The Burnley boss is struggling to stay calm as the Premier League restart approaches

Burnley chairman Alan Pace has revealed that the mood around his flagship club in the Championship is euphoric, but he nonetheless adopts the cautiously optimistic attitude favored by manager Vincent Kompany.

The Clarets need just nine points from their last nine matches to secure automatic promotion to the Premier League after Wednesday night’s 3-1 win over Hull.

And while Kompany’s side are now 13 points clear of second-placed Sheffield United and have 19 more points than third-placed Middlesbrough, Pace insisted the champagne remains closed for the time being.

“The mood is great,” he told the Palestinian News Agency. “We’re trying to be very, very calm. Vince would kill me if we said anything else than that we still have a lot of matches to finish. We’re on the journey, and we’re going to keep it going.”

“I would say, look, we’re not done until we’re done, and as he says we’re still only the 21st best team in the country.”

If, or more likely when, Burnley get the job done, Pace, managing partner of US-based ALK Capital, has confirmed that the club has a plan in place to ensure they can compete in the top flight.

Velocity Sports Partners, ALK’s sports investment arm, acquired majority shareholder Burnley in December 2020, acquiring an 84 percent controlling stake in the club.

Pace said: “I would say I have a billion pounds to do as Chelsea. So we have to be thoughtful, but just like we did this year, we will continue to think about the process.”

The former Real Salt Lake CEO admits it was challenging at times as an American executive in English football, an “outsider” battling situations like, “This is English football. That’s the way it’s done, you have to accept it.” You just have to learn.”

It is something that he and Kompany, whom Bess feels has breathed new life into Turf Moor, greatly disapprove of.

Of Kompany, Pace said: “He has a tremendous amount of humility, with an incredible work ethic and great vision and idea of ​​what he sees as the right way to do things and be able to actually do that, and then the ability to actually communicate that and bring people together around that one vision. Second to none.”

Kompany’s sphere of influence extends far beyond his team. In 2021, Burnley have set a long-term ambition to fully professionalize their women’s first team, who currently sit second in one of the two-tier divisions.

The former Belgium international has taken a keen interest, opening training sessions for all the coaching staff on the women’s side to observe and learn from.

“The atmosphere inside the club has changed dramatically,” said Pace. “We always said we were one club for all but now you see people acting like that. He was a real advocate for making sure his knowledge was spread more widely throughout the club and he made it a very welcoming environment.”

“I totally believe in that [women’s or other] A player who wants help, advice and pointers can get it at any moment with him. I saw nothing but a willingness and complete openness to help at every level for every type of individual. He’s a very special person.”

Pace is among the property’s growing American presence in the top tiers of English football, and the roster has expanded in recent years with the addition of Chelsea’s Todd Boyley and, in December, Bournemouth’s Bill Foley.

Asked why American investors are increasingly attracted to English football, he speculated: “The clubs being undervalued is part of it. You’re missing out if you don’t realize that this is the biggest sport in the world, bar none.”

“Most Americans like to think this is the NFL, it’s the pinnacle of it all, and the reality is 10 times as many people on a given day see an Premier League game. So you see that and you think, ‘I want to be involved with the biggest. The best. And that’s a very American thing.”