Burnley United back with a bang after 15 years

Mark Ward

Having to start from the bottom hold no qualms for the management of Burnley United Football Club, who have made a welcome return to the South Peninsula Local Football Association (LFA) after an absence of 15 years.

And to mark their re-entry back into the fold at the LFA’s headquarters in  Rooikrans Avenue, Grassy Park, they beat the highly fashioned FN Rangers from Maitland in the second round of Safa Cape Town’s Coke Cup on Sunday.

The match which was played at a hectic pace with teams employing defensive approaches, ended in a scoreless draw and had to be decided on penalties. With the regulatory five penalties also not producing any result, the match went into a sudden-death phase.  

Carlyle Davids, Burnley’s goalkeeper, produced a stunning stop from the Rangers nr-10 kicker to earn his side a 7-6  win and a place in the next round of the FA Cup-style competition and thereby signalling their return to the local in action with a bang.

Selwyn Daniels, the coach of Burnley heaped praise on his men, saying.

“This is just what we wanted, a win so that people can see we,, as Burnley, are back and we mean business,” said Daniels.

With the club celebrating their 50th anniversary next year, Daniels says that the LFA allowed them back into the fold but they had to compete in the LFA’s First Division, where they are topping the log.

“The revival of the club started when a group of former players proposed the idea. As talk went around more ex-players got together and soon, we had a junior team made up of former player’s children. Now we have a competitive first team and as it was seen against Rangers, we exceeded expectations. We are still building and at this stage we have only one ambition at hand to rebuild the club and be competitive like the old Burnley. I’m also fully aware things have changed and we know the challengers. But we are keen to make a difference especially in Retreat where we are based,” Daniels added.