Vincent Kompany Takes Burnley To English Premier League

Photo: Twitter @VincentKompany)

JAKARTA - Vincent Kompany managed to bring Burnley to promotion to the English Premier League next season after beating Middlesbrough 2-1 at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday 8 April WIB.

That way, Burnley only needs one season to return to the highest football competition in England after being relegated last season.

"There are still seven games left and we are already celebrating (promotion). We didn't even expect it," Kompany told Sky Sport, quoted by Antara.

"We want to experience this sometime, but the sooner the better."

They recorded 19 matches unbeaten and are 11 points ahead of the second place occupied by Sheffield United. Third to sixth positions will do a Playoff to determine one remaining ticket.

Meanwhile, the top two will be directly promoted to the English Premier League.

The team coached by former Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany also broke the record for being the fastest Championship team to be promoted to the English Premier League by only needing 39 matches.

The previous record was held by Reading, Leicester City, Fulham, and Newcastle United with 41 games.

Kompany was appointed by Burnley at the start of last season and made an instant impact for the club. As well as securing promotion, he was also able to lead Burnley to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup this season before being knocked out by his former club Manchester City 8-0 on aggregate.

Burnley president, Alan Pace did not even think his club could return to the English Premier League sooner than planned.

"This was a surprise, this was not our plan," Pace said. "Vincent and I have spoken this summer, we aim for promotion in two or three years."

Burnley now still has to ensure that they win the Championship division for the 2022/23 season.