The Clarets; 4-1 down from the 1st leg at White Hart Lane, had made a spectacular comeback in 90 minutes with three magical goals and a team performance to be proud of, but as the chants of “we’re going to Wem-ber-ley got more and more frequent and a cup final at Wembley seemed certain, Tottenham drove a painful dagger through Burnley hearts. However, the team took the defeat to heart, and it seems to have done them more good than harm.

  The squad have been as tight a close knit unit as ever, providing the Championship with some spectacular performances and goals, and have ensured a very close fight to the death for the Championship Playoff positions.

  But how did it all begin? How did our inspiration come about? How did Burnley manage to remain consistent throughout the season? Well we started our Championship campaign back in August, and it was the kind of start to the campaign we will want to forget, as a 4-1 drubbing at Hillsborough against Sheffield Wednesday, followed by a home defeat against Ipswich, then managed by Jim Magilton, saw Burnley well and truly rooted at the bottom of the League table. Our first point would not come until a draw against 9 men Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, though we did manage a win of sorts against League 2 local side Bury, a win that would not only get the team on their feet, but push Burnley on to fight for a cup date with destiny.

  August was indeed very frustrating, as although, we did manage two cup victories over Bury and Oldham Athletic, the Clarets could only manage 2 points out of a possible 12. But just as the saying goes, good things come to those who wait.

  September faired Burnley much better, in fact so much better that Owen Coyle won the Manager of the month award thanks to an unbeaten month, winning 4 Championship games and earning a point at Swansea City. September also saw Burnley battle deeper into the Carling cup, thanks to super sub Jay Rodriguez rounding the keeper with a brilliant move to send Fulham out of the competition, our first Premiership scalp of the season

  October seemed positive for Burnley, given the “manager of the month curse” which was supposed to affect us. 2 wins, 2 draws and a defeat at Reading saw Owen Coyle’s side stay in the top 6, and the knowledge we had been rewarded for our cup shock at home to Fulham with a 475 mile around trip to 05-06 Premier League title winners Chelsea, who had been unbeaten at the Bridge for over 80 games.

   In the lead up to our cup game with Chelsea, Burnley piled some misery on Norwich City, before being hammered by the same score away at table toppers Wolverhampton Wanderers, and then the big day came. Burnley were off to the Capital to face Chelsea, and some fans had a glimmer of “hope” that we could upset Big Phil’s apple cart. After I made a seven, yes seven hour trip to Chelsea, I arrived anxious, nervous, but excited, walking through the streets of Kensington, we could hear the atmosphere being made by the Burnley fans, getting louder and louder the closer we got to the ground. A packed out Stamford Bridge, partly helped by 6100 Lancastrians creating one of the best atmospheres I’ve witnessed, spurred the Clarets on, and though Didier “coin throwing” Drogba scored, a spilled shot from Chris Eagles saw Ade Akinbiyi slam the ball into the back of the net, thus sending the Shed End stand into raptures of excitement.

  Chelsea’s frustrations were seen by all. Even the likes of Lampard, Deco,Carvalho & Ferreira could not stop the Super Clarets, and once The Beast palmed away John Obi Mikel’s decisive penalty, the away stand was bouncing, the home stands emptied and the media making advantage of our success. BURNLEY HAD DONE IT! We were in the history books with this victory. Liverpool had beaten Chelsea at the Bridge a few weeks previously to end their 86 game unbeaten run at home, but Burnley put the icing on the cake and Chelsea, the previous season League Cup winners, were out!

  Our inspirational army of players were hitting the ball around the pitch in fantastic style, and after a win at QPR and a draw against Doncaster, Barnsley would be the only other side to stop us in November, before we killed Derby County off in less than 25 minutes with a 3-0 battering at the turf. We had played them last season in the FA Cup, and consequently lost 2-0 that time. Burnley were to be drawn with a third London club during our League Cup campaign...Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal, the same side which had in previous rounds ripped apart Sheffield United and Wigan Athletic.

