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Burton Albion
Burton Albion FC crest.svg
Full name Burton Albion Football Club
Nickname(s) Brewers, The Yellow and Black Army
Founded 6 July 1950; 75 years ago (1950-07-06)
Ground Pirelli Stadium
Ground Capacity 6,912
Owner Nordic Football Group
Chairman Ole Jakob Strandhagen
Manager Gary Bowyer
League League One
2018–19 League One, 9th of 24

Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football team from Burton upon Trent, England. They are known as "The Brewers" because of the town's long history of making beer. The team plays in League One, which is the third highest level of football in England.

Burton Albion started in 1950. They played in different leagues before joining the Football Conference (now National League) in 2002. In 2009, they made it into the Football League for the first time. The club then climbed even higher, winning League Two in 2015 and getting promoted from League One in 2016. This meant they played in the EFL Championship, the second-highest league, for two seasons. Since 2005, their home ground has been the Pirelli Stadium.

Club History and Achievements

Early Years: 1950 to 1998

Burton Albion Football Club was formed in 1950. They first joined the Birmingham & District League. In 1958, they moved to the Southern Football League. The team was promoted to the Southern League Premier Division in 1966. They faced some ups and downs, being promoted and relegated a few times.

In 1979, Burton Albion joined the Northern Premier League. They returned to the Southern League in 1987. A big moment for the club was reaching the FA Trophy Final in 1987, but they lost to Kidderminster Harriers.

Entering the New Millennium

In October 1998, Nigel Clough became the team's player-manager. He helped the club finish second in their league twice in a row. In 2001, Burton Albion moved back to the Northern Premier League Premier Division. They had a fantastic season in 2001–02, winning the league by 15 points and scoring 106 goals. This success led to their first promotion to the Football Conference.

A memorable moment for the club came in the 2005–06 FA Cup. They played against the famous team Manchester United at home. Burton Albion managed a 0–0 draw, which was a huge achievement. In the replay match, they lost 5–0 at Old Trafford, but over 11,000 Burton fans traveled to support their team.

BurtonvGills
Albion playing against Gillingham in the final match of the 2012–13 season.

Joining the Football League: 2009 to Today

In January 2009, with Burton Albion leading their league by a lot of points, manager Nigel Clough left to join Derby County. Even with this change, Burton Albion continued to do well. They secured promotion to the Football League for the first time in their history in the final game of the 2008–09 season. Roy McFarland was the caretaker manager during this exciting time. After the season, Paul Peschisolido took over as manager.

Burton Albion's first win in the Football League was a 5–2 victory against Morecambe. In 2011, they had a big FA Cup win, beating Championship team Middlesbrough 2–1. However, after a tough period, Peschisolido was replaced by Gary Rowett in May 2012.

Rowett led the team to the play-offs in his first full season, narrowly missing out on automatic promotion. In the 2013–14 season, they reached the play-off final but lost 1–0 to Fleetwood Town.

During the 2014–15 season, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink became the new manager. Under his leadership, the Brewers won League Two and were promoted to League One for the first time. Hasselbaink left in December 2015, and Nigel Clough returned as manager. Clough guided the team to a second-place finish in League One, earning them promotion to the Football League Championship, another first for the club.

Burton Albion FC League Performance
This chart shows Burton Albion's yearly league positions.

Burton Albion played two seasons in the Championship. They managed to stay up in their first season, securing their place after a 1–1 draw with Barnsley in April 2017. However, in their second Championship season, they were relegated back to League One in 2018.

In the 2018–19 EFL Cup, Burton Albion had an amazing run, reaching the semi-finals. They beat several bigger teams like Aston Villa and Middlesbrough. They faced Manchester City in the semi-finals, losing 10–0 on aggregate.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected the 2019–20 season, which ended early with Burton in 12th place. Nigel Clough left the club in 2020, ending his long second spell as manager. Jake Buxton took over but was replaced by Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in January 2021. Hasselbaink led a fantastic turnaround, helping the team avoid relegation with a club-record six consecutive wins.

After a difficult start to the 2022–23 season, Hasselbaink resigned. Dino Maamria became manager and successfully kept the club in League One. Maamria left in December 2023, and Martin Paterson took charge. The team avoided relegation on the final day of the season, but Paterson also left the club.

