Ben Robinson, the chairman, said: “We’ve got a great tradition for football and cup games here. With Mark Wright as manager of Chester City, it makes things even more interesting. His best pal is Steve Booth, who is our chief scout, and he is obviously a friend of Nigel Clough from Liverpool days. We got the best crowd in non-league football for our match on Saturday and I gather Chester take a good following, so we might have to make the game all-ticket.”

Taking on Nationwide Conference opposition is something that Burton hope to do on a week-to-week basis next season as they seek to press home their advantage at the head of the UniBond League, in which they lead Lancaster City, who have a match in hand, by six points.

March, however, will test their resources to the limit as they contemplate a run of ten matches in 31 days, including the Trophy tie on March 16. “What would Arsène Wenger say about that,” Clough, their player-manager, mused, before saying that “it represents a great opportunity for us”.

After finishing runners-up in the Dr Martens League for the past two seasons, the switch of leagues was made to alleviate the burden of travelling made worse last season by a run in the FA Cup that was ended by Kidderminster Harriers in a first-round replay and a run to the Trophy quarter finals, brought to a halt by a 1-0 defeat away to Hereford United

Robinson said: “Because of cup fixtures we had matches cancelled and had to go on Tuesday nights to places like Margate and Folkestone, leaving at 1.30 and arriving at 7.20. It was ludicrous. Now we have to go to Barrow and Blyth but we don’t have to contend with the M42 and M25.”

The smart appearance of Eton Park on Saturday was highlighted by a gap, glaring like a missing tooth, in the advertising hoardings on the roof behind one of the goals. Otherwise, the ground is ready for the Conference. Whether visiting supporters are ready for the faggots and mushy peas in mint sauce from the snack bars is another matter.

“We have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds to bring the ground up to Conference standard,” Robinson said. Twice the club has extended the stand, bringing the number of seats up to the required 600 and the work will not stop there. The requirement will rise to 1,000 in three years’ time, with a minimum ground capacity of 6,000.

Robinson, who runs an insurance and financial services company and started his second spell as chairman in 1996, has backed every development by establishing facilities to generate new sources of income. They include a supermarket in the corner of the car park leased to a local company and the capacity to entertain up to 150 corporate clients. “We’ve been lucky that success off the field and success on the field have gone hand in hand,” he said.

The chairman is unstinting in his praise of Clough, who came to Burton in October 1998 after the club had made contact through a PFA representative who was helping Clough to negotiate his severance terms from Manchester City. “Nigel has been terrific, not just for us but also the town,” Robinson said. “We know he will go on to higher things and when he does, he will go with a big thank-you for everything he has done.”