  Dare Burnley be optimistic? Maybe. Dare Burnley be fearful? Definitely. A “sell out” crowd only weeks before Christmas was to be upon us, we saw Owen Coyle fire his side up against the same youthful side that had demolished 2 teams with 9 goals. The saying goes “if you don’t ask, you don’t get”, and that was exactly what happened at the Turf that night. After pushing on and pressuring Arsenal’s young defensive line up (bar the experienced Mikael Silvestre), the Clarets were rewarded, after a Chris Eagles low drilled pass was spilled by goalkeeper Fabianski right to the feet of Kevin McDonald to put away the simplest of goals. We continued matching and at times bettering Arsenal, and a beautiful throw by Chris Eagles saw Kevin McDonald yet again in the thick of it, shrugging off one defender, keeping the ball and slamming it past Fabianski. Burnley were in dreamland, Jensen looking to the heavens. Was this to be our year? Millwall got to the final 4 years before in the FA Cup. Could we make it to the League cup final?

    Christmas came and went, and Burnley fans became nervy, as it came to the time of the season where we’ve previously faded away to nothing, whilst also selling off our star players. Boxing Day and 2 days later saw us fall to Barnsley and Doncaster by 2-1 defeats. You would have thought it’s the drink coming back given the time of year it was, but we then drew at QPR and had to rely on our cup inspirations to pull us back to our feet.

   And so off to White Hart Lane we went. It was our first major Cup semi final in 26 years The players had already written themselves into the history books this season, Fulham, Chelsea and Arsenal all had fallen victims to Burnley’s war effort of the League Cup. But could Capital Punishment take an extra twist?

  It was a sensational performance in the 1st leg 1st half from Burnley. So much so that Tottenham were booed off at half time by their own fans. We were one goal to the good at half time, it could have been more, and Harry Redknapp had to inspire his troops to overcome us, given they looked rather average against us. And so they took on his words of advice and wisdom, and 4 home goals for Spurs in less than 25 minutes gave Burnley the impossible dream if they wanted to reach Wembley in March for the League Cup final. But Burnley love to make it challenging for themselves sometimes.
 
  They like to dream, but they strive even more to make dreams a reality. Owen Coyle's Claret and Blue army came out of the tunnel to a rapturous applause from Burnley fans in the 2nd leg at Turf Moor, and the match got under way. After numerous chances for both teams, a foul by Woodgate gave Burnley a chance via a Robbie Blake free kick. He scored a peach of a free kick a matter of days earlier in a Lancashire derby at Deepdale ...could he do it again? Alnwick moves to the post, Blake sees an opening, he shoots…HE SCORES. Robbie Blake sent Turf Moor into celebration only 34 minutes into the return leg and a 4-2 aggregate score made the task look somewhat healthier for Burnley to face. Another 40 minutes of match time was to pass until the next goal, and who was at the heart of it? None other than Robbie Blake, the far edge of the 18 yard box his spot this time. He turns in and out of 2 defenders, pulls to the side, passes to McCann…...GOAL. Turf Moor goes crazy. Chris McCann sweeps the ball into the back of the net and consequently sends Burnley into a sensational comeback….or would it be? Time was quickly running out for Burnley on their Carling Cup exploits, with 17 minutes remaining for them to peg it back to 4-4 on aggregate and really tick the Tottenham fans off. A matter of minutes from fulltime and disappointment, and Burnley give it their all once again. Who was at the heart of it dare I ask? Yup…you guessed it…Robbie Blake. A free kick from the far left side of the half way line, Alnwick parries the ball, and who is there? Cup hero Jay Rodriguez. He smashes the ball into the net from a volley and Turf Moor is sent into delirium! They had done the impossible. 4-1 down from their first leg and they had pulled it back with a sensational match performance from Owen Coyle's Clarets. Disappointment beckoned for Burnley though. As the Claret players legs tired, Tottenham began to get a foothold, and lo and behold, Assou-Ekotto made a beautiful pass to Pavlyuchenko who ultimately punished The Beast by smashing it low into the net to send 3,000 Spurs fans into raptures, before Defoe punished us again. Nonetheless, the fans gave the players more support and showed them the true support and devotion they so rightly deserved.

