Ex-Orlando Pirates star could soon return to the Premier League

Foster is on course for a return to the big time.

Lyle Foster of Orlando Pirates celebrates goal during the Absa Premiership 2017/18 match between Orlando Pirates and Polokwane City at Orlando Stadium, Soweto South Africa on 20 January 2018 ©Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix.

Burnley suffered Premier League heartbreak, but 2024-2025 could see them jump straight back up. Ex-Orlando Pirates star Lyle Foster is in good form too.

Foster is SA’s priciest player ever

Lancashire club Burnley paid a fee rising to €11m to sign Foster from Westerlo, and there’s no reason why a host of other Premier League clubs wouldn’t jump at the chance of signing the hard-working South African for around double that at least. Foster scored five goals and provided three assists in 24 top-flight appearances in 2023-2024; 22 were starts. It’s no exaggeration to say he was arguably their best player in a season to end in relegation heartbreak, and to produce those numbers in a side struggling at the basement is a superb achievement.

EPL return for the Clarets?

2024-2025 could end in promotion to the Premier League for Burnley and Foster. They sit third in the English Championship and remain in the hunt for automatic promotion; they’ll earn that honour if they finish the regular season of 46 matches inside the top two places. Otherwise, teams placing third to sixth contest a pair of two-legged semifinals and then a final at Wembley. Burnley are the most in-form side in the Championship at the moment, with four wins and a draw from their last five outings. Hitting form at exactly the right time, they’ll win a Premier League place if they keep that up in the remaining eight matches of the regular season. Former Orlando Pirates man Foster scored Bafana’s first goal in their impressive 2-0 win away to Benin on Tuesday.

Lyle Foster Burnley Premier League — Lyle Foster celebrates his first-ever Premier League goal. Photo: @KamoMotecwane via X.

What’s next for Orlando Pirates?

Pirates will be quietly confident they can stamp their ticket into the Champions League semi-finals. They face the Algerian side MC Alger over two legs in the quarter-finals. The first leg takes place on Tuesday, 01 April at 21:00 in North Africa. Alger is currently in charge of the Algerian Ligue 1 with a seven-point lead at the summit. That’s after 20 league outings.

caf champions league orlando pirates — Pirates are back in the big time: Image: BBC

Will Foster stay at Burnley if they don’t win promotion back to the Premier League?

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