Club commentator Phil Bird returns with a review of the decade:
The decade has been kind to Burnley. We started the Millennium in the Second Division.
Andy Payton ended 1999 with the last hat-trick of the old decade in a 3-2 win over Oxford United.
Stan Ternent's team were handily placed but when we lost 2-0 at Notts County on the 3rd of January 2000 not too many Burnley fans would have thought we would end the decade in the Premier League.
Here are my favourite games from an exciting ten years for Burnley Football Club:
10. 18th January 2005, Burnley 1 Liverpool 0.
This re-arranged FA Cup tie produced the biggest shock in the third round. Rafael Benitez rested Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher and their omission gave Steve Cotterill's side a real lift.
The winning goal will be replayed time and time again. A comical own goal in the second half from Djimi Traore sealed the Reds fate.
Early in the second half there seemed little danger from a Richard Chaplow cross when Traore, attempting a drag back, knocked the ball past a bemused Jerzy Dudek.
Burnley beat a Bournemouth side that included Wade Elliott, John Spicer and Garreth O'Connor in the next round before going out to local rivals Blackburn Rovers in the 5th round.
Somehow Liverpool came back from three nil down to beat AC Milan on penalties to lift the European Cup in Istanbul.
9. 9th December 2001, Preston North End 2 Burnley 3.
Stan Ternent's team were riding high at the top of Division One and this fantastic derby win extended their lead to four points.
This was the day Arthur Gnohere was crowned King Arthur. He opened the scoring after 16 minutes turning in Lee Briscoe's sharp free-kick. Glen Little pounced on a poor Lee Cartwright pass and curled in a beauty after 24 minutes.
At 2-0 the Clarets appeared to be in control but North End bounced straight back. Paul McKenna scored from distance just four minutes later and Graham Alexander scored from the spot after Graham Branch was harshly adjudged to have fouled David Healy.
Just before half time an exquisite Alan Moore chip almost caught David Lucas off his line but firstly the keeper tipped the ball onto the bar before then foiling Ian Moore's follow up attempt.
On the hour Gnohere got the winner, and what a goal it was! He linked well with Alan Moore who's sublime reverse pass found Gnohere free in the box. He made no mistake to put Burnley 3-2 up.
Gareth Taylor had a fourth goal wrongly ruled out for offside. A goal that proved costly at the end of the season as Ternent's team missed out on the play offs by a single goal!
8. 2nd December 2008, Burnley 2 Arsenal 0.
A young Arsenal team came to Turf Moor on the back of wins against Sheffield United (6-0) and Wigan (3-0) in previous rounds.
However, it was a Clarets youngster who grabbed all the headlines.
Kevin McDonald had been a £500,000 summer signing from Dundee and his two goals took Burnley to their first major cup semi-final for 25 years. On an icy, cold evening Owen Coyle's team were magnificent.
An early error from keeper Lucasz Fabianski presented McDonald with the opener. Chris Eagles also provided an assist for his second.
Taking a quick throw, the former Manchester United star found McDonald in space, he held off Mark Randall to finish in style with the outside of his foot.
7. 21st January 2009, Burnley 3 Tottenham Hotspur 2 (aet).
After a 4-1 defeat at White Hart Lane nobody gave Burnley a prayer in the second leg. How wrong they were!
Owen Coyle talked about climbing Everest and Burnley took one giant stride with a marvellous first half free-kick from Robbie Blake past a bemused Ben Alnwick.
It was game on sixteen minutes from time when Blake turned Chris Gunter inside out and found Chris McCann free in the box.
Amazingly Burnley were level on aggregate with three minutes left when super sub Jay Rodriguez netted after Alnwick had fumbled another Blake free-kick. In almost any other competition the Clarets would have been through to the final on the away goals rule.
Not in the Carling Cup though and we had to suffer the agony of extra time and Burnley were just over two minutes away from a final against Manchester United when Roman Pavlyuchenko struck.
Almost immediately Jermain Defoe, a player signed between the two semi-final legs, got another and Burnley's dream was over.
This was already Burnley's 37th game of the 2008-2009 season and it's clear Owen Coyle used this disappointment to motivate his team for the rest of a memorable campaign.
6. 5th November 2005, Luton Town 2 Burnley 3.
This was simply an incredible game. Taking centre stage was striker Ade Akinbiyi with an unbelievable hat-trick.
After thirty minutes Burnley were two up both goals supplied by John Spicer both finished in style by Akinbiyi.
The Clarets appeared to be coasting to their third successive win. On 38 minutes disaster struck when Brian Jensen handled outside his box and was immediately sent off by referee Paul Melin. Harsh perhaps, but Burnley now had a mountain to climb to protect their lead.
With Danny Coyne injured Burnley didn't have a reserve keeper on the bench.
After much deliberation former Arsenal trainee Spicer offered to go between the sticks. And when the Hatters pulled a goal back before half time through Steve Howard you sensed it would be a gruelling second half.
The game took another twist ten minutes after half time when Town defender Leon Barnett brought down Akinbiyi in the box. Not a natural penalty taker, the former Leicester City striker sent Marlon Beresford the wrong way for his hat-trick since 1999.
On the hour Luton reduced the arrears. Irish striker Warren Feeney hammered home Howard's knockdown.
Somehow, Burnley hung on in an ultra tense final thirty minutes with a magnificent rearguard action.
Part Two will follow later this week, don't miss it!
