New Burnley chairman Alan Pace “a big fan of Sean Dyche”, in it for the long haul

New Burnley chairman Alan Pace insists he is here for the long haul, and is ready to back boss Sean Dyche in the upcoming transfer window.
Alan PaceAlan Pace
Alan Pace

ALK Capital’s takeover of Burnley Football Club was officially confirmed in the early hours of New Year’s Eve, with their sports investment arm Velocity Sports Partners acquiring an 84% shareholding.

Mike Garlick and John Banaszkiewicz will remain as directors, working in partnership with Pace, whose priority is to meet with Dyche and see what he needs in the window.

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Pace said: “We have been very big fans of Sean Dyche for some time.

”The longevity and stability of the management side is something that has been very impactful from our perspective, along with the playing style and the ability to perform at the level they have.

”We're very big fans of Sean's.

"We're very prepared to come in and support Sean and the management team.

”We need time to get in and understand what their needs are, what we're planning for and what the decisions were that they've taken so far and where they desire to go.

”We're fully prepared to back the manager.”

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Pace, who will be based locally and very much hands-on, is excited about a new era, and outlines that he is looking to be involved for “years to come”: "We are very excited to begin this new journey with the Claret family.

”This is something we've been looking at getting involved with for a very long time and so this is the culmination of a lot of effort on our part and we're very excited.

"I'm extremely excited that it's finally come to fruition.

”It's taken us a lot longer than we would have liked, we would have liked to have been here a lot sooner, but we're happy that this is the right moment for us to get involved.

"We've spent a lot of time looking at football clubs and what attracted us specifically to Burnley was the passion of the fans, the quality of the club, the way it had been managed, the longevity of the coaching staff and the ability for us to see a path to growth.

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"We wouldn't do anything that's not on a long-term basis, this is not a short, buy-to-flip, opportunity. This is very much something we have a passion for ourselves and we are looking forward to the opportunity to be involved for years to come. This is something we're excited about.

"I'm looking to take a very active role on a daily basis, myself, my family and some of my partners will be moving to the local area and we're very excited to be engaged more regularly than some would expect.

"It's the number one league in the world in the number one sport. You attract investors that would want to see that continue to grow.

"This pandemic has been a concern for everyone, myself included. I've been in lockdown twice now and it's been challenging. I can fully relate to not being able to see family, friends, colleagues, loved ones. There needs to be change, we have received some positive news over the last few days and weeks with a potential vaccine that could help us all get out and move.

”Hopefully that will bring the thousands of supporters back into stadiums. We're very hopeful that change is coming and we can see light at the end of the tunnel."

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