In June 2024, the Nordic Football Group (NFG) bought the majority of the club. They appointed Mark Robinson as the new manager. After a tough start to the 2024-25 season with no wins in 11 league games, Robinson was replaced by interim boss Tom Hounsell. Hounsell led the team to their first league win of the season in his third month in charge.

Home Stadium: Pirelli Stadium

Burton Albion FC, Pirelli Stadium, Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire - geograph.org.uk - 190956
Pirelli Stadium

Burton Albion first played at the Lloyds Foundry ground. Because many fans came to watch, the club needed a bigger home. Eton Park was built and opened in 1958. The Brewers played all their home games there until 2005.

The Pirelli Stadium was built in 2005 and is the team's current home. It cost £7.2 million to build. The land for the stadium was given to the club by Pirelli UK Tyres Ltd, which is why the stadium is named after them.

The stadium can hold 6,912 people, with 2,034 seated in the main stand. The record attendance for the Pirelli Stadium is 6,746 fans. This happened during an EFL Championship match against Derby County in August 2016. The stadium also hosts youth football tournaments.

Team Rivalries

In their earlier days, Burton Albion had local rivalries with teams like Gresley Rovers and Tamworth. As the club moved up into the Football League, these rivalries became less important.

New rivalries grew with clubs like Port Vale, Notts County, and Walsall. There is also a friendly rivalry with nearby Derby County. This is partly because some fans support both teams, and because former manager Nigel Clough moved from Burton to Derby.

When Burton Albion reached the Championship in 2016, they started playing against bigger local clubs such as Aston Villa, Birmingham City, and Nottingham Forest.

Players

First-team Squad

No. Position Player
2 England DF Udoka Godwin-Malife
5 Albania DF Geraldo Bajrami
7 Lithuania MF Tomas Kalinauskas
8 England MF Charlie Webster
9 England FW Danilo Orsi
11 Wales MF Billy Bodin
12 England MF Jack Hazlehurst
13 England GK Harry Isted
14 United States DF Nick Akoto
15 Guyana DF Terence Vancooten
16 Sweden FW Jack Cooper Love
17 Scotland DF Jack Armer
18 Jamaica FW Rumarn Burrell
19 England DF Dylan Williams
20 England DF Jason Sraha
No. Position Player
22 Sweden FW Julian Larsson
25 Republic of Ireland MF Ciaran Gilligan
26 England DF Finn Delap
27 Poland GK Kamil Dudek
33 South Africa MF Kegs Chauke
34 England MF Ben Whitfield
35 Scotland MF James Jones
37 England DF Jasper Moon
38 England FW Jack Newall
39 England DF Josh Taroni
Germany GK Jordan Amissah
Uganda DF Toby Sibbick
Northern Ireland MF JJ McKiernan (on loan from Lincoln City)
England FW Jake Beesley
Portugal FW Fabio Tavares
Out on loan
No. Position Player
21 Scotland DF Alex Bannon (at Derry City until 30 June 2026)

Player of the Year Awards

Each year, supporters of the club vote for their favourite player. Here are some of the past winners:

