BURNLEY have announced the appointment of Frank McParland as their new sporting director.

Liverpool-born McParland, 56, who worked at Watford as chief scout during Clarets boss Sean Dyche’s time there, and recently left the role of director of football at Sky Bet Championship side Brentford, will take up his new role from Monday, the club said.

The club's chief executive, David Baldwin said: “We welcome Frank to the club and we feel he will be a valuable addition to our team.

“His recruitment of talent is well documented and he has huge experience in working with players from Academy level all the way up to first team.

“We are confident this knowledge will be a big asset throughout the spine of our club as we look to recruit players both for the present and the future.”

As well as working at Bolton Wanderers as general manager, McParland previously worked as chief scout at Liverpool between 2003 and 2007, before returning to Anfield in 2009 as the director of academy and player development, where he helped to recruit the likes of England international Raheem Sterling, Jordan Ibe and Jerome Sinclair.

Clarets boss Sean Dyche, who the club said will still have the say on new signings, said: "As the club continues to progress I have mentioned many times that things, both on and off the pitch, are changing to further improve and strengthen us, in order to continue to achieve.

“The structure is to change to include someone who has a long and deep knowledge at varying levels of football and who can play their part in enhancing our chances going forward.”