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Clarets get go-ahead for ‘vomitory’ Supporters of Burnley FC may soon be able to use a new ‘vomitory’ when they are watching a home game, after the Clarets’ plans were signed off by the council. This planning approval is just the latest improvement planned for Turf Moor, with recent months also seeing the club also reveal its intention to put up new LED signage around the outside of their stadium on Harry Potts Way. That is in addition to the controversial traffic scheme that would allow Burnley FC to shut down a number of roads around the stadium at-will to better manage the flow of fans, which left groups from the clergy to the cricket club concerned about access. This new vomitory will also be a radical alteration to how fans use the stadium. Though, despite what the name might suggest, this new addition is not for stomach-churning moments, like the Clarets recent 4-3 win against Notts County on penalties. Vomitories are large staircases that help fans to enter or exit the stadium, in this case allowing better access to the Barnfield stand. This comes from the Latin for ‘to spew forth’. In addition to providing a quicker access route for fans heading to the top of the 4,500-capacity stand, this new stairway will also improve fan safety as it doubles as a fire escape. The plans, approved by Burnley Council, detail the club’s intention to clad this new all-weather access point with a ‘sympathetic’ black metal material, complimented on the inside with the usual Claret red detailing. Once this has been built, Burnley FC fans in this stand will be spewing forth at the start and end of the game onto three flights of staircase with 13 steps each, with the club losing four seats at the top of the Barnfield stand to create its new entrance. Burnley FC fans will be able to spot this major change once they enter the Turf Moor grounds, though it will be largely shielded from public view by the stadium’s boundary fence. However, work to build the new vomitory is unlikely to begin right away, as Burnley Council attached a condition to its approval, after consulting with the Coal Mining Authority. This is because of a large and mostly unworked seam of coal lying just beneath the stadium, which can pose a risk to the stability of the ground when built on. The authority noted: “While the proposed development is a relatively lightweight structure any increased loading could induce further instability of the workings.” Stating that an intrusive probe should be carried out before construction can begin, they added: “This investigation should comprise a series of at least three boreholes advanced approximately 15 m into solid bedrock’.”