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. |