Former Premier League chief now owns ‘Spanish Accrington Stanley’ with 6,000-capacity stadium

FORMER Burnley main Mike Garlick has swapped Lancashire for Andalusia to go proprietor of Spanish 3rd tier broadside Antequera.

After stepping down from his relation astatine Turf Moor successful 2020 pursuing ALK Capital's takeover, the businessman acceptable his sights connected a caller challenge.

And erstwhile the accidental arose to go Antequera brag astatine the commencement of this year, helium grabbed it with some hands.

"I didn’t privation to bargain a large club," helium told The Times.

"The astir enjoyable happening astir Burnley wasn’t the time you won thing oregon got promotion but the existent travel — and I wanted a journey.

"I looked astatine Antequera and thought, ‘We could spell connected a travel here.’

"I knew I’d miss the buzz of football and I got offered a batch of antithetic clubs successful England but I’m a Burnley instrumentality truthful I wasn’t that keen.

"We already had a location successful Spain, adjacent Marbella, and my woman speaks Spanish truthful wherefore not here? I tin get connected a level to Malaga, leap successful a car and beryllium present truly quickly.

"On apical of that, they’d been promoted successful 3 of the past 5 years truthful they are intelligibly connected an upward trend."

Antequera presently beryllium 2nd successful Primera Federación Group 2 - lone down Betis Deportivo Balompie, the reserve squad of Real Betis.

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If they triumph the group, the Spanish broadside volition gain promotion to the 2nd tier.

Otherwise, they whitethorn person to bash truthful via the play-offs astatine the extremity of the campaign.

Garlick has ambitions of starring the squad each the mode up to La Liga.

If Antequera execute the feat, they would correspond 1 of the smallest towns successful the division.

The 61-year-old continued: "I’ve compared it to Accrington arsenic the population’s conscionable implicit 40,000 truthful if we did get into La Liga 1 day, we’d beryllium 1 of the smallest-ever towns successful there.

"Burnley was the smallest municipality successful the Premier League — you’ve got 78,000 radical there. It’s a imagination but wherefore not effort for it?"