago.

His love for the club has never wavered, his thirst for scoring goals has always been a constant, and if you didn't share in his sheer elation when his effort hit the back of the net in the 31st minute, then you're dead inside.

A Burnley without Barnes is going to take some getting used to. Every player on the pitch made a conscious effort to salute him as he left the field as a Claret for the very last time.

Kompany embraced the goal-scorer when replaced by Jay Rodriguez with a quarter-of-an-hour remaining, the backroom team applauded, and every player on the bench rose to their feet to greet him on his return. That's a measure of how highly valued he is in these parts.

Kompany said: "I said to him 'you might as well write your own script'. It was everything he could dream of for an exit. There are the ups and downs of this season as well; football is defined by these milestone moments, like Barnesy at Sunderland, and I'll use that example for the rest of my time at Burnley.

"We're 2-0 down at half-time, he's getting subbed off, and he took all the blame in that moment and it looked like the end of his career, people were saying he wasn't good enough, not even for the Championship.

"Literally, a month later or something, he scores two goals against Blackburn after Jay Rodriguez gets his injury and all of a sudden it is his season. You finish with a goal today, being champions away at Blackburn, scoring against Middlesbrough, so there was no better script.

"He's got a good character around the dressing room. In the end I think he became what he needed to be for the team. He turned into a massive personality for us in the dressing room and without him we couldn't have had the season we've had."

The game itself was a cakewalk. It wasn’t even a contest. The hosts cruised through it in second gear, owning 70 percent possession and fashioning 19 shots on goal, more than half of which were on target.

The first goal, in the 27th minute, was somewhat bemusing as Andy Rinomhota, who had almost put Johann Berg Gudmundsson’s cross into his own net beforehand, inexplicably kept the ball in play with his hands having felt that he’d been unlawfully bundled off the ball by Anass Zaroury.

Referee Matt Donohue allowed play to continue, resulting in Josh Brownhill tapping the ball into an empty net from the Moroccan ace’s cross. As easy as you like!

Barnes doubled the lead four minutes later with a trademark finish and then Scott Twine – who was a live candidate for the man of the match accolade collected by his departing team-mate – made it 3-0 with a carbon copy of the set-piece executed against West Brom in January.

“Three goals, a clean sheet, plenty of chances,” said Kompany. “I don’t know if I need to debrief this game too much but job done and a great moment with our fans, a really great moment.

"Records are for the fans, but when it's done you do remember them. We've achieved it. For us to do 100 points you have to take into account the start we had, the turnaround of the team, having to build cohesion, and I said at the beginning that we could get stronger towards the end of the season. We got to 101 points but it was a team that still had plenty left in the tank. We were just getting there and it's a nice thing to finish strong."