SEAN Dyche was the first managerial appointment that Barry Kilby did not have control over as chairman in well over a decade, but he did have his say.

Kilby was in the box seat as chairman when Steve Cotterill, Owen Coyle, Brian Laws and Eddie Howe became Burnley bosses.

His opinion still counted when they encountered Dyche at interview, but he did not have the casting vote this time.

In the end, though, it did not matter.

“I wasn’t the chairman but he did get interviewed by the directors, and it was a majority of the directors that took Sean on,” said Kilby.

He often goes on gut instinct, and he was instantly impressed by the gravel-voiced former Watford boss when they met.

“I think he had that presence that certainly affected me. You know you get that feeling about people sometimes.

“I had that with Owen Coyle too. He had that persona.

“Steve Cotterill was slightly different – he was much more intense.

“You can look at records, but it’s a gut feeling.

“Steve wrote some very kind things about me in the Bristol City programme when we played them.

“I’m still reasonably in touch with him, because they’re one of my lottery clients.

“Owen Coyle was a different thing in the end.”

As for Dyche: “He’s done a great job, virtually on a shoestring.”

The two get on well.

“I’ve a good relationship with Sean, ever since he started,” Kilby explained.

“Him and Ian [assistant manager Ian Woan] live not far away from me, and we started having these 10-point parties.

“We used to have a 50-point party but now we have 10-point parties.

“We missed one so it was a 20-point party, but we’ve got to 30 now, so we’re due one.

“They either come to my house or we go out. I was a bit posh last time and we went to the Northcote.

“We usually have a Chinese on a Thursday night. It’s more a meal than a party. Really it’s just an excuse to have lads together.”

The way things are going, a promotion party looks promising, two years after Dyche brought Premier League football back to Burnley.

Kilby is a self-confessed pessimist, but stretches to cautious optimism.

“Fingers crossed,” he said. “Let’s see how we go.”

Back to the board, after another season in the Premier League, Kilby believes the club is stronger than ever, while retaining its core values.

“I do feel that Burnley is fortunate that the directors are all fans. They come from the area,” he said.

“I’ve noticed since I stepped down as chairman there are more and more foreign owners, or owners who have to look on the map and see where the place is they’re actually buying.

“Where it used to be local businessmen that could afford it, and support and identify with the town, we’re in a minority one, but it’s one thing you’ve always got.”

He hopes it can stay that way.

“Obviously there’s big money coming in and the Premier League now is absolutely unbelievable,” he said.

“When I first put the money I did in, now it would be an absolute smidge compared to what some of these foreign owners are doing, but I still think it’s worth something for people to identify with the town and the club.

“We’d still be here if we were in League Two.

“We’d probably be getting shouted at if we were, but to me it’s personal – the area that I come from, my dad used to bring me on, and also there’s extra responsibility at Burnley because I think this town identifies with its football club more than any other I know.

“It’s really important to the town.

“We’re up there. Everybody feels proud to say ‘we’ve played Arsenal – we’re on the national news’.

“I think it is quite unique to this town.”

With Burnley a third of the way through the season, they could be gunning for the Gunners again next year.

“If we get back there again we’re up there trading blows, and doing the best we can, and we’d be bucking the trend,” said Kilby.

“The number of times people come in and say two things – ‘what a proper football club this is’. That’s been quoted to me time after time, and a lot of people now in the game are holding us up as an example of what can be achieved.

“Are we in debt? No.

“There’s a lot who have suffered, but we’ve run it right – correctly – and thanks to people like Sean, we’ve had success doing it the right way.”