PREMIER IS THE SUPER LEAGUE!
‘Burnley wins at Anfield & Emirates PROVE it’
BURNLEY midfielder Josh Brownhill insists you don’t get more Premier League than Sean Dyche’s Clarets.
Brownhill, 25, has spent his breakthrough season playing in empty stadiums following his arrival at Turf Moor from Bristol City in January 2019.
And the City-supporting Mancunian who didn’t make the grade as a youngster at United, feared things would never return to normal when it was announced last weekend that six of the clubs he’s fought so hard to compete against had signed up for the European Super League.
Brownhill was relieved to see the plan bite the dust – and reckons the English top flight is as much about Burnley beating the odds as it is seeing the team he followed as a boy running away with the title.
Brownhill insisted: “Burnley represent what the Premier League is all about.
“The reason it’s the best league in the world is because this season we can go away to Liverpool and beat them, and go away to Arsenal and beat them.
“Last year, Burnley won away at Manchester United, so it came as quite a surprise when we were at Old Trafford last Sunday to get back in the dressing room and hear that the Super League was about to be announced.
“That was when it kind of hit home. Everyone was shocked.
“The Premier League is so huge around the world.
“I had always dreamed of playing in the biggest games as a kid and when I joined Burnley it was a huge step.
“But it was massive to see some big players coming out and saying they didn’t want the Super League to happen. And,
for us as a club we are very happy it’s not going ahead.
“It would have made a massive change in football when it didn’t need to be made – football is perfect as it is.”
Burnley face Wolves at Molineux today still looking for points to avoid being dragged deeper into the relegation scrap after three successive defeats.
Brownhill has been one of his club’s stand-out performers after being made to wait for his chance following his arrival from Ashton Gate.
Now he can’t wait for the fans to return to the stadiums so he gets the full Prem experience.
Brownhill said: “When I signed for Burnley, the gaffer told me to just bed-in and learn from the players around me, so I knew I wouldn’t be going straight into the team.
“Then, when my chance came, lockdown happened and maybe having no fans in the ground took a bit of the pressure off and he was able to trust me a bit more.
“It’s gone on for so long now that the rest of the lads didn’t realise that I’d only really played in front of fans in the Premier League the time when I came on as a substitute for the final three minutes against Bournemouth at Turf Moor.
“Though when we played Arsenal, a few thousand were allowed into the Emirates.
“I can’t wait for crowds to return. I think the game where fans could be in is at home to Liverpool at the end of the season – so that will be great.”