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Burton Albion F.C. are an English football team currently playing in the Conference National. They play in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. Their manager is former England international Nigel Clough. Burton were formed in 1950, and after a few seasons in the Birmingham & District League they joined the Southern League in 1958. 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.
| Burton Albion crest | |||
| Full name | Burton Albion Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Brewers | ||
| Founded | 1950 | ||
| Ground | Pirelli Stadium Burton upon Trent | ||
| Capacity | 6,500 | ||
| Chairman |  Ben Robinson | ||
| Player/Manager | Nigel Clough | ||
| League | Conference National | ||
| 2007-08 | Conference National, 5th | ||
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One of Burton's principal industries is brewing, and hence the club's nickname is the "Brewers". Their mascot, Billy Brewer, won the first ever Mascot Olympics at Collingham F.C.[1].
Albion can claim lineage from Burton Swifts F.C., Burton Town F.C., Burton United F.C., and Burton Wanderers F.C., who were all failed football clubs (with them all playing at Lloyds Foundry). 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 September 20 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 (it was also used as the home ground for many Derby County reserve matches). It was demolished 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 6,000, but then later raised to 6,500, 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, over 11,000 Brewers fans made the trip up to Manchester.
The Brewers are enjoying their best ever league run this year and have been rewarded by successfully finishing in the end of season playoff places for the first time in their history. Burton Albion are in fact the fifth main team that Burton has had after the past four have folded, similar to Wigan Athletic in Wigan. Burton has had a chequred history of football clubs and due to the area's main sport being rugby (although that is no longer the case), many former Burton teams have struggled financially. Thanks in no small way to shrewd financial management, strong personal leadership by chairman Ben Robinson,and the dream FA Cup run versus Manchester Utd in 2005-6, the club currently enjoys the sort of stability that other less fortunate clubs envy.
Club officials
Burton Albion football club
- 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: David Fox
- Assistant Groundsman: Cliff Wilson
- Commercial Director: Fleur Robinson
- Club Secretary: Fleur Robinson
- Assistant Club Secretary: vacant
Coaching staff
- Manager: Nigel Clough
- Assistant Manager: Gary Crosby
- First Team Coach: Andy Garner
- Goalkeeping Coach: Martin Taylor
- Caretaker Reserve Team Coach: Gary Crosby
- Chief Scout: Steve Booth
Academy coaching staff
- Youth Team Manager: Mark Sale
Medical staff
- Club Doctor: Dr. Robinson & Dr. Gunson
- First Team Physiotherapist: Matt Brown
- Reserve Team Physiotherapist: Richard Smith
- Masseurs: vacant
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 F.C. manager
- Matt Duke - current Hull City F.C. goalkeeper
- Gary Rowett - former Derby County, Leicester City and Charlton Athletic defender
- Andy Sinton - former England and Tottenham winger
History
- 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 F.A 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 Sir 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 FAC in the 1st round by local Staffordshire rivals Tamworth FC. 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 capitalizing 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 end of season playoffs for the first time in their history. Though were nocked out of the playoff semi-final at Cambridge to a 4-3 loss on aggregrate, though at the home leg two goals were dissalowed due to bizarre refereeing circumstances.
Records
- Best league position: 6th in Conference (level 5), 2006-07
- Best FA Cup performance: 3rd round, 1955-56, 1984-85 and 2005-6
- 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 - 578
This is a list of seasons played by Burton Albion Football Club in English football, from 1950 to the present day.
Notes
- Source: Burton Albion at the Football Club History Database