Alan Pace explains the highs and lows of being the owner of a football club in the most basic of terms.
“To have people come up to the directors’ box on their way out and almost charge at the directors’ box, and yell and scream and tell you to ‘f— off and go die’, I don’t think people are really ready for that,” the Burnley chairman says.
“I know I wasn’t. And then walking down the street and people are waving with one of their five fingers and yelling stuff. The hardest part was being with family when people were telling us to go home. This is home, so I don’t know what they are saying.
“I think that was probably harder for the family than for me, but we made the conscious effort when that happened to leave after a little while because it wasn’t a good environment from that perspective.
“It is way, way better when things are going well! People are very respectful and kind. I would have to say that a number of those same people have come up to us and apologised, which I would never have expected or asked for. That has been amazing.”
Sitting alongside Pace is Vincent Kompany, the Burnley manager. The pair are back in the big-time and, neatly for Pace, the return to the Premier League coincides with a four-part fly-on-the-wall documentary series “Mission to Burnley” which charts the pain of relegation and the euphoric return after being quickly and impressively transformed into the best and most attractive team in the Championship.