Lancashire

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  1. Gloucestershire players celebrate the winning moment in the T20 Blast Final

  2. Lyndon Wright smiles into the camera. He has short grey hair and is wearing a dark polo shirt. In the background there is a river and a large ornately decorated house.

  3. Terry Cunningham, with white hair and black-framed glasses, wears a pale blue shirt. He is standing by a lilac wreath tied to a lamppost at the spot where his mother was fatally struck by a van.

  4. Spending by promoted clubs set to surpass £300m

    Tom McCoy
    BBC Sport

    Once defender Omar Alderete's transfer from Getafe to Sunderland is completed, it will take spending by the three newly promoted clubs to over £300m this summer.

    Excluding Alderete, the Black Cats have paid out an estimated £122m on 10 players. Burnley have brought in 13 new faces at a cost of approximately £100m, while Leeds United have invested £73.5m on seven signings.

    There is little doubt that consolidating top-flight status is harder than ever, with the gulf between the Championship and Premier League continuing to widen. In each of the previous two seasons, the three sides that came up went straight back down.

    As a consequence, clubs are spending ever increasing sums in the hope of remaining competitive, but with no guarantee it will pay off.

    Southampton, Ipswich Town and Leicester City shelled out a total of £276.5m last summer but together they accumulated just 59 points, the lowest combined figure by newly promoted teams in a 38-game Premier League season.

    A graph showing summer spending by clubs promoted the the Premier League season by season since 2016-17

    • UK
    The Manxman ferry, which is red, white and black, entering Douglas Harbour. The Ben-my-Chree is moored at the other side of the pier behind it and there cars parked on the headland overlooking the harbour.

  6. A close-up of the kebab meat platter packet. The label says it contains samosas, onion bhaji and pakoras.

  7. A closeup of a ginger and black cat with big blue eyes

  8. EFL Football

  9. EFL Football

  10. Preston captain Ben Whiteman wearing his side's away kit

  11. 'Excellent transfer window' but 'no way are they ready' - fans on season to come

    Your Burnley opinions banner
    Scott Parker applauds the Burnley fansGetty Images

    We asked for your views on whether Burnley are ready for the new season after the Clarets completed their pre-season campaign with a 1-0 defeat to Lazio at Turf Moor on Saturday.

    Here are some of your comments:

    Fraser: Absolutely. Quietly gone about our transfer business, strengthening without seriously expensive headline acquisitions and still a couple to come. Parker will prove to be far more pragmatic than Kompany was last time round. Extremely difficult to buck the trend of revolving door back to the Championship but I believe we have a good chance.

    Alan: Burnley had some nice touches and played OK against Lazio, but there is a huge CJ Egan-Riley shaped hole at the back, which I'm not sure the current squad can fill. Only time will tell if lack of goals has been addressed.

    Wooly: Very astute and excellent transfer window for the Clarets with a good blend of talent, Premier League experience, youth and good business regarding Walker and Trafford especially. Burnley are in a lot better state of preparedness than the last Premier League venture.

    James: Ready as they'll ever be. Bit of a forlorn hope, but they'll surely give it a better go than two years ago.

    Jack: No way are they ready. The tactics against Lazio proved it. The goal wouldn't have happened with a back four, and the signings of last week won't have had a game with the team. Lots of new signings didn't work two years ago, and it wont this. Too many - it just doesn't work in the Prem.

    Peter: It's all about the start. A good start and the 36 points needed to survive seems possible. A bad start and the mountain looks unclimbable.

    Chris: We've brought in a good mix of talent and Premier League capability/experience. Given the disruption and/or personnel losses at other clubs, I feel confident we can push for the top of the bottom third. 14th position here we come!

    Shaun: Yet again we've bought a lot of players and are not giving last season's players much of a chance to prove themselves in the Premier League. Hopefully Broja can show how good a striker he is and score the goals that keeps us up!

  12. Street view of Rivington Road in Belmont, a country road surrounded by fields

  13. A view over the shoulder of a student who is writing in an exercise book containing handwritten text and drawings of graphs.

  14. Split picture of Ethan Ampadu, Scott Parker and Wilson Isidor

  15. Rows of terraced houses and rooftops in Blackburn, there are a lot of trees to the front and the moors in the distance on an overcast day.

  16. Mother and daughter both have shoulder length blonde hair and are wearing black mortar boards and academic gowns

  17. Gloucestershire players celebrate a wicket with Craig Miles (with his back turned) getting a high-five

  18. Ground view of an arrowhead formation of nine Red Arrows planes streaming blue, white and red plumes as they fly over Blackpool Tower while, at the bottom of the image, three people take pictures of it on their mobile phones.

  19. Paul Heckingbottom during a Preston match last season

  20. A car drives along an empty Lytham St Annes Way with fields on either side

  21. A white car drives along Preston Road near a crossing and two bollards

  22. A closeup of a pile of black, tan and white egg cases lying on top of sand

  23. An exterior shot showing the frontal elevation of the Winter Gardens in Morecambe. It is a three-storey red brick building with a green glass awning running along its front.

  24. Countdown to 2025-26 season is on - but are Burnley ready?

    Burnley have your say banner

    Pre-season is completed and the countdown to the 2025-26 season is on.

    It's been a busy summer at Turf Moor with nine- arrivals and eight departures.

    Burnley start the season at Tottenham on Saturday - but are they ready?

    Get in touch