On 18 May 1882 the members of a rugby team in Burnley, Lancashire, voted to change sport. Burnley turns 145 on 18 May 2027. Since then it has worn almost every colour imaginable before settling on its famous claret and blue.

From rugby to football

The team was called Burnley Rovers and played rugby. At a meeting at the Bull Hotel the members decided by a large majority to switch to association football, and a few days later secretary George Waddington proposed dropping "Rovers" from the name.

The first steps were hard: they lost their first competitive match 8-0. In February 1883 the team played at Turf Moor for the first time, the ground that is still its home today.

In 1888 Burnley was one of the 12 founder members of the Football League, the world's first professional league.

A rainbow of shirts

As a rugby team they wore blue shirts with a white Maltese cross, and in their early football years they played in blue and white. After a visit by the Prince of Wales in 1886, a benefactor gave them white shirts with a blue sash and the royal coat of arms.

An incredible sequence followed: amber and black, amber and claret, pink and white stripes in 1894-95, all-red shirts and, from 1900 to 1910, all green.

Unlucky green and Aston Villa

In 1910 Burnley adopted claret and blue. According to legend, the committee dropped green because it was considered unlucky and chose the colours of Aston Villa.

Historical Football Kits notes that this is a legend rather than a documented fact, and newspapers of the time merely commented on the similarity. The nickname "The Clarets" came later, after the club re-registered its colours in 1946.

The badge is based on the town's coat of arms, with a stork, bees, cotton plants, a lion and a hand that refers to the motto "Hold to the Truth". In 2009-10 the team wore a retro shirt to mark 50 years since the 1960 title.

The King, 30 unbeaten and 1960

In 1914 Burnley won the FA Cup, beating Liverpool 1-0 with a goal from Bert Freeman. Captain Tommy Boyle received the trophy from King George V himself.

In 1920-21 they won their first league title, going 30 matches unbeaten, a record that stood until Arsenal's "Invincibles" of 2003-04. The second came in 1960, with a 2-1 win in Manchester on the final day, and opened the way to the European Cup.

Captain Jimmy Adamson and Northern Irishman Jimmy McIlroy were the stars of Harry Potts's side. Jerry Dawson holds the appearance record and George Beel the goalscoring record.

From the Orient game to the Premier League

In 1987 Burnley were in danger of dropping out of the Football League. On the final day of the Fourth Division, in front of more than 15,000 fans, they beat Orient 2-1 with goals from Neil Grewcock and Ian Britton and survived.

Decades later, Vincent Kompany led them to the Championship title in 2023 with 101 points. Since then the team has moved between the Premier League and the second tier, always with claret on the chest.

Celebrate with us

From a rugby club and pink stripes to the King and two league titles, Burnley is part of the history of football itself. Happy 145th birthday, Clarets!

See our collectible jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: Turf Moor, home of Burnley – Chris Heaton, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.