Burnley's year of decline: home-win record looms as pressure mounts on Hayen and Pace
Burnley are bottom-three in the Championship, one game from an unwanted English record for the longest wait for a home league win, and facing supporter unrest over the ownership of Alan Pace and ALK Capital.
Twelve months after Lyle Foster's stoppage-time winner at Wolves in October 2025 suggested Burnley were stabilising in the Premier League, the picture at Turf Moor has deteriorated sharply. The Clarets were relegated, are now in the Championship's bottom three, and stand one match from setting an unwanted English record for the longest run without a home league win. A failure to beat Portsmouth on 31 October would surpass Sheffield Wednesday's mark of 376 days. Burnley's last home league victory was a 2-0 win over Leeds on 18 October 2025; since then they have lost 10 and drawn 11 of 21 league games at Turf Moor, scoring 21 goals.
Nicky Hayen was appointed less than a month before the Championship season began, after a move for Wales boss Craig Bellamy fell through and following Scott Parker's departure late last season. He oversaw a busy summer in which 11 players arrived and 10 left. Turfcast podcast host Joe Redmond said supporters can sympathise with Hayen — who inherited some of Parker's coaching staff and lost striker Zian Flemming on deadline day — while still doubting he is the right manager. EFL pundit Jobi McAnuff described the squad-building as "scattergun" and questioned relying on 39-year-old Jamie Vardy as a main striker. Redmond argued a side relegated from the Premier League should at least be competing near the top.
Home form, long the foundation of Burnley's success, has been the sharpest decline. BBC Radio Lancashire commentator Scott Read noted most of the winless run came in the Premier League, but said Burnley should already have won at home this season, having let leads slip against Bristol City, Derby, Charlton and Wolves. Friday's home defeat by Wolves was greeted with boos at full-time. Hayen said he could not blame supporters and accepted that losing turns the atmosphere negative, while McAnuff said nervousness around the stadium is affecting the players.
Pressure is also building on owner Alan Pace and ALK Capital, whose December 2020 takeover involved a £65m loan. Read reported anti-Pace chants and banners at the last home game but said there is no indication ALK intend to sell, and that the club's debt would make a sale difficult. Hayen, who left Genk for his first English management job, insisted his squad are working hard and can turn results around, warning that turning everything into negativity would land Burnley in trouble. Redmond said change is needed in the dugout, the boardroom or both, and suggested defeat at Lincoln would make a change unavoidable.
Image: Getty Images / BBC Sport
