Burnley F.C. in European football

Burnley's next campaign in a European club competition came six years later, in the 1966–67 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, where they were again eliminated by a West German side (Eintracht Frankfurt) in the quarter-final.

Burnley later competed in the Anglo-Scottish Cup—the Texaco Cup's successor—on five occasions and won the tournament in 1978–79, after they defeated Oldham Athletic 4–2 on aggregate in the final.

[3] Several weeks after winning the 1914 FA Cup, the club embarked on its first tour to continental Europe, playing sides from the German Empire and Austria-Hungary.

[5][6] Burnley embarked on a tour to Italy during the off-season in 1922—which included a 1–0 victory against Football League champions Liverpool in Milan—and to Germany and the Netherlands in 1927, where they won five of six matches and scored thirty goals.

[13] The club's squad consisted of mostly players who came through the Burnley youth academy; a transfer fee was paid for only two players—for Jimmy McIlroy in 1950 and for Alex Elder in 1959.

[15][16] Burnley defeated Bayern Munich (West Germany), Glenavon (Northern Ireland) and Nice (France) but finished runners-up in the group stage behind Kilmarnock.

The return leg, played two weeks later at Parc des Princes in Paris, ended in a 3–2 loss, although Robson had put Burnley 1–0 ahead.

[22] During the game, Potts ran on the pitch to put the ball back to its correct place during a Reims free-kick, having become exasperated by their several attempts to steal a few yards, after which he was taken off the field by the local police.

[17][23] Despite the loss and crowd disturbances, Burnley won 4–3 on aggregate and progressed to the quarter-final, in which the club faced West German champions Hamburger SV.

[17][19] At Turf Moor, in front of around 46,000 spectators,[24] Brian Pilkington scored twice to put Burnley 2–0 up with Robson adding a third, before Hamburg pulled one back in the last minutes of the game.

[28] The side ventured back into international football competition, however, with qualification for the 1966–67 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup due to a third-place finish in the 1965–66 First Division.

[31] The Italian press previewed the return leg in a belligerent manner: "From Lancashire where studs are made out of rose petals ... to Naples where visiting players are put through a mincing machine at the end of the game and their remains are roasted on a spit".

[31] A crowd of 60,000 saw Burnley goalkeeper Harry Thomson make 13 saves, including a penalty kick from José Altafini, as the match ended in a goalless draw.

[31] The Daily Express later hailed Thomson as a "God in a green jersey",[31] while the Burnley Star highlighted the "barbaric conduct shown by the defeated Naples team and their lunatic spectators".

[35] In the return match, Eintracht took a 2–0 lead; Miller halved the score, but the team could not find more goals and were again eliminated by a West German side.

[39] During that period, the club played in all four professional divisions and only avoided relegation to the non-League fifth-tier Football Conference on the last matchday in 1986–87.

[44] The second leg also finished 1–1 after 90 minutes; the game went into extra time, with goals from Jack Cork and Ashley Barnes ensuring a 3–1 win for Burnley.

Both games ended in goalless draws after 90 minutes; Cork scored the only goal in extra time in the second leg, setting up a tie with Greek club Olympiacos in the play-off round, the last phase before the group stage.

[57] The Scots had started their season with eight consecutive victories, including a 3–1 win in the Old Firm match, before travelling to Turf Moor for the first leg.

[59][62] They also defeated Celtic in the away game—a 2–1 victory, the scorers being Ian Brennan and Kindon—to win 3–1 on aggregate and progress to the semi-final to play Mansfield Town.