In 1962, Jimmy Adamson won the FWA Footballer of the Year award, the first and to date only time a Burnley player achieved this. Four years later, Irvine became top goal scorer in the first tier, also a unique feat in the club's history. Leighton James and Nick Pope are the only Burnley players to have been included in the PFA Team of the Year while in the top tier—James was a member of the 1974–75 squad and Pope was part of the 2019–20 team.