Turkington on board

Turkington's long-anticipated appointment as a Burnley director was confirmed when he was unanimously voted onto the board at a meeting on Saturday.

And the 55-year-old boss of Turkington Engineers believes the Clarets are heading back towards the good times.

"I certainly feel the club is going in the right direction now.

"I feel I am a very good team player and if the team all pulls in the direction the chairman has led things I think we will have a good and successful future.

"I see the least we can do is to be a First Division club.

"We will have to see if we get in that position and then we will have to have a think how to take the next step into the Premier Division," said Turkington, who described his appointment to the board as an honour and the realisation of a long-held ambition.

"I am Burnley through-and-through, football and business-wise," he added.

Turkington was invited onto the board by chairman Barry Kilby, with the decision being rubber-stamped by the club's other four board members.

He was not asked to increase his shareholding, having recently invested £200,000 in the club during the rights issue earlier this year. Kilby confirmed he was delighted to have Turkington within the corridors of power.

"I have been looking to strengthen the board for some time and John fits the bill," the chairman confirmed.

"He's Burnley through-and-through, he's one of the largest shareholders in the club and he has a lot of business acumen."

Kilby underlined the value of Turkington's business success coming in the heart of the Clarets community which local passion and investment being seen as an important part of the "new Burnley Football Club."

"John's appointment to the board gives us the best of both worlds in that he is a lifelong Burnley supporter with a wealth of business experience, particularly in the local area, and I am confident that he will prove to be a great asset to the board," added Kilby, who wouldn't rule out further boardroom additions in the future if the right candidate emerges.

"You never say never but I'm delighted that John has come on. We've got a balanced board now of the old and the new.

"We want to go forward and this is an important part of the foundations you need for a successful club."

Turkington's tenure on the board got off to a winning start as Burnley beat Stoke City 1-0 to become one of three teams jointly leading the way in Division Two prior to their game at Bristol Rovers this afternoon.

"I thought we thoroughly deserved to win the match," said manager Stan Ternent, whose side clinched their third win in four League games with an Andy Payton goal 15 minutes from the end.

"It took us a long time to get going but in the last 10 minutes of the first half we showed some signs and in the second half we murdered them," he added.

"We got a goal and for some reason we started sitting back and we had to withstand a lot of route one stuff into our box. "But I thought we coped with it very well and the proof of the pudding is that Paul Crichton didn't have a save to make.

"The players were fantastic. They showed a lot of resilience and patience throughout the game and Andy Payton did what he does best, put it in the net for us.

"Goal-scoring is a gift. It's a God-given gift that he has and he's fantastic at it. He didn't get a lot of joy but give him half a chance and he'll put it in. That's what he does.

"It's an excellent start and I'm delighted with it. We can still improve but you can't do more than win."

The Clarets youth team drew 2-2 with Blackpool on Saturday, Alex Kevan and Anthony Shandran getting the goals.

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