BARRY Kilby today hit back at his critics by insisting Burnley are one of football's success stories.

The Clarets chairman answered accusations of a lack of ambition by detailing his commitment in the wake of Ade Akinbiyi's club record £1.75m sale to Sheffield United.

Kilby revealed that he had pledges of £750,000 from fellow directors in the coming year - taking the sum invested by the current board to around £8m.

And he vowed to keep the club on an "upward curve" by investing in a flourishing youth system while funding a wage bill that allows the Clarets to continue punching above their weight.

"I would point out that we have done five straight seasons at this (Championship) level. In the previous 20 years we had just one," said Kilby.

"I would argue that for Burnley to be back among that company is a success story.

"This division is getting tougher and tougher for the smaller guys. We used to have the bigger clubs coming down from the Premiership laden with debt. Now they are coming down much smarter and with parachute payments of £8m, which distorts the market.

"People must also realise that over half of the teams we play attract 20,000 gates and that means they earn £250,000 every home game than we do.

"Leeds United have sold 150,000 duplicate shirts, with a mark up of £20. That is more than we take in gate money all season!"

Kilby outlined the constant struggle that manager Steve Cotterill has been faced with since the club narrowly staved off the threat of administration two years ago.

The Clarets supremo claimed that last January's sales of Robbie Blake and Richard Chaplow will largely fund two seasons of Championship football with a wage bill ranked among the lowest in the division.

And while the club continues to lose £20,000 per week, the self-made millionaire insisted that exploiting all avenues of income was a cornerstone for future growth.

Kilby said: "We have plenty of ambition, but unfortunately not enough money to fulfil that yet.

"We are on an upward curve and, from weathering the storm, I think we are establishing ourselves and can get closer to achieving our dream.

"We are forever asked where is the money?', but the truth of the matter is that we made a profit of £1.8m last year and that is funding this season and next.

"We got £2.75m from the sales of Blake and Chaplow and spent around £800,000 on Ade and James O'Connor and another £100,000 on agents' fees.

"What is left is the fat that has enabled us to keep our wage bill at £3.5million, which is 19th highest in our division."

Kilby, whose £3m purchase of Turf Moor and Gawthorpe has still not been finalised, added: "Steve (Cotterill) is going to get well over £1m of the money from Ade to rebuild, while the arrears are being met by the profits we made last year.

"Eventually that will run out and we have to deal with that. But we don't miss a trick commercially and we are really fortunate to have directors who, between them, have put something like £8m into the club in the past four or five years.

"I have put £5m of my own money in and I have pledges from other directors to put another £750,000 in to cover until February of next season, when the money runs out again - unless you either make money from cup runs, try to get someone to put capital in or trade players.

"The only other alternative is cutting your wage bill. It's that simple!"

Burnley's youth system is also set to receive vital funding following the emergence of midfielder Chris McCann and striker Kyle Lafferty. Under Head of Youth Development Vince Overson and youth team coach Terry Pashley, the youngsters are enjoying one of their most successful seasons in recent times.

And Kilby explained: "I want to invest in the youth system because we are doing well in that area and it needs another boost.

"When I first came in, the youth system was an absolute shambles with nobody coming through.

"Nobody wanted to know Burnley Football Club and Richard Chaplow was a fabulous accident, but by getting into the Championship we have raised our profile.

"We are starting to get an excellent scouting system and I think things are beginning to show with the likes of Chris and Kyle.

"We are starting to get those lads now and there are more good players down the line, so I want to keep investing in the scouting systems and do everything we can to assist."

TOMORROW: A blueprint for the future - borrowed from Bolton.