Image source, Getty ImagesBurnley lost 1-0 to Lazio at Turf Moor on Saturday in their final pre-season game before their Premier League campaign begins next weekend.
Summer signing Max Weiss saved a second half penalty but was beaten by Matteo Cancellieri late on at the end of a quick break from the Italian side.
Image source, Getty ImagesAlbania striker Armando Broja has completed a move to Burnley from Chelsea for an undisclosed fee.
The 23-year-old has eight goals in 76 Premier League appearances across spells at Southampton, Everton, Fulham and Chelsea.
"I am really excited to be here as a Burnley player," Broja said. "I'm feeling good, I'm ready and I'm excited about the challenge of playing for this club.
"I can already feel the support from the fans – I can tell you all that I will be giving my all every time I pull on the famous Claret shirt."
"It's a really positive time to be joining this club ahead of the start of the new Premier League season. I can't wait to get going!
The forward is Burnley's ninth signing since returning to the Premier League.
You have been sharing your stories and photos about why you love Burnley.
Here is a final selection of your submissions, but do make sure you scroll down this page to see all the best responses from throughout the week:
Ian: I have supported Burnley for over 70 years.
One of my outstanding memories is asking Ray Pointer for his autograph. He took my book with him and not only got the rest of the team but took it to all the away games including England games till the end of the season.
Imagine players doing that today!
Eric: My grandad took me on The Turf circa 1966, and we had to take a wooden box with us so I could stand on it to see the game. We stood in the old Longside - I don't remember any of the game but I was hooked.
My first away game was at Preston when we won the old second division, I can still recall the noise when Colin Waldron scored. I went to the FA Cup semi in 1974 but Malcolm Macdonald broke my heart that day.
Oliver: It's my dad's team. We didn't live nearby at the time but he took my brother and I up to Turf Moor to watch a game. Sat around where he used to stand on the Longside and it was great hearing his memories. We lost, but the atmosphere was amazing and that's what ultimately matters.
I caught the bug from him.
Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter
Image source, Getty ImagesChelsea striker Armando Broja is expected to complete his transfer to Burnley in the next 24 hours.
The 23-year-old has taken a few days to weigh up the move and negotiate the terms of his contract after a club-to-club agreement thought to be worth up to £20m was made over the weekend.
Broja is excited about a first permanent move away from Stamford Bridge and keen to play regular first-team football.
It will be Burnley’s third signing from Chelsea this summer. Midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu joined this week and a loan move for Bashir Humphreys was made permanent for a combined £55m.
This week, we are asking you to share your stories and photos about why you fell in love with Burnley.
Here is a selection of your submissions:
Peter: I'm now 76 and have supported Burnley for as long as I can remember. Me, my mum and my dad all had season tickets until mum refused to go again after the club sold Jimmy McIlroy, her favourite player. I was at Turf Moor in 1961 to welcome the team back after securing the First Division title by beating Manchester City 2-1 at Maine Road. I was also at the play-off final in 2009 when we reached the Premier League for the first time. I am still as passionate as ever, even though I rarely see them live these days. Up the Clarets!
Simon: I went to Turf Moor at six weeks old and have been a fan ever since. From just staying in the league in 1987 to European football, I wouldn't change a thing!
Mark: I started going to Burnley as a three-year-old in 1973 when my uncle used to take me. I kept going until the age of seven but then moved out of the area. I only go to a few games now as I live 25 miles away, but I do get there when I can.
Send us your pictures and stories here
Matthew Hobbs
BBC Sport
Image source, Getty ImagesBurnley announced the signing of Lesley Ugochukwu from Chelsea on Wednesday night for a fee in the region of £20m.
While the sum is officially undisclosed, it does eclipse both the £16m paid for Zeki Amdouni, who was signed from Basel in July 2023, and the £15m fee paid for James Trafford from Manchester City that same month.
The Trafford deal had the potential to rise to £19m, although the goalkeeper has since returned to Etihad Stadium.
So what have the Clarets got for their money?
In short, a gamble on a young player with relatively little top-level experience.
Ugochukwu joined Chelsea from Rennes for £23m two years ago and went on to make just six starts for the Blues before joining Southampton on loan last season.
The 21-year-old central midfielder did not particularly stand out in an abject Saints team, making 18 league starts as they were relegated.
He is highly thought of in France and played regularly in the Europa League for Rennes, but this signing by Burnley that is undoubtedly based on potential rather than concrete evidence, hoping the France Under-21 international will find his way in Premier League football.
Image source, Getty ImagesWe asked for your views the signing of Lesley Ugochukwu from Chelsea.
