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On Saturday I went to watch Burnley play Hull City and their 2-0 victory gave the Clarets second place in the Championship. In the programme, chairman Barry Kilby wrote 'that it is no exaggeration to say that one year in the Premiership would set Burnley Football Club up for 10 years.' At the moment the club is losing around £30,000 a week and that is after paying wages that would put it 21st or 22nd in the Championship. Chairman Kilby notes that the Championship is the only division in which player wages are still rising: 'Parachute payments distort the market and we are seeing teams coming down with millions of pounds from the Premiership and shopping around.' It is remarkable that Burnley attract the crowds they do. The population of the town is only 73,000 and there are a number of other clubs in the vicinity (including arch rivals Blackburn and former non-league Accrington). If one adds in the populations of nearby Padiham, Nelson and Colne, the only substantial towns in a largely rural area, that gives a catchment area population of 150,000, meaning that the club is already attracting 7 per cent of the local population as home fans. It would be difficult to improve on that much in the Premiership, although there would be more away fans.
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