Six years ago, Burnley were considered one of the best-run clubs in the country. The Clarets were debt free, with £41.65m cash in the bank, and enjoying their fifth successive season of Premier League football. Now they sit in the Championship relegation zone, with concerns over debt and the way the Clarets were bought by ALK Capital using loans and the club's own money.
Fans have been very concerned about what the future holds - although on Wednesday there was some rare positive news in the club's accounts. BBC Sport takes a closer look at what is going on at Turf Moor. You may be familiar with the term "leverage buyout" after the Glazer family's purchase of Manchester United in 2005.
It effectively means that a purchase is carried out using debt secured on the club's assets, its own bank balance and other loans, rather than the equity of the buyer. In Burnley's case, ALK Capital took out a £65m loan secured against the club's assets, such as Turf Moor, and used £37m from the club's own bank balance. On top of that, Velocity Capital, the holding company, owed Burnley £80.1m - money which was also used to buy the club.
The original £65m loan was partially paid off, but then refinanced and extended to reach £105m in the 2024-25 accounts. Interest rates were as high as 12%. On top of that were factored debts, when a club mortgages off future transfer instalments for a one-off payment from the bank.
Burnley owed £37m at an interest rate of 12.75%. In total, the football club's borrowings stood at £142.3m, the 10th-highest external debt in English football. Then came the 2025-26 accounts, published today, which painted a different picture.
Now, back to that leveraged buyout which has been attracting so much criticism from fans. Last season's accounts contained a big surprise. Remember Velocity Capital, the holding company that owed Burnley £80.1m for the purchase of the club?
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