Burnley owner Brendan Flood reveals Colonel Gadaffi wanted to invest in the Clarets

Burnley owner Brendan Flood has revealed that Libyan leader Colonel Gadaffi is a secret Clarets fan - and wanted to take a stake in the Premier League new boys.

Property developer Flood is the money man behind Owen Coyle's club, but he has admitted that the dictator supports his team and his son had 'tapped' him about possible investments.

Flood is spilling the beans in his book Big Club, Small Town and Me and goes into full details of the bizarre link with the football-mad Gadaffi family.

The wheeler-dealer millionaire said: "Colonel Gadaffi was keen to invest in the club in the 90s because when he grew up Burnley were a big club and he had become a fan.

"I thought when I heard it 'imagine that - the BNP on the council and Gadaffi at the football club. That's an eclectic mix for any town."

But the link resurfaced recently when Flood was in Dubai to look at some of his overseas interests and bumped into a mystery man who turned out to be Gadaffi's son.

Flood explained: "I was asked to meet the King of Bahrain's right-hand man, a chap called Fahad who was interested in my company Modus's products.

"He brought along a gentleman they called Prince and we discussed business in general. But it became obvious that Prince was interested in the Premier League and wanted to talk about Burnley, so we talked away.

"Later we were joined by the Nigerian prime minister's senior advisor, who was educated at Harrow and I learnt all of the major transactions in his country were managed by him.

"I had to go to another meeting, but felt honoured to be in such company. As I got into the lift I spoke to the guy who arranged the meeting and asked him if the Prince had any money.

"He answered 'Are you kidding me? Of course he has, he's Colonel Gadaffi's son. I couldn't believe it, it seems like the Gadaffi family are still keen Burnley fans."

Flood, who invested in Burnley a couple of years ago and is now their chief shareholder, admits he has been talking to other investors since he stepped in when they were struggling financially.

An American group also approached him last season, with potential long-term investment still possible - and Virgin chief Richard Branson believed to be involved in the background of the talks.

Burnley will have the smallest-ever budget of a Premier League club this season and the Gadaffis, who have tried to buy English clubs before, will be watching their every move.