  • 1971 England Bobby Goodwin
  • 1972 England Phil Annable
  • 1973 England John Beresford
  • 1974 England Frank Gregg
  • 1975 England Phil Annable
  • 1976 Jamaica Brendon Phillips
  • 1977 England Phil Annable
  • 1978 England Barry Alcock
  • 1979 England Phil Annable
  • 1980 England Ken Blair
  • 1981 England Bryan Kent
  • 1982 England Bob Gauden
  • 1983 England Clive Arthur
  • 1984 England Paul Evans
  • 1985 England Doug Newton
  • 1986 England Alan Kamara
  • 1987 England Alan Kamara
  • 1988 England Ian Straw
  • 1989 England Nick Goodwin
  • 1990 England Nick Goodwin
  • 1991 England Mark Owen
  • 1992 England Nick Goodwin
  • 1993 Scotland Alan Kurila
  • 1994 England Nicholas Harlow
  • 1995 England Darren Acton
  • 1996 England Matt Smith
  • 1997 England Simon Redfern
  • 1998 England Mark Blount
  • 1999 England Mark Blount
  • 2000 England Darren Stride
  • 2001 England Darren Wassall
  • 2002 England Darren Stride
  • 2003 England Matt Duke1
  • 2003 England Christian Moore1
  • 2004 England Aaron Webster
  • 2005 England Andrew Corbett
  • 2006 Wales Darren Tinson
  • 2007 England Kevin Poole
  • 2008 Republic of Ireland John McGrath
  • 2009 England Jake Buxton
  • 2010 Wales Tony James
  • 2011 England Adam Legzdins
  • 2012 Democratic Republic of the Congo Calvin Zola
  • 2013 England Lee Bell
  • 2014 England Ian Sharps
  • 2015 England Stuart Beavon
  • 2016 England Stuart Beavon
  • 2017 Australia Jackson Irvine
  • 2018 England Lucas Akins
  • 2019 England Lucas Akins
  • 2021 Australia Ryan Edwards
  • 2022 England John Brayford
  • 2023 England Sam Hughes
  • 2024 New Zealand Max Crocombe
  • 2025 Republic of Ireland Ryan Sweeney

1 Matt Duke and Christian Moore were joint winners in 2003.

Club Officials and Staff

Here are some of the important people who help run Burton Albion Football Club:

Position Staff
Chairman Ole Jakob Strandhagen
Board of directors Tom Davidson (Deputy Chairman)
Bendik Hareide (Sporting Director)
Kevin Skabo (Commercial Director)
Chief Executive Officer: Fleur Robinson
Club Secretary: Kelly Hyde
Head of Community John Widdowson

And here are the main coaching staff for the team:

Position Name
Manager England Gary Bowyer
Assistant Manager England Pat Lyons
First team coach England John Brayford
Head of goalkeeping England Jake Kean
Strength and conditioning coach England Elliott Axtell

Team Records and Statistics

Most Appearances for the Club

These players have played the most games for Burton Albion in all competitions:

# Name Years Played Games Goals
1 England Darren Stride 1993–2010 646 124
2 England Aaron Webster 1998–2013 588 100
3 England Phil Annable 1970–80, 1981–83 567 70
4 England Nigel Simms 1981–1993 535 11
5 England Nick Goodwin 1988–95, 1997–99 508 0

Top Goalscorers for the Club

These players have scored the most goals for Burton Albion in all competitions:

# Name Years Played Goals Games Average
1 England Richie Barker 1960–62, 1963–67 159 270 0.58
2 England Stan Round 1963–67 149 199 0.75
3 England Darren Stride 1993–2010 124 646 0.19
4 England Aaron Webster 1998–2013 101 588 0.17
5 England Simon Redfern 1987–97 86 457 0.19

Other Club Records

  • Best League Position: 20th in the Football League Championship (second tier of English football) in the 2016–17 season.
  • Best FA Cup Performance: Reached the 4th round in 2010–11.
  • Best League Cup Performance: Reached the semi-final in 2018–19.
  • Biggest Win: 12–1 against Coalville Town in 1954.
  • Heaviest Defeat: 10–0 against Barnet in 1970.
  • Biggest Football League Win: 6–1 against Aldershot Town in 2009.
  • Biggest Football League Defeat: 1–7 against Bristol Rovers in 2012 and Port Vale in 2013; also 0–6 against Fulham in 2018.

Club Honours

Burton Albion has won several trophies and achieved promotions throughout its history:

League Titles

  • League One (third tier)
    • Runners-up: 2015–16
  • League Two (fourth tier)
    • Champions: 2014–15
  • Conference (fifth tier)
    • Champions: 2008–09
  • Northern Premier League (sixth tier)
    • Champions: 2001–02
  • Southern Football League Premier Division
    • Runners-up: 1999–2000, 2000–01

Cup Competitions

  • FA Trophy
    • Runners-up: 1986–87
  • Southern League Cup
    • Winners: 1963–64, 1996–97, 1999–2000
    • Runners-up: 1988–89
  • Northern Premier League Challenge Cup
    • Winners: 1982–83
  • Staffordshire Senior Cup
    • Winners: 1955–56
  • Birmingham Senior Cup
    • Winners: 1953–54, 1996–97

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Burton Albion Football Club para niños

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