Pre-season August September October November December January February March April May
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Pre-season August September October November December January February March April May |
| 1997-98 - a
season of ups and downs? For the Brewers, it was a season of more downs than
ups. The supporters' sky-high expectations, buoyed by extensive investment
by the club in new signings and ground improvements, soon gave way
to grim realism as yet another Albion team failed to live up to the great
things expected of them, and then in turn to shock as the death of
one of the clubs best loved players overshadowed any on the pitch
concerns.
We didn't win the league, failed to get past the early rounds of the FA Trophy, and crashed out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle. But hey- it wasn't all bad! 1997-98 saw some vintage performances from the Brewers- especially later in the season, as high flyers such as Merthyr and eventual Champions Forest Green Rovers received the Eton Park demolition treatment. A storming finish culminating in a third place berth in the Dr. Marten's League -equalling the club record acheived in John Barton's first season as manager- silenced the seemingly inevitable rise of discontent amongst the fans and ensured that the Brewers boss will still be at the helm for the 1998-99 campaign, and a fresh challenge for honours. So, with another season over, and in the absence of any football for three long summer months (except for some minor tournament taking place in France which you may have heard about), here's your chance to go through the whole rollercoaster experience again. The highs (like putting five past Bromsgrove and Crawley and beating Gresley)...and the lows (like going out of the Trophy on penalties and losing to Gresley)...all relived for you in BrewersNet's definitive Review of the Season- 1997-98... Pre-Season "Make mine a Marsden!"..."The Blounty Hunters"
Fresh paint, lush grass and high hopes at the start of the 1997-98 season, as the Brewers pose with the Birmingham Senior Cup and Dr. Marten's League Cup A summer of frenetic activity at Eton Park. With improvements to bring the ground up to Conference standard nearing completion, promotion to non-league football's top flight is looking a feasible prospect for the first time. John Barton benefits from the Albion's increasingly rosy financial situation as he is given a healthy budget to strengthen the squad which has just lifted the Southern League Cup and Birmingham Senior Cup. And the Brewers boss doesn't have to look far to find his first two key signings of the summer - six miles down the road at Gresley to be precise! The Moatmen are the reigning Dr. Marten's League Champions but the unsuitable state of their ground rules them out for promotion, and with their proposed new stadium no closer to progressing beyond the drawing board, disillusionment has begun to replace the euphoria of just a few months earlier at the Moat Ground. With manager Paul Futcher having already abandoned ship, new manager Garry Birtles can only watch on helplessly as the backbone of his team decide their careers will be better served elsewhere. And even more galling for the Moat faithful - the destination of choice for key central defender Mark Blount and midfielder Tony Marsden is that of their hated local rivals - the Brewers! Gresley, stung by the defection of two of their star players, are asking crazy money but a tribunal decides £13,000 is a fair price to pay for the two. And the ex-Gresley pair don't have to wait long to return to their old stomping ground- Albion and Gresley meet twice in pre-season games. The duo receive a predictably hostile welcome from the Gresley fans, as they line-up in a Brewers team which includes another ex-Gresley player - striker David Holmes, signed from Gloucester City for £8,500. Completing the revamped Brewers squad is non-league international defender Nick Ashby, signed on a free-transfer from Rushden & Diamonds.
And the new look Brewers don't disappoint in the first match at Gresley - Marsden and Darren Stride hit the target in a 2-0 victory, and the build up to the new campaign begins as the last season ended - with Brewers fans on an away pitch watching their team lift a trophy - the Bass Charity Vase the latest piece of silverware to find its way into Albion's increasingly cramped trophy cabinet. A week later it's a different story as Gresley run out 2-1 winners to lift the Dr. Marten's League Shield (played between the league and cup winers). The pre-season campaign concludes with the Ian Lorimer Memorial match against Kidderminster Harriers at Eton Park. On a day when most of the players (and most of the supporters) would rather have been at the beach than watching a footbal match, the game never gets above strolling pace. Before kick-off, it is announced that striker Micky Nuttell has been sold to Kettering Town -after all, we won't need him now we've got David Holmes haven't we....? Despite the pedestrian nature of the game, Holmes, who had looked impressive in the other pre-season games, is pole-axed down by the corner flag, receiving an injury which sees him absent from the first ten games of the season - the first sign that lady luck would not be shining on Burton Albion this season...
August To sunny Sittingbourne...and down to earth with a bang...
With big-spending Albion many tipster's favourites to win the Dr. Marten's League, hopes are higher than ever that this can finally be the year for some long overdue success to arrive at Eton Park. Two coachloads of Brewers fans brave the blistering heat and holiday hold-ups on the M25 to make the long trek to Sittingbourne for the first match of the season, and the mood of optimism is not dispersed as Albion turn in an assured performance to beat an inexperienced Brickie's side 2-0. The hot weather does not make for a great spectacle, especially when watching the game across Central Park 's dog track, but a stunning strike on his league debut by Tony Marsden, and a second half goal from Andy Marlowe get the new campaign off to a flying start. King's Lynn are the visitors to a refreshingly cooler Eton Park the following Tuesday evening, and 854 turn up to catch what is for most fans a first glimpse of John Barton's much hyped team in league action, but they are denied a goal to cheer - a string of saves from Lynn keeper James Hollman deny Albion the three points their performance deserve. And if the King's Lynn match is disappointing in it's lack of goals, the next home match against Bath City, is downright embarrassing for the Brewers. A second half collapse sees Albion keeper Darren Acton picking the ball out of his net three times and Bath, newly relegated from the Conference- have clearly not read the script. In what must be a record even by Albion standards, the first shouts of "Barton Out!" are heard on the Popside - just three games into the season!
Two away matches round off the month. Another big contingent of Albion fans travel to to see the Brewers go down 2-1 at Worcester City on Bank Holiday Monday, despite a Pat Lyons goal. More worryingly, Tony Marsden picks up a bizarre injury after colliding with the perimiter fence at St Georges Lane. It looks to be a nasty back injury, but after hospital checks, Marsden returns for the following game. The injury, however, will return to plague Albion's new signing later in the season. Meanwhile, Albion finish off an erratic first month of the season with a 3-1 victory at newly promoted Ashford Town. Lyons is again on the scoresheet, and Martin Devaney nets two, but this weekend will be remembered for events in the wider world...
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