How wealthy the Burnley FC owner is compared to the EFL's richest clubs | OneFootball

Alan Pace boasts a moderate wealth in comparison with some of the EFL's richest clubs

Alan Pace is a man who splits opinion at Turf Moor, but for those Burnley fans who aren't so keen, they'll have to get used to him because he isn't going anywhere in a hurry.

The American secured his stake in the club in December 2020, taking over the club as part of ALK Capital, who secured an 84% share of the club.

Former Chairman Mike Garlick said at the time that the takeover "represents a natural progression for Burnley Football Club", but that couldn't have been further from the truth, as if anything, the club have regressed under the American's leadership.

Burnley have gone from being an established Premier League side to being a yo-yo club, suffering two relegations and a promotions across Pace's first three full seasons as the new owner.

He'll hope to balance that record out this season by adding another promotion, but as things stand, Burnley have their work cut out in that regard as they've lost ground in the promotion race in recent weeks.

Here, we take a look at how wealthy Alan Pace is compared to the EFL's richest clubs.

Burnley FC owner Alan Pace only has a moderate net worth compared to other Championship custodians

According to reports, Alan Pace has a net worth of around £190m, although considering he bought Burnley using the club's cash reserves, how much of that net worth is his personally remains to be seen.

£190m may seem like an enormous amount of money, but in the grand scheme of football, it really isn't, and of all Championship clubs this season, the Lancashire Evening Post estimate that his net worth is the ninth-smallest.

That would certainly hint that Burnley are punching above their weight in the position they're in, but after spending most of the last decade in the Premier League, that almost certainly isn't the case.

In comparison with some of their Championship promotion rivals though, that net worth is minute, as Leeds' owners - 49ers Enterprises - have a net worth of $6.7b according to Forbes.

Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus also has a net worth of over $2b, while the net worth of Sheffield United's new owners is unknown, but their previous owner was estimated to be worth in the region of £200m.

Interestingly, Pace's net worth is substantially less than some League One and even League Two clubs, so it's fair to say any spending power Burnley have isn't coming from Pace himself.

Alan Pace is running a dangerous business model at Burnley

Buying the club in the manner he did left Burnley on the back foot from day one financially, and they've never truly been able to recover from that up to now.

Financial expert Kieran Maguire has relentlessly expressed concern about the running of the club, and around a year ago claimed that Burnley's auditors had told the club they needed to carefully manage their cash.

The club recently took out a £40m loan facility secured against Premier League parachute payments, which certainly concerned Clarets fans as the loan needs to be paid back eventually.

With Pace's net worth relatively low, it's unlikely he'll be able to service that loan himself, so the onus ultimately falls on the club, which may be tricky if they don't get promoted this season.

It feels like Burnley's