Burton Albion F.C.

Burton Albion F.C.
Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home ground in 2005 to the Pirelli Stadium from Eton Park. The club's nickname, The Brewers, evokes the brewing heritage of Burton upon Trent.
Burton Albion were formed in 1950 and initially joined the Birmingham & District League before switching to the Southern League eight years later. They were promoted from the Southern League Division One in 1965–66, 1971–72 and 1973–74 and were relegated from the Southern League Premier Division in 1970, 1973 and 1977. Burton spent 1979 to 1987 in the Northern Premier League, before reverting to the Southern League Premier Division. The club rejoined the Northern Premier League in 2001 and were promoted to the Conference as Northern Premier League champions in 2001–02.
Nigel Clough spent seven seasons as the club's player-manager in the Conference and then led them into the Football League as champions of the Conference in 2008–09. They lost the 2014 League Two play-off final, but went on to win the League Two title in 2014–15 and were promoted from League One in 2015–16. Burton spent two seasons in the championship until relegation in 2018.
History
1950–1998: early years
Burton Albion were formed in 1950, and joined the Birmingham & District League. They finished the 1953–54 season as runners-up, and in 1958–59 joined the Southern League North Western zone. In 1965–66 Burton missed out on the runners-up place on goal difference, but were still promoted to the Southern League Premier Division. They avoided relegation in 1968, due to Stevenage Town folding, but were relegated to Division One after an unsuccessful 1969–70 season.
Burton missed out on promotion on goal average in 1970–71, but finished as runners-up the following season and were promoted back to the Premier Division. The next two seasons saw them relegated, and then promoted back to the Premier Division again. They stayed in the same division until being relegated once more at the end of 1976–77. League rearrangements saw Burton moved to the Northern Premier League, because of their location in the central Midlands, and then back to the Southern League in 1987–88, the season after losing in a replayed FA Trophy Final to Kidderminster Harriers.
Into the new millennium
In October 1998, Nigel Clough was appointed as player-manager and he led the club to two successive runners-up spots, in 1999–2000 and 2000–01. Burton were again moved to the Northern Premier League Premier Division in 2001–02, which they won by a margin of 15 points, scoring 106 goals in the process. The club were promoted to the Football Conference for the first time.
The club was brought to national attention when they were drawn at home against 11-times winners Manchester United in the third round of the 2005–06 FA Cup. The Brewers held the Premier League team to a 0–0 draw at home, but lost the replay 5–0 in front of over 11,000 Burton fans, setting a record for number of away fans at Old Trafford.
2009–present: Football League and rise to the championship
In January 2009, with Burton 13 points clear at the top of the table, Clough left the club to become the manager of Derby County, with Roy McFarland installed as caretaker manager until the end of the season. Despite this managerial change, Burton went on to set a league record for the most consecutive wins, and in February 2009, when the team was 19 points clear at the top of the table, Conference sponsors Blue Square declared Burton the winners of the 2008–09 title in a public relations stunt in which they paid out all bets. Following that announcement, the club saw their lead reduced week by week, but secured promotion to the Football League in the final game of the season, despite losing 2–1 away to Torquay United when Cambridge United could only manage a goalless draw to Altrincham. At the end of the season Roy McFarland left the club and was replaced by Paul Peschisolido, with Gary Rowett acting as his assistant.
Burton's first win in the Football League was 5–2 against Morecambe at the Pirelli Stadium and they finished 13th in their first campaign in the Football League. In their second season Burton claimed a notable scalp in the FA Cup third round when they knocked out championship team Middlesbrough 2–1 at the Pirelli Stadium. In the league, Burton experienced a 17-game winless run and fell from fifth place on Boxing Day to 17th place at the end of the 2011–12 season, which led to the sacking of Peschisolido.
Gary Rowett was appointed as the new manager of Burton in May 2012. In his first full season in charge, he led Burton to a fourth-place finish and the play-offs, missing out on automatic promotion by two points. Burton lost their play-off semi-final 4–5 on aggregate to Bradford City despite winning the first leg 3–2 at Valley Parade. In the 2013–14 season, Burton finished sixth, reaching the play-off final in which they lost 1–0 against Fleetwood Town.
During the 2014–15 season, Rowett left to join Birmingham City, and was replaced by Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. Under Hasselbaink the Brewers won League Two and were promoted to League One for the first time in their history. Hasselbaink left by mutual consent in December 2015 to join Queens Park Rangers as manager. Clough returned to Burton to replace him for his second spell as manager and led the club to a second-place finish in the league, earning promotion to the Football League Championship, another first for Burton.
