'We've bored our way back into the Premier League'

Josh Brownhill had fired Burnley to the Premier League when he referenced the reputation they have acquired across the most puritanical of promotions.

- RICHARD JOLLY

“People call us boring,” the captain said. “We’ve bored our way to the Premier League.”

If so, Burnley found a sweetness to their dullness. A season of 12 stalemates has culminated in a swift return to the top flight, a pitch invasion and a triumph for Scott Parker. It wasn’t always easy or entertaining but Burnley are back. As Turf Moor erupted, as Parker’s players bounced around in jubilation, as Ashley Barnes marked his fourth promotion by hoisting chairman Alan Pace off his feet, the achievement was appreciated. Boredom can have a beauty.

Two clubs went up with one blast of referee David Webb’s whistle. Leeds had demolished Stoke 6-0. They had reached 94 points a couple of hours before Burnley saw off Sheffield United. “For the teams above us to have the ability to finish on 100 points is insane,” said Chris Wilder, whose Blades were top for 143 days but whose valiant automatic-promotion push was ended by a Brownhill double.

He was a fitting match-winner. The only inappropriate element was that Burnley conceded, which, at times this season, has verged on being a headline in itself. Tom Cannon’s goal was just the 15th Burnley have let in during a campaign of asceticism. Some 44 games into their season, they have not conceded twice in any of them. They have 29 clean sheets.