Burnley Talked a Reds Night, Then Lost 3-1

Connor Roberts and Josh Cullen spent July 9 talking up a Cincinnati Reds night and a Friday friendly at TQL Stadium. Twenty-four hours later Burnley lost 3-1, with a new head coach watching from the stands.

The captain could not play. The full-back who missed last season started, then went off at half-time. After six Championship games the Clarets have 3 points and sit 23rd.

They Talked Baseball the Night Before Kickoff

Burnley landed in Cincinnati on Tuesday, July 7, and trained in the Ohio heat at Paycor Stadium, home of the Bengals. Roberts, back after a long-term injury wiped out his last campaign, treated the trip as work in the day and a city break after it.

I think everyone is loving it to be honest. We are training and working hard throughout the day and when we need to, but then it’s about switching off and enjoying life too when you’re not working. We have been to the baseball, we’ve seen a few of the sights around this amazing city and I’m really enjoying it so far, we have the game coming up on Friday, then it’s next stop, Columbus!

Connor Roberts, Burnley defender, club interview in Cincinnati

He had been to the baseball already by the time local cameras asked about FC Cincinnati. The club posted Cullen and Kyle Walker as honorary captains at the Reds the night before that media session.

Walker, Cullen and Roberts all sat in front of microphones on July 9. Interim boss Mike Jackson kept the message simple: fitness, getting up to speed, getting used to the ball again. The players called the heat useful preparation. They said they knew MLS and had watched Cincinnati tapes. None of that briefing mentioned a new permanent manager, because the club still did not have one on the record.

Hayen Watched the 3-1 From the Stands

On July 10 Burnley named Nicky Hayen, 45, head coach on a 3-year contract from Genk, the end of a 71-day search after Scott Parker left on April 30. Hayen was already in the United States. Jackson still took the match. Hayen sat in the stands.

I’m pleased to be joining a club with real history and supporters who care deeply about it. I’m really looking forward to working with the squad in the US on the pre-season tour. The hard work starts there.

Nicky Hayen, Burnley head coach, on his appointment

Kickoff at TQL was 7:36 p.m. ET under a clear 83-degree sky, Chris Penso the referee. Cincinnati’s 3-1 victory on Friday night was the first time the home side had been back in that stadium since May 23. The crowd booed a hydration break at about 25 minutes with the hosts already in front, which is how an exhibition starts to feel like a night people paid to win.

Burnley’s posted XI asked Walker to play centre-back next to Bashir Humphreys, with Roberts and Lucas Pires either side. It read as a defence built from full-backs, and it lasted one half.

https://x.com/BurnleyOfficial/status/2075711905633587466

TQL STADIUM SCORING

Evander slipped Denkey through after Max Weiss had already denied Kenji Mboma Dem in the 7th minute. After the hydration break Tresor pulled one back from the left and Laurent slammed in a first-time finish. Laurent then had a follow-up over the bar. That was the senior group’s last clear look.

The Captain Who Could Not Play

Cullen did the interviews anyway. He trained off to the side of the main group, six months after ACL surgery that followed a 0-0 with Everton, and said he was still a few months from being available. Parker had put the layoff at around nine months when the injury happened. Walker wore the armband. Cullen talked about a talented group, a relegation he called disappointing, and a Championship the club had climbed before.

He was the most senior voice in the mixed zone and the one man who would not be on the pitch. The honorary captain at the Reds game was, the next night, a spectator in claret.

THE WEEK IN OHIO

1. July 7, 2026: Burnley land in Cincinnati and train at Paycor Stadium.
2. July 8, 2026: Cullen and Walker appear as honorary captains at the Reds.
3. July 9, 2026: Roberts, Cullen, Walker and Jackson speak ahead of the friendly.
4. July 10, 2026: Hayen’s appointment is confirmed; Cincinnati win 3-1 at TQL.
5. July 12, 2026: Columbus Crew 1-1 Burnley, Oluwaseun Adewumi levelling late.

Hayen’s own itinerary had listed FC Cincinnati, Columbus Crew and Real Salt Lake, then Ajax, Espanyol and Torino. The two Ohio dates are the ones that now sit on the record as a loss and a draw.