The Brewers opened their first season in the championship with a 4–3 loss to local rivals Nottingham Forest. Burton went on a six-match streak without losing between 18 February and 18 March beginning with a 2–1 win at home to ex-Premier League opponents Norwich City and culminating in a 3–5 defeat to Brentford and including a 1–0 win over Nottingham Forest in the reverse fixture. Burton secured their championship status on 29 April 2017 after a 1–1 draw with Barnsley. Burton spent much of their second season in the championship in the relegation zone. three wins in the late stage of the season boosted their chances of survival, including a 2–1 win over relegation rivals Sunderland. However, following a 2–1 defeat to Preston North End on the final day of the season, Burton were relegated back to League One.
In 2018–19, in spite of being in mid-table in League One, they made the semi-finals of the EFL Cup, after wins over Shrewsbury Town, Aston Villa, Burnley, Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough. Facing Manchester City, Burton lost the first leg 9–0 at the Etihad Stadium, eventually losing 10–0 on aggregate.
Stadium
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 the club's promotion to the Southern League. Until its demolition in 2005, the Brewers played all their home games at Eton Park.
The Pirelli Stadium on Princess Way was built in 2005 and is the current home of the Brewers, replacing Eton Park, also on the same road, which was demolished and developed into housing. The ground cost £7.2 million to build, and was built on the former site of the Pirelli UK Tyres Ltd Sports & Social Club. The land was donated to the club by Pirelli in return for naming rights.
The ground was designed by architect Jon Hawkeye, and has served as the inspiration for numerous newer grounds, including Morecambe's Globe Arena, and the proposed Hayes & Yeading stadium. It gained its most recent safety certificate from Staffordshire County Council on 12 July 2010, having been subject to crowd trouble on 8 May 2010 at the hands of Grimsby Town fans following their relegation from Football League Two.
The Pirelli Stadium has seen minor capacity changes since its construction, and the current capacity is 6,912, with 2,034 being seated in the South (Main) Stand. The current record attendance for the stadium stands at 6,746 for an EFL Championship match against Derby County on 26 August 2016. Previous records include 6,192 for a Conference National 1–0 defeat against Oxford United, during the club's title-winning season, and 6,191 for an FA Cup third-round match on 8 January 2006 against Manchester United.
The stadium also hosts the National ISFA Under-13 tournament final.
Rivalries
In their non-League days the Brewers' local rivals were Gresley Rovers, Nuneaton Borough, Stafford Rangers and Tamworth. However, since the club's rise to the Football League these rivalries have become less intense.
Following promotion to the Football League, local rivalries with Port Vale, Notts County, Chesterfield and Walsall have arisen. Except for Notts County, all these clubs had been rivals to Albion's predecessor, Burton United in the early 1900s. There is also a largely friendly rivalry with Derby County, partly because of the shared fanbase, but particularly following the transfer of manager Nigel Clough to the championship club in 2009 and the arrival of several ex-Derby players during the Paul Peschisolido era.
Their 2016 promotion into the championship resulted in matches with local big clubs Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Derby County, Nottingham Forest and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Players
First-team squad
Out on loan
Former players
Player of the Year
As voted for by supporters of the club.
