Lancashire

Latest Updates

  1. Two white dogs in cages, both standing on hind legs with their paws against on the metal bars.

  2. A close-up of red-coloured packets of ready salted Walkers crisps alongside some of the brand's other lines on shelves in a supermarket. In the background, out of focus, a woman walks down the aisle carrying a shopping basket.

  3. A yellow parrot with a black beak and red circle around neck

  4. A herring gull, with white plumage and grey wings and a yellow beak with a red tip on the lower jaw, faces the camera

  5. Who does Opta's Supercomputer put in the relegation battle?

    Opta's Supercomputer has once again predicted the upcoming 2025-26 Premier League season by using a model to simulate every match 10,000 times.

    Opta Supercomputer predicted final Premier League positions 2026-26: 1 Liverpool, 2 Arsenal, 3 Manchester City, 4 Chelsea, 5 Aston Villa, 6 Newcastle United, 7 Crystal Palace, 8 Brighton, 9 Bournemouth, 10 Brentford, 11 Nottingham Forest, 12 Manchester United, 13 Everton, 14 Tottenham Hotspur, 15 Fulham, 16 West Ham United, 17 Wolves, 18 Burnley, 19 Leeds United, 20 SunderlandOpta

    After only happening once in Premier League history beforehand, and not since 1997-98, all three promoted teams have gone straight back down in each of the past two seasons.

    Unsurprisingly then, Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland are ranked as the likeliest trio to be relegated by the Supercomputer's model next year - with the Black Cats the only team notto win the title in any of the supercomputer's 10,000 simulations.

    Championship play-off winners Sunderland are also relegated the most often of all 20 teams, going down in 66.4% of simulations.

    Their fellow Premier League newboys are actually deemed to survive slightly more often than not, with Daniel Farke's side going down in 48.1% of sims, while Scott Parker's Clarets doing so in 45.9%.

    As for Wolves, they had a dismal start to last season but improved significantly once Vitor Pereira arrived. Losing Matheus Cunha is a big blow however, and the Old Gold are fourth favourites to go down according to the supercomputer - doing so in 26.4% of sims.

    Similarly, Graham Potter's West Ham have sold a key player this summer after Mohammed Kudus switched to Tottenham.

    Potter will back himself to get a better tune out of his side after his first pre-season with them, but West Ham are still relegated in 22% of simulations.

    Read Opta's full Supercomputer breakdown here

  7. Accrington Stanley players

  8. Image shows a stethoscope resting on an NHS registration card

  9. Ryan Morgan, with short dark hair and a dark hooded top, smiles at the camera

  10. An aerial shot of the town of Blackpool, with the sea in the distance, Blackpool Tower to the left, and streets of houses and shops in the foreground

  11. Nick Gubbins playing a sweep shot for Hampshire

  12. Fred Dibnah is standing in front of Beaumaris Castle on the island of Anglesey. The castle is surrounded by a moat. Dibnah is smiling at the camera and is wearing a brown flat cap along with a blue shirt, navy cardigan and blue coat.

  13. Joe Bauress in action for Burnley in the FA Youth Cup

  14. Clarets know 'anguish, distress and elation' - fan stories

    A black banner that reads My Club My Passion in white block capitals. On the right hand side, a dark-haired woman raises her fists to her shoulders in celebration in front of a yellow background

    We know the relationship between a football fan and their club is a special one so, as we gear up for the new season, we asked you to share why you fell in love with Burnley and some of your favourite moments supporting them.

    Here are some of your submissions:

    John: Watching Burnley play Spurs about 1960 and Jimmy McIlroy doing his party trick with the ball by taunting and feigning Spurs' Dave McKay at the corner flag.

    Then Danny Blanchflower coming over and saying: "Mac, get out of there - he'll have you there all day."

    A beautiful memory

    An image of four men posing for a picture in front of Turf Moor

    Howie: My grandad Mike from Burnley is an avid supporter and went to virtually every home game as a young lad. He had to move down south in his 20s for work, but he passed his love for the club on to my dad, who in turn has passed it down to me. I'm a third generation Claret living in Brighton. I'll never forget my first home game at the Turf in which Anass Zaroury scored a 90th-minute winner assisted by Benson against Reading.

