I am as excited as I was when I first joined the Clarets

It is not far short of 37 years since he last joined Burnley Football Club. Then a 20-year-old centre forward for Bolton Wanderers he was a record signing for the Clarets at £60,000 and a big part of Jimmy Adamson's rebuilding plans.

He was a regular in the promotion team, scoring the two goals on the night we clinched promotion with a win over Sunderland and continued in the side that established itself for two years as one of the best teams in the country.

Paul eventually left Burnley for Blackpool, a Stan Ternent signing in 1979/80 season where a bad injury ended his career just as he was about to move to Walsall.

His return to football was with Colne Dynamoes before he got involved in stadium development at Huddersfield, then Bolton before landing the job at Wembley. He left that and headed the building of the Ricoh Stadium in Coventry before joining Coventry City Football Club.

He resigned there recently after being excluded from takeover talks and today Burnley announced that he will rejoin the Clarets as Development Director for the new stadium redevelopment at Turf Moor.

Now an MBE, having been awarded that honour in this year's New Year's Honours List, he'll return to Turf Moor on 1^st January 2008 on a two year contract.

Operational Director Brendan Flood said: "After all these years it is fantastic to welcome Paul back. Over the next two years he will help us immensely with the stadium development and also harmonise the existing commercial operation with the new plans to give us a higher level of service and expertise within the business. In particular, that focus will be weighted towards stadium development and facilities.

"Paul has gained vast experience in the construction of the stadiums at Huddersfield, Bolton, Coventry and, of course, the new Wembley. That makes his knowledge extremely valuable. Paul will quickly fault find at Turf Moor and I think that will make sure we get as unique a design as we can achieve and also create sustainable facilities and not invest in the wrong areas.

"Paul has all that knowledge to bring to the table and I look forward to working alongside him over the next two years as we look to bring our plans to fruition."

Fletcher said in response: "Fairy tales don't often happen in Football, but I'm now in a position to take up one of my lifetime's ambitions in rejoining Burnley Football Club. More than anything it will allow me to pay-back a great debt to a club that provided me with the understanding of a 'teamwork' ethos that has guided me through 30 years of business success.

"I have always been impressed by Barry Kilby's Chairmanship of the club and once I met Brendan and saw his ambitious new stand proposals and his passion for the club, I realised I could use my experience to help the club move forward.

"I am as excited about this challenge as I was in 1970 when I first joined the Clarets".

Paul will also be involved with youth development as Flood explained. "I believe Paul can also help us on the youth side because his skills as an ambassador in football and his knowledge of the game will gain recognition locally", he said. "He can be a great calling card for the club and we aim to focus his name towards introducing more young players to the club and hopefully encourage more parents to commit their children to playing for Burnley."

Paul, who spoke so highly of Clarets Mad's Youth Foundation earlier this year, saying it was something close to his heart added: "If there is one club in the country that has built its foundation on youth development, its Burnley. It will be both a joy and massive responsibility to become involved in this important role in parallel with the challenges a new stadium development brings".

Welcome back to Turf Moor Paul.