Burton Albion F.C.
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| Full name | Burton Albion Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Brewers | ||
| Founded | 1950 | ||
| Ground | Pirelli Stadium Burton upon Trent (Capacity: 6,200) |
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| Chairman |  Ben Robinson |
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| Manager |  Paul Peschisolido |
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| League | League Two | ||
| 2008–09 | Conference National, 1st (promoted) |
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Burton Albion Football Club are an English football club based in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire. The team currently play in the Football League Two, after securing promotion from the Conference as Champions in the 2008-09 season.
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[edit] History
The town of Burton has had a chequered history of football clubs, partly due to the area's main sport traditionally being rugby union (although that is no longer the case). Many former Burton teams have struggled financially. Albion can claim lineage from Burton Swifts, Burton Town, Burton United, and Burton Wanderers, who were all failed football clubs in the town. Burton Albion (nicknamed "the Brewers", given that brewing is one of Burton's principal industries) were formed in 1950, and joined the Birmingham & District League.
Albion began life at the Lloyds Foundry ground on Wellington Street, but high attendances meant that the club quickly searched for a more suitable home. Eton Park was built off Derby Road and officially opened on 20 September 1958, coinciding with their promotion to the Southern League. From then until its demolition in 2005 the Brewers played all of their home games at Eton Park. They have also had spells in the Northern Premier League (NPL), due to their location in the central Midlands. They entered the Conference in 2002 upon winning the NPL title.
Eton Park was dismantled to make way for housing, as the club had just completed a new stadium, at a cost of £7.2 million. It is situated directly opposite Eton Park and was named the Pirelli Stadium, situated as it was a short distance from Pirelli's factory in Burton. The stadium has an increased capacity, firstly named at 7,000, but then later lowered to 6,200, and the first match played there was a friendly between Burton Albion and Chester City on Saturday 16 July 2005.
One notable result at the ground was a 0–0 draw in the FA Cup third round against Manchester United on 8 January 2006. The result of the Third Round replay, lucratively played at Old Trafford, was a 5–0 win for Manchester United in front of over 11,000 Brewers fans. This was a record number of away fans seen at Old Trafford[1].
Since their FA Cup success, Burton have competed in the upper reaches of the Conference. The Brewers attained their highest ever league position to date in 2007–08, finishing in the end of season play-off places for the first time in their history, before losing in their play-off to Cambridge United. As of April 2009, they are top of the Conference National, setting the league record for the most consecutive wins in a row. This is despite losing the services of manager Nigel Clough to Derby County with Roy McFarland installed as caretaker manager until the end of the season. When 19 points clear at the top of the table, Conference sponsors Blue Square had declared Burton the winners of the 2008/09 title in a PR stunt in which they paid out all bets. After that announcement in February the club saw their lead reduced week-by-week, but secured promotion to the Football League, despite losing 2-1 away at Torquay United, in the final game of the season when Cambridge United could only manage a goaless draw to Altrincham.
At the end of the season it was decided that Roy McFarland would not stay on as the Burton manager in a permenant position. After a lengthy search, the club announced that Paul Peschisolido would become the club's new manager with Gary Rowett as assistant.
[edit] Current squad
- As of 2 July 2009.
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[edit] Club officials
Burton Albion football club
- Founder: Walter Slater
- Chairman: Ben Robinson
- Directors: Frank Spiers, Philip Brown, Charles Simpson, Paul Simpson, Ray Bowering, Rob Brown, Ian English, Terry Clarke, John Williams & Colin Brodie
- Chief Executive: vacant
- Chief Operating Officer: vacant
- Groundsman: Simon Marshall
- Assistant Groundsman: Cliff Wilson
- Commercial Director: Fleur Robinson
- Club Secretary: Fleur Robinson
- Assistant Club Secretary: vacant
Coaching staff
- Manager: Paul Peschisolido
- Assistant Manager: Gary Rowett
- First Team Coach: Vacant
- Goalkeeping Coach: Kevin Poole
- Reserve Team Coach: Vacant
- Chief Scout: Steve Booth
Academy coaching staff
- Youth Team Manager: Mark Sale
Medical staff
- Club Doctor/s: Dr. Robinson & Dr. Gunson
- First Team Physiotherapist: Steve Walker
- Youth Team Physiotherapist: Richard Smith
- Masseurs: Vacant
Other Personnel
- Press Officer: Rex Page
- Kit Manager: Ray 'Rocky' Hudson
- Stadium Announcer: Ian Hawkins
[edit] Notable former players
- Eddie Shimwell - former England international; first full-back to score at Wembley. Was also player-manager of the club
- Mark Robins - former Manchester United and Norwich attacker
- Steve Cotterill - ex- Burnley & Cheltenham manager
- Matt Duke - current Hull City goalkeeper
- Gary Rowett - former Derby County, Leicester City and Charlton Athletic defender
- Andy Sinton - former England and Tottenham winger
- Darren Wassall - former Nottingham Forest, Derby County, Manchester City, Birmingham City
- Daryl Clare - former Grimsby Town and Boston United attacker
- Steve Chettle - former Nottingham Forest , Barnsley and Grimsby Town defender
- Nigel Clough - former player and manager of Burton Albion for 11 years. Current Derby County manager.
