By the time Burton Albion – or Nigel Clough’s Burton Albion to give them their official title – joined us in the Conference, we’d been there for nine seasons already. You could be forgiven for thinking the 2002-3 season was the first time we crossed paths with this Staffordshire side, but – like with your Wokings and your Crawleys – our acquaintance was made long before the Conference. A club we first met back in 1984, Burton Albion became quite a familiar sight in both the Conference and the Football League; the Brewers are old friends in many ways.
That first chance meeting was an FA Cup clash indoors, and one we’d lose comfortably in the end. After that and an FA Trophy tie in the mid-1990s, it wasn’t until Burton were promoted to the Conference themselves in 2002 that meetings became more regular. While we beat them to the Conference, the Brewers beat us to the Football League; just by a single season, but it still counts (and hurts). Our jostling continued after that too; us getting into League One before them. We were, however, completely outdone after the Brewers’ promotion to the Championship in 2016.
It’s now up to us to match it. And outdo them once again too; promotion to the Premier League anyone? You wouldn’t say no. The Brewers are also an odd one in that we have bad memories of them. But, actually, we’ve done alright against them; winning 10 of our 21 matches as of summer 2023. As we enter the 2023-4 League One, it’ll have been eight years since we last met – a joyous reunion perhaps? Well, maybe that’s pushing things a bit. But our time back together would extend beyond a second season when the Brewers pulled off a miraculous escape from relegation in 2024-5.
