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	Burton Albion Football Club
	Club Records     Ex-Players     Beginners Guide
	Eton Park, Princess Way, Burton-On-Trent, Staffordshire, DE14 2RU, United Kingdom
	Telephone: (01283) 565938  Sportsline: 0930 555883
	Fax No: (01283) 562266 E-mail: bafc@burtonalbionfc.co.uk

Top Club records   FA Trophy Finalists 1987, Semi-Finalists 1975 FA Cup Third Round 1956, 1985 First Round 1956-7, 1965-6, 1977-8, 1979-80, 1980-1, 1983-4, 1987-8, 1994-5, 1998-9, 1999-00 Southern League Cup Winners  1964, 1997, Runners-Up 1989 Northern Premier League Cup Winners 1983, Runners-Up 1987 NPL Presidents Cup Runners Up 1986 GMAC Cup Semi Finalists 1987 Birmingham Senior Cup Winners 1954, 1997 Record Attendances   Home 22,500 v Leicester City, FA Cup Third Round 1985 (at the Baseball Ground Derby) 7,654 v Nuneaton Borough, Birmingham Senior Cup 1951 (at Wellington Street) 5,860 v Weymouth, Southern League Cup Final - 2nd Leg 1965 (at Eton Park) Neutral 23,617 v Kidderminster Harriers, FA Trophy Final 1987 (at Wembley) 15,685 v Kidderminster Harriers, FA Trophy Final Replay 1987 (at The Hawthorns)

Top Ex-players Players who've progressed or returned to the Football League include... Ritchie Barker (Derby, later Stoke City manager), Ian Hutchinson (Chelsea), Steve Buckley (Luton Town, Derby County, Lincoln City), Peter Ward (Brighton, Nottingham, Forest), Kevin Hector (Derby), Richard Jobson (Watford, Hull City, Oldham Athletic, Leeds United), Paul Groves (Leicester City, Blackpool, Grimsby Town, West Bromwich Albion), John Gayle (Wimbledon, Birmingham City, Coventry City, Burnley, Stoke City, Northampton Town, Steve Cotterill (Wimbledon, now Cheltenham manager), Darren Carr (Crystal Palace), Darren Roberts (Wolverhampton Wanderers, Chesterfield, Darlington, Scarborough).

Top Beginners Guide Burton Albion Football Club, based in Burton-On-Trent, Staffordshire, play in the Dr. Martens League of English football (soccer). Founded in 1950 restoring senior football to a town which had once boasted two football league clubs, the "Brewers" (nicknamed after the industry which the town is famous for) quickly established themselves in Non-League football, transferring from the Birmingham League to the more illustrious Southern League in 1958, the same year they moved to their current ground, Eton Park. The club won the Southern League Cup in 1965 under Peter Taylor, who would later go on to acheive fame as Brian Clough's assistant at Derby and Nottingham Forest. The following year they were promoted to the Southern League Premier Division, then probably the top league outside the football league, but the 60's and 70's were up and down years, as the club were relegated numerous times, invariably to bounce back almost instantly. With the onset of the 1980's, re-organization of the leagues saw Albion move into the Northern Premier League, where the club  enjoyed the most successful era in its history - most notably in Cup competition. In 1985 the Brewers reached the Third Round of the FA Cup, for the second time (the first was against Charlton Athletic in 1956), where they were beaten 6-1 by Leicester City and a Gary Lineker hat-trick. But the match, played in front of 22,500 at the Baseball Ground, Derby, was disrupted by crowd trouble, and the FA ordered a behind-closed-doors replay. This time they lost by a single goal. Manager of this era  Neil Warnock went on to take Scarborough into the Football League, and then to manange Notts County, Plymouth, Huddersfield and Oldham. Two years later the club reached Wembley for the first time in its history, in the FA Trophy final. A 0-0 draw with Conference side Kidderminster Harriers was followed by a thrilling replay at The Hawthorns, West Bromwich, in front of the grounds biggest crowd of the season - 15,685. The Brewers were unlucky to go down 2-1, midfielder Paul Bancroft missing a last gasp penalty. Since then, a succession of managers have passed through the portals of Eton Park, spending large amounts of money (by non-league standards), but never managing to fulfil the potential shown in the halcyon days of the 1987 season. After Wembley, the club transferred back to the Southern League Premier Division (now the Dr. Martens League) where they have remained ever since, their highest position being third in 1994-95, under former manager John Barton. Barton also brought the first silverware in over a decade to Eton Park - the Southern League Cup and the Birmingham Senior Cup both being won in 1997, but parted company with the club in September 1998 after failing to deliver league success, following substantial on and off the field investment by the board. His departure opened the door for the arrival of probably the most famous manager in the club's history - Nigel Clough - son of the legendary Brian Clough, who takes his first steps on the road to emulating his father's career, as player boss at Eton Park, along with former Nottingham Forest team-mate Gary Crosby as his assistant. Back to Top Look Back in Amber - The Complete History with old photo's

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