1971 Bobby Goodwin
1972 Phil Annable
1973 John Beresford
1974 Frank Gregg
1975 Phil Annable
1976 Brendon Phillips
1977 Phil Annable
1978 Barry Alcock
1979 Phil Annable
1980 Ken Blair
1981 Bryan Kent
1982 Owen Bell
1983 Clive Arthur
1984 Paul Evans
1985 Doug Newton
1986 Alan Kamara
1987 Alan Kamara
1988 Ian Straw
1989 Nick Goodwin
1990 Nick Goodwin
1991 Mark Owen
1992 Nick Goodwin
1993 Alan Kurila
1994 Nicholas Harlow
1995 Darren Acton
1996 Matt Smith
1997 Simon Redfern
1998 Mark Blount
1999 Mark Blount
2000 Darren Stride
2001 Darren Wassall
2002 Darren Stride
2003 Matt Duke1
2003 Christian Moore1
2004 Aaron Webster
2005 Andrew Corbett
2006 Darren Tinson
2007 Kevin Poole
2008 John McGrath
2009 Jake Buxton
2010 Tony James
2011 Adam Legzdins
2012 Calvin Zola
2013 Lee Bell
2014 Ian Sharps
2015 Stuart Beavon
2016 Stuart Beavon
2017 Jackson Irvine
2018 Lucas Akins
2019 Lucas Akins
2021 Ryan Edwards
2022 John Brayford
2023 Sam Hughes
1 Matt Duke and Christian Moore joint recipients of 2003 award.
Backroom staff
Club officials
Source: Burton Albion | Club | Who's Who
Honours and achievements
League
League One (level 3)
Runners-up: 2015–16
League Two (level 4)
Champions: 2014–15
Conference (level 5)
Champions: 2008–09
Northern Premier League (level 6)
Champions: 2001–02
Southern Football League Premier Division
Runners-up: 1999–2000, 2000–01
Cup
FA Trophy
Runners-up: 1986–87
Southern League Cup
Winners: 1963–64, 1996–97, 1999–2000
Runners-up: 1988–89
Minor titles
Northern Premier League Challenge Cup
1982–83
Staffordshire Senior Cup
1955–56
Birmingham Senior Cup
1953–54, 1996–97
Records
Best League position: 20th Football League Championship (level 2) – equivalent to 40th overall (2016–17)
Best FA Cup performance: 4th round
2010–11 (vs. Burnley)
Best FA Trophy performance: final
1986–87 (after replay) (vs. Kidderminster Harriers)
Best Football League Cup performance: semi-final
2018–19 (vs. Manchester City)
Best Football League Trophy performance: 3rd round
2022–23 (vs. Accrington Stanley)
Biggest win: 12–1 vs. Coalville Town – Birmingham Senior Cup, 6 September 1954
Heaviest defeat: 10–0 vs. Barnet – Southern League Premier Division, 7 February 1970
Biggest Football League win: 6–1 vs. Aldershot Town – Football League Two, 12 December 2009
Biggest Football League defeat:
1–7 vs. Bristol Rovers – Football League Two, 14 April 2012
1–7 vs. Port Vale – Football League Two, 5 April 2013
0–6 vs. Fulham – Football League Championship, 20 January 2018
Biggest FA Cup win: 0–4 vs. Halifax Town, 10 November 2007
Biggest FA Cup defeat: 8–0 vs. AFC Bournemouth, 17 November 1956
Biggest Football League Cup win: 4-0 vs. Morecambe, 27 August 2019
Biggest Football League Cup defeat: 0–9 vs. Manchester City, 9 January 2019
Biggest Football League Trophy defeat: 5–1 vs. Chesterfield, 1 September 2009
Highest scoring Football League game: 5–6 vs. Cheltenham Town – Football League Two, 13 March 2010
1Before re-arrangement of non-League pyramid to include Conference North/South.Source: Burton Albion | Club | History | Honours | Club Honours
Personnel records
Goalscoring
Top goalscorers
As of 20 September 2010 (competitive matches only):
Top Football League goalscorers
As of 16 July 2022, goals not appearances, they're since 23 April 2017 (Football League matches only):
Appearances and goals count for Football League only.
Source: Burton Albion, The Football League
Other goalscoring records
Most goals in a season: Stan Round – 59 (1965–66)
Most goals in Football League season – Shaun Harrad – 21 (2009–10)
Most hat-tricks: Stan Round – 12
Most Football League hat-tricks – Greg Pearson, Shaun Harrad, Billy Kee, Lucas Akins– 1
Appearances
Most appearances
As of 15 June 2012 (competitive matches only):
Most Football League appearances
As of 23 April 2020. (Football League matches only):
Appearances and goals count for Football League only.
Source: Burton Albion, Football League
Transfers
Highest transfer fee paid: Liam Boyce – £500,000
Highest transfer fee received: Jackson Irvine – £2,000,000
Full international players
Burton Albion players who have represented their country while contracted to the club.
– Jacques Maghoma (2010)
– Aurélien Joachim (2015)
– Jackson Irvine (2016)
– Lee Williamson (2016)
– Jamie Ward (2016)
– Tom Flanagan (2017)
– Matthew Lund (2017)
– Liam Boyce (2018)
- Kieran O'Hara (2019)
Managers
References
External links
Charlie Williams at My Football Database
Football clubs in Staffordshire
English Football League clubs
Association football clubs established in 1950
1950 establishments in England
Southern Football League clubs
National League (English football) clubs
Sport in Burton upon Trent
Football clubs in England