LET'S LOOK AT:
BURTON ALBION
Burton Albion Started off life in 1950 when the club was formed at a public meeting in the Town Hall. The town had been without senior football for 10 years. It was a sad situation for a town that boasted three former league clubs; Burton Wanderers, Burton Swifts and Burton United. WW2 finished off Burton Town.
The new club's first ground was at the Wellington Street ground that belonged to the local Lloyds Foundry and they took their place in the Birmingham League. In 1954, they won their first trophy, the Birmingham Senior Cup and then won the Staffordshire Senior Cup two years later. They also reached the 3rd round of the FA Cup for the first time, that season before losing 7-0 to Charlton Athletic.
In 1958, the club moved to Eton Park and also were elected to the Southern League. In their first season, however, they finished bottom of the Southern League (North-West) and the following season, they finished 21st in the newly formed 1st Division. The club struggled in many of the early years of their time in the Southern League, but their performances gradually improved and in 1966, they finished 3rd, two places below the Champions, Barnet, and were promoted to the Premier Division.
In 1964, they had won their biggest trophy so far in their history, defeating a strong Weymouth team in the Southern League Cup Final, 5-2 on aggregate. Following promotion, Burton somewhat struggled in the Premier Division and were relegated in 1970. The following season they just missed out on bouncing straight back from Division One, but in 1971/72, the club finished as runners up to Kettering Town in the Division One North and were promoted back to the Premier League. However, they only finished 21st the next season and were relegated again, but 1973/74, saw them finish as runners up to Stourbridge in the Division One North and they were promoted back to the Premier Division again in a period that the club were experiencing something of a yo-yoing time.
On returning to the Premier Division, the Brewers achieved their highest position of 5th, but in 1977 they were relegated again. In 1979, Burton moved leagues to the Northern Premier League and remained there until 1987, finishing 3rd in 1983.
In 1985, Burton reached the 3rd round of the FA cup again, finally going down 6-1 to Leicester City, for whom Gary Lineker scored a hat trick. In 1987, Burton reached the final of the FA trophy losing 2-1 to Kidderminster following a replay. At the end of that season, the Brewers reverted back to the Southern League.
In their second spell in the Southern League, the Brewers fared rather better, finishing 4th in 1990 and establishing themselves as one of the top clubs in the league. In 1995, they finished 3rd and repeated this in 1998. Two years later the Brewers went close to gaining promotion to the Conference when they finished as runners up to Boston and the following season they had the disappointment of finishing 2nd again, this time to Margate. At the end of the season, they were moved to the Northern Premier League for the second time and this proved to be a very successful change as they won the championship for the first time, their biggest achievement in their history. More importantly for the club's future, they were promoted to the Nation wide Conference.
In their first season, they finished a secure 16th and the club gradually established themselves in this league. In 2005, the club moved to their new Pirelli Stadium and in 2008, the Brewers reached the play-offs for the first time, but lost in the semi final to Cambridge United. The Brewers finally gained promotion after winning, the now renamed, Blue Square Premier in 2009, and with it, the Holy Grail of election to the Football League.