Sport
Vincent Kompany’s Burnley win Championship title in rival Blackburn’s backyard
Who’d have thought an elite defender, legendary captain and four-time Premier League winner would make a good coach.
Danny Jones -
26th April 2023 
Manchester City legend Vincent Kompany has won his first trophy in just his second job as a coach, leading Burnley to an emphatic Championship title win.
And to make things even sweeter, he did it with two games to spare, 13 points clear of Sheffield United in second place, and he got to do it away to historic rivals, Blackburn Rovers.
Burnley were crowned winners of the EFL Championship on Tuesday night after a narrow 1-0 win away at Blackburn’s Ewood Park, it never being easy to play against your rivals on their home turf — especially when there’s a league title on the line.
Nevertheless, not only has Kompany led the Clarets to promotion back into the Premier League from next season at the first time of asking, but he’s also won his first piece of silverware as a first-team manager, having only begun professional coaching full-time in 2020.
lt only took a single albeit wonderful goal from substitute Manuel Benson to seal the win, who only needed six minutes to score his third goal in the last three games and put Burnley’s name on this year’s Championship trophy — though it was only the inflatable version being passed around on the night.
The 37-year-old didn’t manage to win a trophy during his time as a player-manager and then full-time coach at his boyhood club, Anderlecht, but it only took him one season to win his first major honour at Burnley in convincing fashion.
Speaking to media after the game, the Belgian said: “There’s two awards [in a Championship campaign], promotion and the title, and there’s two more trophies: your two derbies. We’ve won all four this season. I know what those games mean. We’ve made memories for life. No one can take that away from us. We won the league at Ewood Park.”
Having done it by winning an East Lancashire derby, he went on to add that this season “will be talked about for generations” by Burnley fans.
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Kompany had already been linked with the Spurs job even before promotion and the title itself were sealed, but given what he’s got going at Turf Moor and the kind of football they’ve been playing, it’s looking like he’ll want to see out the project back in the top flight.
The former City captain now adds an EFL Championship to his four Premier Leagues, two FA Cups and four League Cups; two Charity Shields and two Belgian league titles as a player. Decorated.
You can see the highlights of Blackburn Rovers vs Burnley FC and the celebrations after the whistle down below:
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Featured Image — Burnley FC (via Twitter)
