 |
| Burnley are going back to Deepdale for the first time since 2011 |
It's often been a tradition for the Clarets to play the more local lower division clubs ahead of a new season, and that's the case again this year as we face games against clubs in each of the Football League divisions.
Having played the Austrian game on Sunday 20th July, we return to England with the first of the three at League Two Accrington on Saturday 26th July. This used to be a regular feature on the pre-season calendar but hasn't been played in the last four years.
We follow that up with trips to Preston on Tuesday 29th July and Blackpool on Saturday 2nd August. I'm not sure when we played either of these two in actual friendlies. I do recall one on a Friday night in 1968 against Preston, my first ever visit to Deepdale, and there was also a defeat at Blackpool in 1972 ahead of the promotion season.
There have been pre-season tournament games against them, and as burnmark commented on the message board: "Has the Lancs Manx Cup returned?"
Although we were at Blackpool as recently as Good Friday, it will be our first visit to Deepdale since the 2010/11 season when goals from Jay Rodriguez and Jack Cork gave us a 2-1 win.
A game on the following Saturday, 9th August, the opening day of the Football League, had been earmarked for Turf Moor against European opposition but the originally planned game will not be going ahead but it would be a surprise not to see the Clarets have a home game ahead of the Premier League season.