Here are some of your comments:
Graham: Ugochukwu is a good acquisition, even at £20m-plus. It's a lot of money for Burnley but we're paying for potential, and survival in the Premier League. With the retained core of last season's team, additions such as him are essential for survival.
Mark: Time will tell if it's a good bit if business - I'd never heard of him before. The price is a bit expensive as it seems he's not had too much premier league experience. I wish him all the best for the coming season.
Martin: Really, really pleased with this signing. We need three or four more of a similar calibre and we'll have a fighting chance of staying up.
Colton: Would have preferred the money being spent on a couple of rising Championship stars who would stay with us with the right contracts. Why sign an unproven Premier League sub who probably has a get-out clause on relegation?
Paul: Doubt he will score many goals from midfield but he is strong, a good defender and looks for a forward pass. He could turn out to be a very good buy.
Gav: Seems like a sensible addition - adds energy to the midfield, which we need. Getting a striker is the bigger issue, if we get Armando Broja over the line I'll be happy with our business and feel confident we've tried to address the key areas. No guarantee of success, but that's a separate issue.
Image source, Getty ImagesNew Burnley goalkeeper Martin Dubravka says he cannot wait to add his "experience and quality" to the side after arriving for an undisclosed fee from Newcastle United.
Dubravka, 36, made 179 appearances for the Magpies in his seven years at the club and kept 51 clean sheets.
The Slovakia international joins a side that broke the record for the fewest goals conceded in a Championship campaign in 2024-25. Burnley have sold last season's number one James Trafford to Manchester City.
"It's a really exciting time to be joining this club," Dubravka told the club's official website, external after signing his one-year deal.
"I've only heard really positive things about the club, the culture and the environment we work in, so I'm excited about getting going with the season kicking off next weekend.
"Burnley had a fantastic campaign last season, built on a superb defensive record, and I can't wait to come in and add my experience and quality to what looks an exciting squad of players."
Nicola Pearson
BBC Sport journalist
Image source, Danielle Sarver CoombsWhen it comes to our love for a football club, the answer to why we do lies in "both psychological and societal" reasons.
In the first part of her chat with BBC Sport, researcher and co-writer of the Routledge Handbook of Sport Fans and Fandom Danielle Sarver Coombs spoke about the part that identity and tradition play.
And yet when we are caught up in the emotions of a tough defeat or nerves of an important match, we can often ask why we put ourselves through it.
"There are psychological processes at work and physiological ones in terms of how we respond and engage," Sarver Coombs said.
"An example that I always give is when I take the train to work, I go past Arsenal's stadium and I feel literally nothing other than: 'Oh, that's a big building'. Whereas on a train to Manchester, I went by Villa Park and my heart started pounding. I got all excited and was trying to take pictures out the window.
"I had a visceral reaction to this place. We can't pretend we don't have that sort of physical reaction because we do.
"When someone is talking about a controversial decision and I feel myself getting wound up, even though I intellectually know that I can't control it and that it's just a game, my body doesn't know that.
"My gut doesn't know that and so I have this really emotional response and we can't control that."
A 2023 book titled 'Football on the brain: why minds love sport, external' suggests it comes down to 'an understandable and logical consequence of the human mind's natural inclination to find meaning through beliefs... It's a religion as far as the brain is concerned'.
But it not just about what is going on inside the mind but outside influences too.
"There is a sociological element to it because the community part is such a huge driver and benefit for us," Sarver Coombs explains.
"Sociologically, we are driven to be part of communities. We are driven to find our groups that we can be members of. Sport provides a way to do that - this sense that I was chosen to be part of this community and it's something bigger than I am."
As the game expands, unrest among supporters seems to be increasing, but how does that impact this ingrained love for a club?
"You always go through these cycles when the game is changing," Sarver Coombs said.
"Despite all the changes, the traditions remain so strong and it's such a huge draw that it becomes really hard to actually separate yourself from it. Even if you do, it tends to be a short-term separation. You get sucked back in because something happens.
"People don't want that change, but then we adapt to it and continue moving forward."
Browse this page to see lots of fan stories for how you fell in love with your club.
And check out those from other Premier League teams over here
Image source, Getty ImagesBurnley have completed the signing of French midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu from Chelsea for a fee of more than £20m.
The 21-year-old Ugochukwu spent two years at Stamford Bridge, making 15 appearances in all competitions during his first season before joining Southampton on a season-long loan for 2024-25.
Is it a good bit of business?
Or are you concerned by the fee for a player of limited Premier League experience?
This week, we are asking you to share your stories and photos for why you fell in love with Burnley.
Here is a selection of your submissions:
G: I love Burnley because I have been a season ticket holder for 26 years until I had to give up going to Turf Moor due to ill health and mobility problems. I still follow the mighty Clarets. I have seen them twice at Wembley for the play-off final against Sheffield United, which we won with a wonder goal from Wade Elliott, and also against Wolves. Burnley is truly a community club and I feel proud to support them whether we are in the Premier league or not.