The more and more games Burnley played, the more inspired they became throughout the season. Heartache in the League Cup will have upset the team, but they turned their upset into inspiration, and got on with the task at hand...to push up the table.

February saw us push on in the FA Cup thanks to a replay-victory against the Premier League’s rock bottomWest Brom, before continuing a Midlands’s month, with draws against Birmingham & Coventry and a victory over top of the table Wolves. We managed a 1-1 draw at home to Norwich also, before losing to the Blue side of Sheffield in a 4-2 Roses battle. We were getting points in the bag in a lot of the games, but because results elsewhere went against us at times, and because we let points slip on occasions, we finished the month in a rather frustrating 9th with local rivals Preston North End above us by many-a-place.
 
March was welcomed by spring, but the Clarets were not to be welcomed by spring weather at Bloomfield Road. Instead, we were welcomed by cold blistering winds and torrential showers; all in a game which saw the referee consult the managers on a potential abandonment of the game. The referee carried on, and so did Burnley; coming out victors thanks to an 85th minute shot by Christian Kalvenes.
 
The weekend before my birthday saw a 4th ever trip to the capital for me, this time to see Owen Coyle’s side play Arsenal for a 3rd time in 2 seasons. Arsene Wenger knows what Burnley do to Premiership teams if they are underestimated, and so he put out a virtually full first squad out, including the likes of Fabianski, Vela, Eduardo and Arshavin. 3 goals of sheer quality and class differed the two teams that day and Burnley were out of the cup competition for the season.
And so off back to Burnley we went. A long trip back up the M6, and a home game on my birthday saw Burnley come back from 2-0 down against Colin-of-the-month award winner Neil Warnock & his Crystal Palace side with a comprehensive 4-2 victory, before Little Billy Davis and his Forest side arrived at the Turf that weekend, only to be sorry doing so after being demolished 5-0 with a hammering that could have been a cricket score.
 
By this point in the season, we had some real faith and belief about the team. The players were truly inspirational in their season so far, and proved we could beat Premier League quality oppositions, and even better step up to the mark when asked. But the remainder of the season was to be the best rollercoaster ride any fan would want to be on.
A defeat at playoff rivals Cardiff City after Robbie Blake’s 84th minute equaliser was to be our only defeat in the last 8 games of our Championship campaign. We could have sealed the playoffs on many occasions in the run up; at home to Sheffield United, away at Southampton, and of course at home to Bristol City on the last game of the campaign.
 
We made it hard work on ourselves in these games. The fans flocked to the Turf in their thousands for the “Final Countdown” games against Qpr and Sheffield United, before more than 2000 fellow Dingles travelled the best part of 500 miles around to see Burnley sentence the Saints to League 1 with a 10 point deduction; a game which sparked scenes of horrendous fan clashing, item throwing and Burnley having to wait another week to guarantee the playoffs after relying on Clarke Carlisle to send us back with a point.
 
The final game saw us having to equal or better Preston’s result at home to Qpr in order to guarantee the playoffs, and upon hearing on the many radios around the ground fans were using that Preston were winning at Deepdale, Wade Elliot stormed the City penalty box, only to be brought down by Liam Fontaine, and ex Lilywhites captain Graham “Grandad” Alexander slammed the penalty into the net; Turf Moor sent into raptures of excitement.
Burnley fans going wild in the home terraces, Wade Elliot then turned from penalty provider to goal scorer, after a beautiful volley went flying into the net only 2 minutes later.
At this point, there was no way back for Bristol, and Burnley fans knew they were off to the Playoff semi finals.

It really was a beautiful sight to see the entire home sections jam packed with supporters; even better to see it explode in ecstasy. But of course, the Clarets didn’t stop at 2-0. A deliberate handball by Bradley Orr in the 2nd half saw Grandad slam a 2nd penalty in the game (and a 3rd penalty in 2 games) into the net, followed by Icelandic power-man Joey Gudjonsson tapping a simple follow-up into the net of the Jimmy Mac stand. The fans well and truly played their part at the Turf that day, and Bristol City fans did what we did at Crystal Palace last season and joined in the applauding of the players & staff at the end of the game.