What Roberts Said Before the Friendly

Roberts was the other voice the local cameras wanted, because he was actually going to play. Last season, he said, was tough: no proper pre-season, then the whole Burnley year gone. “It’s a fresh season, fresh start,” he added, “and I’ve really enjoyed the first few days of pre-season.”

Paycor stunned him more than the baseball. He has played for big English clubs and for Wales, and still called the gym, changing rooms and pitches a different world. He is not a huge NFL fan. Watching Bengals players prepare for their own pre-season was, he said, a pleasure anyway.

JJ Watt was in town for the same Friday night, talking about filling the adrenaline void after playing. Watt has money in Burnley. So the club’s public week in Cincinnati ran on two tracks at once: a full-back glad to be fit, a captain still running on the side pitch, an NFL name in the stands, and a head coach whose deal landed a few hours before kickoff.

Roberts started at right-back. He lasted 45 minutes. Oliver Sonne replaced him at the break, one of 10 changes Jackson made in a single swap.

Ten Changes, Then a Penalty in Stoppage

Burnley’s own report called it a useful first workout and a narrow defeat. The second half was a different team. Weiss stayed in goal. Joe Worrall and Sonne were the other senior men. Eight U21 players filled the rest. Ellis Clark found Kian McMahon-Brown, who laid off for Adewumi, whose shot ran just wide. Adewumi went close again in the 68th minute.

Cincinnati changed its XI on 60 minutes. Jabbari glanced in Powell’s cross on 74. In stoppage time Worrall collided with Jabbari, Fletcher tucked the penalty, and the night was 3-1. Lucas Pires had the only booking, late in the first half.

Pat Noonan used the game as a chemistry check before MLS resumed on July 22 against Vancouver. Jeff Berding, FC Cincinnati’s co-CEO, called it a reminder of how far his club had come, from an idea to a side that can host a historic English opponent. Burnley opened the US trip 3-1 down with its new coach still in the seats.

WHO WAS IN CINCINNATI

• On the pitch: Roberts started; Walker captained at centre-back; Cullen did not play.
• In the dugout: Mike Jackson took the match as interim head coach.
• In the stands: Nicky Hayen watched hours after his deal was confirmed.
• Around the stadium: Watt attended; Berding welcomed the visitors on the club’s behalf.

The score did not have to mean anything in July. It was still the first picture Hayen got of the group he had just agreed to take back toward the Premier League.

Columbus Ended the Ohio Stop at 1-1

Two days later Burnley went to Columbus. Plenty of the Cincinnati starters stayed out. Daniel Gazdag put the Crew in front in the 48th minute. Adewumi, on from the bench, poked in at the back post with three minutes left. The late equaliser in Columbus was the first point of the trip, and the last result in Ohio.

Jackson’s second XI had looked ragged right after the restart, and there was little to take except minutes in the legs. Ajax then beat Burnley 2-1 on July 26 once the tour moved on. Pre-season ended against Torino. Competitive football started on August 8 with a Carabao Cup penalty win over Notts County, then a penalty exit at Bradford City on August 26.

The Ohio friendlies were never going to be the season. They were the first public nights of a club that had spent 71 days choosing a coach, then asked that coach to watch, then asked a recovering captain to talk, then asked a full-back coming off a blank year to start.

Burnley Have 3 Points From 6 Championship Games

Hayen’s league start is 0 wins, 3 draws and 3 defeats. The goals read 7 scored and 13 conceded, a minus-6 difference, 3 points, 23rd in the Championship after six matches, level on points with Preston and behind Derby and Bolton on 4.

BURNLEY’S FIRST SIX CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES

Walker has captained most of those nights. Roberts wore the armband at Bradford and against Middlesbrough. Cullen’s July timeline put him back in the window in early September; the Championship games so far have not been his.

Chairman Alan Pace hired Hayen as a coach who builds a clear identity and improves the players around him. That is still the brief. The next Championship match is at Swansea City on September 12.

Back in July, Roberts had already been to the baseball and was ready to keep going. The Friday that followed at TQL was the first night Hayen saw his new club play, and it finished 3-1 to Cincinnati.