Rob Edwards thanked Luton Town for the best 18 months of his life after their hopes of Premier League survival suffered a near-fatal blow against West Ham.
Edwards’ side took an early lead through Albert Sambi Lokonga, but James Ward-Prowse, Tomas Soucek, and 19-year-old George Earthy struck after the break to sink the visitors.
Despite the disappointment, Edwards emphasised how far the club have come.
“It is really difficult,” he said. “How the supporters reacted made me emotional.
“I said thank you to the players because they, along with the fans and board, have given me the best 18 months of my life.
“It has been an incredible journey, and I always believed.
“Even at half-time, I believed, and I feel responsible. I am so disappointed we have not been able to do it.
“This is my third year in management.
“I have won a league title, been sacked, got promoted through the play-offs, and now relegation, so it’s not been dull.
“But this just fuels the fire to get back. We will be in a stronger position to attack it than the last time we were in the championship.
“Then we got promoted with one of the smallest budgets. That will not be the case now. We will be one of the stronger teams.”
Burnley’s fate is already set in stone.
The Clarets were relegated at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after Pedro Porro and Micky van de Ven cancelled out Jacob Bruun Larsen’s opener.
However, Burnley boss Vincent Kompany is already targeting an immediate return to the Premier League.
“I am not here sulking and feeling sorry for us but if you take every game, every season as a learning experience, this is a step we need to get into our game,” he said.
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“Today the Premier League is over, but tomorrow we start day one of doing everything we can to get back to the Premier League.
“It is way too early to answer if I would have done things differently.
“I am constantly thinking about what we could do better right now and before.
“But if you treat it as something which improves you, us as a club and a group of players, there is a lot of value in what we have experienced this season.”
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