So by this point, Burnley had been guaranteed the Championship Playoffs, and local rivals Preston pipped Cardiff City to the last spot, thanks to equal points, equal goal difference, and +1 goal scored difference. How much that 6-0 drumming by Preston will come back to haunt Cardiff.

We had entered the Playoff 1st leg at home, against a Reading side that has kept a lot of its Premiership quality players and only managed 3 draws and 2 wins in the last 5 away games, whilst Burnley’s home record was an immaculate 5 wins in 5 home games.

Turf Moor welcomed the teams out to a fantastic applause of more than18,500 supporters, and the match was underway not too long after.

Both teams were defensively very active, and it was the kind of game that looked to be stalemate...until a shirt pull by Bikey on Thompson saw referee Martin Atkinson blow for a penalty, which ice cool Grandad Graham Alexander converted to send the home terraces into sheer delirium.

Last season’s final come game had dramatic scenes whereby Andrew Cole; on loan from Sunderland; had chased Darren Purse in the Tunnel and caused an uproar. This season saw Bikey instantly dismissed for a crunching stamp on Robbie Blake, followed by a very long shirt removal and throw that could have won him a Bafta nomination.

Nonetheless, Burnley took a 1-0 aggregate advantage into the Semi Final 2nd leg at the Madjeski Stadium; the same place that Reading had not won at since their victory over table toppers Wolves back in January. Surely something had to give?

Injuries in the first leg made sure that Coyle had a job on his hands picking the best available team. Chris Eagles was declared only fit enough for the bench, whilst Stephen Thompson and Wade Elliot were passed late on fitness checks and put in the starting 11, whilst it was eventually known former Claret fan favourite Glen Little would be on the bench.

The aggregate advantage was ours, and we had to be very careful, as we knew Reading would come attacking with everything they had, and they did that without hesitation.

A frustrating and poor first half saw Burnley go in 0-0 at half time, and after some words of wisdom from Owen Coyle, the super Clarets came out all guns blazing in the 2nd half; a whole new side if you will.

Thompson beating Duberry in his own half then proceeded to thread a brilliant pass to Martin Paterson on the wing, who proceeded to make a slow but stable run forward. Robbie Blake managed to draw Reading defenders away from Pato, who cut inside, pushed forward and unleashed a spectacular 35 yard shot which was worthy of winning any game. The away fans delirious with joy and excitement; Paterson calm and cool as anybody in the stadium; Burnley were 2-0 up on aggregate. Now was the time to kill them off and book a date with Wembley bound Sheffield United; who’s manager was consequently a guest for Sky Sports. Burnley fans had noticed him in the box above, and jeered and joked that he was apparently a “shit Neil Warnock”.

The game was Burnley’s for the taking. A free kick taken by Brian “Beast” Jensen made its way over to Stephen Thompson; marked somewhat poorly by the Reading defender who proceeded to kick it to the side for Thompson to take; who unleashed a magical dipping shot over American Goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann, clipping the underside of the crossbar as it went in. The away stand erupting in ecstasy; Thompson amazed with the quality of his goal; Burnley we’re Wembley bound!

Reading had not won at the Madjeski since January 27th against Wolves, and Burnley had not won at the Madjeski stadium at all since its opening in 1998; until now.

Burnley had done it! After cup heartbreak in the Semi Finals against Tottenham, the super Clarets will be going to Wembley after all, and even better be known we have a 36,000 allocation to support the boys on. Ticket sales are virtually completed now, and the countdown to the Final has well and truly begun. On Monday, the Clarets will battle it out in a Roses derby with Sheffield United; in what is described as the most lucrative game in football, believed to be worth £60million to the winner.

Next season will be the 50 year anniversary of us becoming Division 1 champions, and what a better way to celebrate it than the potential of playing in the top Division once again; our first return since 1976.

Our destiny is in our hands. It is time to make our return to the promised homeland. Dare to dream.