Controversial Watford call was a huge moment in Burnley history: View | OneFootball

Sean Dyche went on to become a legend at Burnley after his shock sacking by Watford in 2012.

Burnley will be hoping to challenge for promotion from the Championship this season.

Burnley were relegated from the Premier League last season after just one year in the top flight, but they look to be in a strong position to bounce back at the first attempt.

Scott Parker was appointed as the Clarets' new head coach this summer following Vincent Kompany's shock move to German giants Bayern Munich, and he is no stranger to achieving promotion from the second tier having done so previously with Fulham and Bournemouth.

Burnley have won promotion in each of their last three seasons in the Championship, with both Kompany and Sean Dyche leading the club to the Premier League over the past decade.

While Kompany struggled to build on the success he experienced during his first season in charge, the same certainly cannot be said for Dyche, who enjoyed a remarkable nine-and-a-half year spell at Turf Moor between October 2012 and April 2022.

However, it could all have been so different for Burnley if Watford had not made the controversial decision to sack Dyche at the end of the 2011-12 season, so the Clarets have a lot to thank the Hornets for.

Sean Dyche did not deserve to be sacked by Watford

Dyche was handed his first opportunity in management by Watford in June 2011 following Malky Mackay's move to Cardiff City.

The 53-year-old had spent the previous two years as Mackay's assistant, and it looked like he had a big job on his hands after taking charge at Vicarage Road, with the Hornets being tipped for relegation from the Championship following the exits of the likes of Will Buckley, Don Cowie and Danny Graham.

Dyche's reign began the way many had expected, and Watford were sitting in the relegation zone in late October having won just two of their first 13 games of the season, but they slowly began to climb the table and move away from danger.

The Hornets enjoyed an excellent second half of the campaign, losing just three of their final 19 games to secure a respectable 11th-placed finish, which was their highest since they came sixth in the 2007-08 season under Aidy Boothroyd.

However, Watford were taken over by the Pozzo family in the summer of 2012, and the new owners quickly made the decision to part company with Dyche, replacing him with Gianfranco Zola.

Dyche's sacking was an incredibly harsh call, but little did we know at the time that managerial instability would become a regular feature of life at Vicarage Road under the Pozzo's, which is underlined by the fact current head coach Tom Cleverley is the club's 20th permanent manager of their 12-year reign.

In fairness to the Hornets board, Zola did prove to be a successful choice, and the Italian almost guided his side to promotion to the Premier League in his first season in charge, but they were beaten by Crystal Palace in the play-off final.

Dyche did not have to wait long for his next managerial role to come along after his departure from Watford, and Burnley's decision to appoint him in October 2012 will go down as one of the best in the club's history.

Burnley capitalised on Watford's shock Sean Dyche decision

While Dyche did a decent job at Watford, it is likely that some Burnley supporters would have been underwhelmed when he was named as Eddie Howe's successor after he returned to Bournemouth.

Dyche took over at Turf Moor with the Clarets sitting 14th in the Championship table, and while he did lead them to an 11th-placed finish in his first season in charge, few could have predicted the success they would go on to enjoy over the next decade.

A summer rebuild saw Dyche bring in the likes of Tom Heaton, David Jones, Scott Arfield and Ashley Barnes, who would all become mainstays in his team over the subsequent years, and Burnley achieved a surprise promotion in the 2013-14 season as they finished second in the table.

Unfortunately for the Clarets, they were relegated from the Premier League the following year, but with much of the previous promotion-winning squad still at the club, Dyche led his side to the Championship title in the 2015-16 season.

This time around, Burnley were able to establish themselves in the top flight, and after avoiding relegation in their first season back in the division, they secured a remarkable seventh-placed finish in the 2017-18 campaign to ensure a place in the Europa League qualifying round, which was arguably the most impressive achievement of Dyche's tenure.

After overcoming Aberdeen and Istanbul Basaksehir in the qualifying stages, the Clarets were knocked out of the tournament as they were beaten by Olympiacos in the play-off round, but that did not detract from the fact that the club had featured in a major European competition - a prospect which would have been unthinkable at the time of Dyche's arrival.

While they failed to reach the same heights again, Burnley did achieve safety in each of the next three seasons, but the 2021-22 campaign would prove to be challenging for Dyche.

Despite being backed by new owner Alan Pace with big-money additions such as Nathan Collins and Maxwel Cornet in the summer transfer window, it was a season of struggle for Dyche and his team, and the Clarets were in serious relegation trouble after winning just one of their first 21 league games.

Even the £12 million signing of Wolfsburg striker Wout Weghorst, who had a prolific record in the Bundesliga, in January could not improve Burnley's fortunes, and after an incredible stint at Turf Moor, Dyche was sacked in April 2022.

Although the Clarets had won just four league games all season up to that point, Dyche's dismissal so close to the end of the campaign shocked the football world, with many feeling that he was still the right man to keep the club in the league given his previous track record.

Pace opted not to replace Dyche permanently until the summer, and it almost proved to be a shrewd decision, but despite an upturn in form under caretaker Mike Jackson, Burnley were relegated on the final day of the season, bringing their six-year stay in the top flight to an end.

Dyche's time in Lancashire may not have ended the way he would have hoped, but after two promotions, a European qualifying campaign and two top-half Premier League finishes, he will forever be remembered by Clarets supporters as one of their greatest ever managers.