RAY INGLEBY has been appointed as Burnley's new vice-chairman and will concentrate on tapping into new commercial markets in an effort to increase revenue for the club by £1 million a year.

Ingleby, who took his place on the Clarets board when he bought £500,000 worth of shares in the club earlier this year, will devote an increasing amount of his time to the new role.

And he will focus on "non-traditional" revenue schemes to generate fresh cash to assist Burnley's drive up the League ladder.

"To be successful the club has got to have a financial foundation in place," said Ingleby.

"The club is still losing money and we need to narrow the loss and start generating profit to re-invest on the playing side.

"My personal goal is to be bringing in a minimum of £1 million a year at some point in the next couple of years from non-traditional revenue streams and all that money will be put back into the club."

He added: "We have got to get into the First Division. The divide is going to be even bigger between the Premiership, the First Division and the rest.

"We've got to get into the First Division in the next couple of years and we need that money to afford the wages you need to pay and for the odd transfer.

"We've all got the same goal which is to get into the First Division as soon as possible with the ultimate aim of getting in the Premiership and staying there.

"You need a commercially viable club to have the building blocks to do that.

"The Uniteds, Arsenals and Chelseas are doing it and you've got to act commercially like these clubs.

"The potential is massive. Our fans are the most loyal in the country." Announcements are expected in the next few weeks about specific proposals but one of Ingleby's plans is to sell "affinity programmes" using the Burnley brand name in a tie-up with major financial companies.

That would mean financial institutions making available facilities like credit cards, pensions and mortgages with the Burnley name and passing on a share of the proceeds back to Turf Moor.

Ingleby, who said he plans to use ideas from American business and other football clubs over here, will work alongside general manager Andrew Watson, who heads up the day-to-day commercial operation of the club and is targeting a rise in that revenue to £1 million this season.

Ingleby, who said he was "ecstatic" about his appointment, currently operates his business interests out of America and Britain but is planning to be based over here permanently some time next year.

And he said that since being voted onto the Clarets board, having an active position at Turf Moor has exceeded all his expectations.

"It's like a drug, you can't get enough once you are involved.

"It's been beyond expectation. It's been fantastic working with Barry Kilby. He's great to work with, I think John Turkington is a fantastic appointment and we are a great team. The club is going in the right direction," he said.

And Ingleby claimed that he had no regrets that his attempted buy-out at Turf Moor had not come to fruition.

"I think in hindsight it could not have worked out any better," he added.

John Mullin is to have a scan on his injured hip after suffering a reaction on his return to action as a substitute at Bristol Rovers on Monday.

Alan Lee played an hour of the Republic of Ireland's under-21 European Championship qualifier against Yugoslavia in Dublin last night.

However, the Clarets striker couldn't prevent the Irish slipping to a 2-0 defeat which leaves them facing an uphill struggle to qualify for the finals.

The squad, including Lee, now travels to Croatia for a must-win game on Friday night.

The Clarets play Preston North End in a re-arranged Youth Alliance fixture at Chorley's Victory Park tomorrow (kick-off at noon).

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