Starting From Scratch

Burnley legend Barry Kilby spent 13 years as chairman of the Lancashire club, bringing the beloved team back from the brink. now you can read Barry’s fascinating memories of his time at the helm of Turf Moor in his new book Starting From Scratch…

Without Barry Kilby there is no Burnley Football Club. This is what manager Stan Ternent said, 20 years ago. Hyperbole perhaps, but when Barry Kilby became chairman of Burnley Football Club in 1998, it was at last in the hands of a man who really did want it to prosper rather than just survive, as it had been doing in the previous years, drifting with little money, lack of any real ambition in the board room, and a manager hamstrung by the lack of funds. It was a club in turmoil, with disagreements in the boardroom, and the manager barely speaking to the directors and chairman. Stan had been brought in to do a rescue job but there seemed little he could do, until Barry Kilby arrived, calming the troubled waters and sinking considerable sums into the club that enabled manager and club to move forward.

A jubilant promotion was achieved 18 months later helped by the iconic Ian Wright and for two seasons all seemed well until money problems descended again due to two ITV companies reneging on a deal that was pumping millions into Football League clubs for TV rights. If he had ‘saved’ the club once, Barry Kilby now needed to ‘save’ it for a second time.

Deemed controversial at the time, a company he set up bought the stadium and training ground. That money, approximately £3 million, stabilised things. But even so,he, and other directors, still needed to put their own money into the club to keep it alive. Years later, the club was able to buy them back but that short sentence can in no way convey the complications and tortuous efforts involved in doing that.

Barry Kilby arrived, calming the troubled waters…

And where is the club now? Back in the Championship, but only after ten of the best years that supporters have experienced. Barry Kilby’s insistence on “not betting the ranch” maintained a realism and a pragmatic awareness that there could be no big spending splurges. Administration was very close on one occasion.

Where he was skilled too, was in enlisting other investors who then became directors. With each new director came more of the money that kept the club solvent. Caution was the watch word but with the enlistment of Brendan Flood and his Modus Company, new investment arrived at a level sufficient at last to underpin a promotion push.

Allied to Barry’s involvement in the appointment of new manager Owen Coyle, this then led to the success that everyone had so desperately wanted. Promotion to the Premier League in 2009. What a triumph that was and what a reward for Barry Kilby for the work he had put into  the club.

Sadly, it lasted for just one season and to further complicate matters, the Brendan Flood company, Modus, hit bad times. The Premier League money did not last long. Back to the Championship. Back to more money problems and a new manager, Brian Laws. Back to Barry Kilby keeping the ship afloat. I imagine we all know what happened next. Eventually in came Sean Dyche and on a limited budget promotion was achieved again and with it more Premier money. Alas, another relegation, but then another immediate promotion. This time under Sean Dyche there was a Premier League place until 2021 and a very healthy bank balance.

And so, in just a few paragraphs that is very much the Barry Kilby story until illness struck in 2012, in the form of advanced prostate cancer. It forced him to step down as chairman although he remained on the board. The club was now under the chairmanship of others but what success they had was based on the foundations laid down by the efforts and cautious financial juggling of Barry Kilby. He left the board in 2020 following the purchase of the club by the American group, ALK Capital.

With no involvement in the negotiations, he is on record as expressing his concern at the way the deal was financed. A club with a healthy bank balance accrued immediate debts. He exchanged his seat in the directors’ area in the Bob Lord Stand for a supporter’s table in the corporate Longside.

Way back in 2006 I wrote: ‘Unlike some club chairmen such as Ken Bates, Barry Kilby is not high profile, he does not seek the lime light, nor does he write articles for daily newspapers. He seems to be the classic, publicity shunning, quiet man, yet remains easy to talk to. He is open, never flashily extrovert, exuberant or impulsive.

‘You sense when you talk to him that everything he says is carefully considered and he seems to prefer to stay in the background, doing his absolute all to keep Burnley’s head above water. He speaks when he has something to say and not for the sake of it. He might possibly be the only football club chairman to have played for his club, albeit in the youth team, many years ago when he was a very promising player.’

He seems to be the classic, publicity shunning, quiet man, yet remains easy to talk to

At Clitheroe Grammar School he was in the same school team as Burnley legend Martin Dobson. Barry now jokes that whilst Martin went on to play for England, he went on to play for Padiham. But, on he went to establish the worldwide business that enabled him to invest millions of his money into Burnley Football Club. Today, Barry Kilby is as much a supporter as ever, as was his father Roy, who followed the Clarets all over Europe.

As this article was being written, Burnley, with new manager Vincent Kompany, had just taken over the top spot in the Championship. That however, was after just 13 games. None of us were taking anything for granted, but there was that nagging thought that exactly 50 years ago Burnley won promotion back to the top division led by Martin Dobson. Might there just be another promotion? Nobody would be happier than Barry Kilby.

Starting From Scratch by Barry Kilby is available from Barry. All proceeds go towards the Barry Kilby Prostate Cancer Appeal. To order call 07512 309214 or email info@thebkpca.com

NorthernLife Jan/Feb 2023