‘No chance’ - Burnley boss Scott Parker reveals disbelief after Leeds United title drama
Scott Parker was within minutes of leading Burnley to the Championship title.
Burnley head coach Scott Parker insists losing out on the Championship title to Leeds United shouldn’t tarnish the Clarets’ successful season.
The Lancashire club finished on 100 points alongside champions Leeds but missed out on silverware due to United’s superior goal difference.
Until Manor Solomon’s stoppage time winner, the title celebrations were bound for Turf Moor where Burnley saw off spurned play-off hopefuls Millwall.
Despite going a goal down early in the first half, Parker’s side fought back to win 3-1. It proved their efforts were not enough to clinch the title, though, on a dramatic final day of the 2024/25 Championship campaign.
“I think if you'd have said to us at any point that 100 points this year wouldn't have managed to get you the title, I think we would have sat in this room thinking ‘no chance’.
“A little bit disappointing”...
“It's proven to be the case, though, and we lose the title on goal difference this year, which is a little bit disappointing, but I won't let that overshadow the remarkable season that we've had this year,” Parker said in the aftermath of his side’s second-place finish, as quoted by the Burnley Express.
Burnley will join Leeds in the top flight next season; their Premier League membership reinstated the same day as United’s own promotion was confirmed on Easter Monday last month.
Leeds players did not hold back with their on-field celebrations at Home Park, where they were joined by club staff and Elland Road directors. The Whites’ squad orchestrated terrace chants with supporters who stayed behind after the 2-1 win over Plymouth Argyle to revel in the late title triumph.
The 2024/25 season is the first in Championship history in which two teams have finished on 100-or-more points.
Burnley conceded just 16 times across 46 matches but were decidedly less prolific in front of goal, compared to the newly-crowned Whites. Leeds finished the season with six straight victories to secure only a third top flight promotion in the past 35 years.