Maria: This photo was taken at my friend Jane's 50th at the Blackpool game. We needed a win to get promotion but it was another week before it was all confirmed. We now live in Oxfordshire but share the passion with our Lancashire friends and our boys were first mascots together in 2003 on the Turf aged four. They both still support Burnley - although one is in Australia and the other in New Zealand!
Paul: Why do I love Burnley? To me it's an easy question. It all started growing up with football - my dad watching it, playing it, just pure father and son time which I still to this day love doing with him.
To this day, Burnley is a family club run by and loved by loyal, humble people who care about not just the club but the fans, the town and everything Burnley stands for: togetherness!
Send us your pictures and stories here
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.
Image source, OptaAfter 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.
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
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
Nicola Pearson
BBC Sport journalist
Image source, Getty 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, external 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."
Napoli and Sweden midfielder Jens Cajuste, 25, is leaning towards a return to Ipswich Town rather than move to Burnley or Saudi Arabia. (Gianlucadimarzio.com - in Italian), external
Want more transfer stories? Read Tuesday's full gossip column
Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter
Image source, Getty ImagesBurnley have agreed a fee to sign midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu from Chelsea on a permanent basis.
The 21-year-old is expected to sign a five-year contract having been given permission to complete a medical at Turf Moor.
Ugochukwu has been considered surplus to requirements this summer as Chelsea look to sell multiple players in their so-called "bomb squad" - a group of players including England internationals Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell - training separately from Enzo Maresca's first team.
Meanwhile, Burnley are also in advanced talks to sign striker Armando Broja from Chelsea, which could be the third move between the two clubs after defender Bashir Humphreys also moved on a permanent basis for £14m.
Ugochukwu spent two seasons at Chelsea making 15 appearances in all competitions during his first season before joining Southampton on a season-long loan in his second campaign.
The France Under-21 international joined Chelsea in 2023 from French club Rennes in a £23m deal.
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:
Bradley: I am a proud Burnley season ticket holder. Since being born in 1996, I have only ever missed five games (don't ask me the reasons why - I still haven't forgiven my mum!) My first-born Alfie Alan Brown is named after a Burnley player from my Grandad's era and I can't wait for him to join me at some of the games this year. My favourite ever game has to be beating Manchester United 1-0 in August 2009. My favourite players are super Robbie Blake and Brian BEAST Jensen, both of whom sent me a video message on my wedding day in 2023. I am proud of my football club and hope Scptt Parker and the lads can achieve great things this year. I'm a forever optimist and would love to see us recreate the Sean Dyche era and stay up for several years.
Raymond: I was a nine-year-old East End schoolboy in 1961 when Spurs played Burnley. All my classmates were rooting for Spurs - so I chose Burnley. We lost 3-1 and I remember Danny Blanchflower sending Adam Blacklaw the wrong way from a penalty. I've been an avid Burnley supporter since and I have enjoyed the highs and lows of supporting a 'community based team'.
John: I am an American season ticket holder and I fly over one or two times a month for matches. It all started in a pub in 2003 in London when some folks told me about the the club and the town and I fell in love. It's not always been easy (Burnley never make it so) but I bleed claret and blue.
Send your pictures and stories here
Image source, Getty ImagesScott Parker split his squad across two fixtures on Saturday, with the Clarets beaten 1-0 by Stoke City in a game that saw Josh Laurent sent off on the hour.
Earlier in the day, Parker attended an in-house fixture at the training ground before travelling to Stoke, thus enabling his entire group to amass minutes as the season nears.
"It's another game for us, which I'm pleased with," he said after Stoke's victory, courtesy of Ben Wilmot's goal.
"Obviously, we split the group today, due to just getting minutes in. The number of players we've got, we just needed to get some 90 minutes in legs. We've managed to do that, so that's a real positive.
"Today's game, there were some positives and obviously a bit disappointing towards the end because we're all here, Stoke included, to try and get the best preparation. They're a week out, we're two weeks out and obviously the game didn't turn out like that because of the sending off, which was hugely disappointing. Overall, we looked a little bit tired, and I suspected that, we've had a tough week. But yeah, overall, we've got what we came here for.
"The squad was split again. Obviously, a bit of a disappointment, we had a planned game, but we brought that in-house. That was a good game, I was there this morning, the boys did very, very well. We got 90 minutes out of a few players there as well. Then this game as well which was always planned.
"Overall, the planning of this weekend has changed drastically in the last 24 hours due to circumstances, hence why we came here with a real flat squad. But overall, minutes in the legs, that was a plus."
