AS Sean Dyche marks his fifth anniversary as Burnley boss his assistant Ian Woan said the Clarets’ success on and off the pitch was ‘beyond their wildest dreams’.

Dyche and Woan arrived at Turf Moor five years ago today, with the club a lower mid-table Championship side considered more likely to be staving off relegation than battling for promotion.

But since then Burnley have twice won promotion to the Premier League, including via the Championship title in 2015/16, before cementing their place in the top flight last term for the first time in more than four decades.

That success on the pitch has helped fund changes off it, with the new £10.6million Barnfield Training Centre a legacy for future generations of Clarets.

It was in that gleaming new building that Woan spoke to the Lancashire Telegraph about his five years at the club alongside Dyche.

“We sit here now and you can’t believe the change, it’s fantastic to be a part of it. In a small way you’ve helped built this for future generations,” he said.

“Not in your wildest dreams did you think you’d be sitting in a facility like this five years down the line.

“It’s a great legacy. Sean pushed for it. We stood firm that first Premier League season, because we knew we couldn’t go out and buy players and stretch ourselves because we knew this was the plan, we had to do this for the club to succeed and go forward, we had to get this facility built.

“We can’t stretch ourselves, there’s too many cautionary tales around. There was no guarantee we were going to come back up, but the club stuck by us when we got relegated and it’s worked for all parties.”

There’s been so much success for Dyche, Woan and the rest of the senior staff including first-team coach Tony Loughlan and goalkeeping coach Billy Mercer, than it can be difficult to pinpoint highlights.

Woan is proud of the work they have carried out at the club since their arrival and believes last season’s Premier League survival was the icing on the cake.

“It’s a fantastic place to work, with the players, staff and now the facilities, it’s a special place,” Woan added.

“There’s so many special memories, obviously the two promotions, but I think staying in the Premier League last year, that was the next tick box.

“It wasn’t anti-climatic but there’s nothing to celebrate, like there is with a promotion. When we sat back a week after the season finished you take it all in and realise what an achievement it was. We’ve ticked the box, we can take them in the Premier League and we can keep them there against all the odds.

“That was massive for us. So keeping the team in the Premier League eclipses the two promotions.”