This Sunday, Burnley play West Ham at Turf Moor on the opening weekend of the Championship season and every home supporter who enters the ground with a spring in their step deserves an official state honour.

It is now 10 months since Turf Moor hosted a league win. You would say a lot has happened since, but it has mainly been different types of sorry defeats.

We know the Burnley dance by now: down, up, down, up, down.

Five seasons of flux and churn, buying half a new squad to compete in the Premier League and then selling half the old squad when that mission fails.

Last season was the most desolate by a distance. The Clarets were rotten from August to May. The misery seeped into the walls of the place and has left water damage.

“It’s something I didn’t like and it left a sour taste in my mouth,” Kyle Walker says about Burnley’s relegation.

“It’s something that I want to put right, not just for myself but for the fans who had to deal with last season and for the players who have stuck around.

“I think we have an obligation to put it right. It’s not just a responsibility – it’s our job. Things aren’t always going to go as planned.

“This season might not go as planned. It might not be as plain sailing and we all want it to be.

“But I feel with the quality, that’s what we should be doing: getting promoted and going back to the Premier League.”

Walker’s bullishness is unsurprising, but this has been an odd summer in Burnley.

The spine of last season’s starting XI – Maxime Esteve, Loum Tchaouna, Martin Dubravka, Lesley Ugochukwu, Florentino Luis, Jaidon Anthony – has left, but Burnley have signed only one first-team player.

The biggest saga of their summer surrounded the pursuit of Craig Bellamy, whose appointment was lined up before issues with personal terms surrounding the recruitment of other members of his Wales coaching staff.

Instead, Burnley turned to Nicky Hayen, whose only experience outside of Belgian football was as manager of Haverfordwest County in the Cymru Premier in 2021-22.

After Burnley beat Notts County on penalties in the Carabao Cup first round last weekend, Hayen explained that it may take a couple of months for things to click.

A throwaway line, most likely, but one that comes laced with danger.

West Ham and Wolverhampton Wanderers are strong relegated sides – Middlesbrough and Southampton should be expected to compete at the top, too.

The problem with bouncing is that the resting place is only ever at the bottom.

The problem with Burnley’s bounce specifically? They really need to get promoted.

Supporters may have grown thoroughly sick of repeated Premier League beatings, but the money sure is better in the thinner air. And Burnley could do with the money.

This club was changed irrevocably in December 2020, when ALK Capital – led by Alan Pace – took 84 per cent of the shares. It was a debt-leveraged takeover, which meant that it was financed with borrowing secured against Burnley and its assets.

Burnley owed a lot of money overnight, were responsible for servicing the debt and that debt had interest. Think the Glazers and Manchester United. Think the thing that Premier League clubs voted to ban in 2023.

Burnley’s initial debt – and they had been entirely free of external debt before that – was £65m.

According to the latest accounts (that only cover up to the end of the 2024-25 season), that debt figure has grown to £142m.

As the excellent Swiss Ramble wrote, Burnley now have the fourth highest external debt figure in English football, behind Everton (shiny new stadium), Tottenham Hotspur (shiny new stadium) and Manchester United (again: Glazers).

External debt is manageable while the club is generating healthy revenue and achieving on the pitch – clearly the two go hand in hand.

But those same accounts revealed an annual operating loss of £75m, which was the worst in Burnley’s history by a distance.

Admittedly, it covered a Championship season, when revenues are reduced, but then Burnley are back here again. It was the highest operating loss in the division.

And what do Burnley have to show for this growing external debt, and for these operating losses?

They were a top-half Premier League team the season before the takeover. Everything since has been an expensive struggle to achieve diminishing returns.

There are reasons to be less pessimistic, of course. Burnley have parachute payments, which give Championship clubs a significant competitive advantage.

An independent Premier League commission also awarded them £35m as compensation for losses suffered as a result of Everton breaking financial rules, which was a lovely bonus.

But as a neutral observer, you have to squint to see the causes for optimism here.

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One of the most important seasons in Burnley’s history begins this weekend.

“I don’t think you have ever seen anyone like me,” Pace said when he took over at Turf Moor in 2020.

He was absolutely right – they hadn’t. Their football club has changed for ever. Fail to go up this season and they might really begin to see the results.