- John Brayford - former defender. Left for £130,000 to move to Crewe Alexandra.
- Stan Turner - former Port Vale star who made the 1954 FA Cup semi-finals
- David Raine - former Port Vale defender
- Ian Storey-Moore - former Nottingham Forest,Manchester United and England attacker now Chief Scout at Aston Villa
- Jake Buxton - former centre-back, part of 2008-2009 squad that won promotion to League Two. Currently playing for Derby County
[edit] Timeline
- 1950-51 - Joined Birmingham & District League
- 1953-54 - Birmingham & District League runner-up
- 1958-59 - Joined Southern League North Western zone; moved to Eton Park
- 1965-66 - Missed runner-up spot on goal average; promoted to Premier Division
- 1968 - Saved from relegation when Stevenage Town left Southern League
- 1970 - Relegated to Division One
- 1970-71 - Missed promotion place on goal average
- 1971-72 - Southern League Division One North runner-up; promoted to Premier Division
- 1973 - Relegated to Division One North
- 1973-74 - Southern League Division One North runner-up; promoted to Premier Division
- 1974-75 - FA Trophy semi-finalists
- 1977 - Relegated to Division One North
- 1979-80 - Joined Northern Premier League
- 1986-87 - FA Trophy runner-up
- 1987-88 - Rejoined Southern League
- 1999-00 - Southern League runner-up
- 2000-01 - Southern League runner-up
- 2001-02 - Switched back to Northern Premier League Premier Division; FA Trophy semi-finalists; Northern Premier League Champions
- 2002-03 - Joined Conference
- 2005 - Moved to the Pirelli Stadium
- 2006 - Reached the third round of the FA Cup, against a second-string Manchester United team, drawing 0-0, in what is being described as one of the biggest shocks in the history of the FA Cup. The on-loan goalkeeper, Saul Deeney, even kept Man Utd superstars Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo out of the net, earning little Burton and their manager Nigel Clough a money spinning replay at Old Trafford taking their total earnings from their FA Cup run close to £1 million. The replay was played in front of a seated Old Trafford record away support of 11,500 Burton fans. The result of the match was 5-0 to Manchester United with goals by Louis Saha, Giuseppe Rossi (2), Kieran Richardson and Ryan Giggs. Great credit must go to Alex Ferguson who paid handsome compliments to Nigel Clough's team and treated the club with great respect. It was Sir Alex and his youthful side who had officially opened the brand new Pirelli Stadium alongside Brian Clough's widow Barbara earlier in the season. Burton Mail Article 15/11/2005.
- 2006 - Saw 'The Brewers' knocked out of the FA Cup in the 1st round by local Staffordshire rivals Tamworth. The Brewers gifted an equaliser when the keeper was caught out by strong winds and carried the ball over the line and the tie was later rather fortunately decided with a strike by Tamworth striker Jon Stevenson capitalising on a poor header by Ryan Austin. Burton soon dusted themselves off, however, and their 'concentration on the league' campaign clearly paid off with a consistent run, culminating in a top 5 play-off position over the hectic Christmas period.
- 2008 - 'The Brewers' finished in the Conference National end of season play-offs for the first time in their history, before losing to Cambridge United 4-3 on aggregate.
- 2009 - 'The Brewers' finished as Blue Square Premier champions and earned promotion to Football League Two for the first time in their history.
[edit] Records
- Best league position: 1st in Conference (level 5) - 2008-09
- Best FA Cup performance: 3rd round - 1955-56, 1984-85, 2005-06
- Best FA Trophy performance: Final replay - 1986-87
- Biggest Win: 12-1 against Coalville Town - Birmingham Senior Cup, 1954
- Record Goalscorer: Richie Barker - 157
- Record Appearances: Darren Stride - 637
This is a list of seasons played by Burton Albion Football Club in English football, from 1950 to the present day.
[edit] Sources
- Burton Albion at the Football Club History Database
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official Burton Albion site
- Burton Albion F.C. on BBC Sport: Club News – Recent results – Upcoming fixtures – Club stats
- Clough the Magic Dragon
- Burton Albion Supporters Football Club, the supporters team for Burton Albion
- BrewersNET (no longer updated)
- Burton Albion Mad (no longer run by fans of Burton Albion, little new content.
- Fanpage for Burton Albion