    David: I love Burnley. I've never been there to see them play but I've always been a fan. My first memory of Burnley was the cup final against Tottenham on 5 May 1962. I had just engaged with football, I was eight years old, I followed the underdogs and I liked their shirts.

    I'm 71 now and I still love them. My memories include John Connelly, Jimmy McIlroy, Harry Potts, Andy Lochhead, Ralph Coates, Willie Morgan... you get the picture. I recall the season when Burnley were bottom of Division Four and about to leave the football hierarchy - the anguish, the distress and the elation of surviving. All footy fans know the anguish and the highs.

    Burnley have always been my team - best I go and see them soon before it is too late.

    Send your pictures and stories here

    A dark purple banner with HAVE YOUR SAY written in white block capitals. On the right side is a Burnley crest on a yellow background

  15. Police photo of Daniel Burba, who has short brown hair and a brown stubble-beard and is wearing a white T-shirt

  16. Malcolm Ebiowei playing for Crystal Palace in pre-season last year

  17. Football provides 'connections' in 'increasingly lonely' world

    Nicola Pearson
    BBC Sport journalist

    A black banner with the words My Club My Passion in white capitals. A woman at the end celebrates with fists raised in front of a yellow background
    A child football fan looks on in wonder as she watches a matchGetty Images

    'Why did you fall in love with your club?'

    This week, we have asked hundreds of football fans across the world that very question and got hundreds of different answers.

    Yes, the themes might be similar - born near a ground; family supported the team; watched a certain player - but the individual story will be unique to each supporter.

    The relationship between a fan and their club should not be underestimated, with people ploughing uncountable amounts of money, time and emotional energy into their support for their team.

    But what is that makes us love our clubs the way we do?

    "A lot of it comes down to our identity," researcher and co-writer of the Routledge Handbook of Sport Fans and Fandom Danielle Sarver Coombs told BBC Sport.

    "We become part of this group that means so much to us. It becomes a way to find a community that you're a part of and to find a group of people that, no matter where you are, you could find a pub with other fans of your team. You have that kinship.

    "In a world that's increasingly quite lonely, this provides one of the ways that we can have connections so we can have the feeling that we're part of something bigger."

    Connection and identity plays a big role in someone's love for their club - particularly when it is a family link.

    Many fans talk of being born into who they support - that the connection is so strong there was no other team they could, or would, have chosen.

    "The great thing with football is that there's such a strong heritage component to it," Sarver Coombs said. "Often, your grandfather, father, mother or whomever was a fan of the team, so it's part of your family's tradition.

    "It's handed down from generation to generation."

    The uniqueness of football fandom is something researchers are increasingly investigating.

    An article published earlier this year in psychology journal Frontiers discusses how football fans often follow follow teams with 'significant attachment and commitment, sometimes to the bewilderment of those outside of the game'.

    "With football clubs, you have decades of tradition that you can tap into and it's going to keep coming," Sarver Coombs added.

    "Players come and go, managers come and go, shirts change, badges change, but the club itself - the heart and soul of it remains constant. You always have that piece that you're tied to, so the longevity of clubs is a really important part.

    "But also, that constant in-person opportunity to be present in a community space really sets football apart from other passions that may be transient or do not have that constant engagement."

    Share your story in our My Club My Passion campaign

    • UK
    The Manxman ferry sailing away from Douglas Bay, with a headland in the background.

  20. Train at St Anne's Railway Station with Sainsbury's supermarket in the background and grass to right of the railway track.

  21. A visual representation of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency. The image shows mocked-up gold coins with a 'B' for Bitcoin on them, and silver, bronze and gold bank notes saying 'Bitcoin' on them.

  22. Artist's impression of the inside of the Harris museum following a £19.2m refurbishment, showing visitors having a look at the artworks and displays.

  23. Reece Hutchinson in action for Crewe

  24. Preston North End's Milutin Osmajic celebrates