FINANCIAL
man. I can’t emphasise nt he’s been to us. o the house builders, our old ground, that r him – Clough Drive. they normally didn’t ple had died because nt in Leeds and that named after was later ssure them that there ld veer off the straight
ould have been proud here. we played Torquay in ere in the Football en’t. We had a lot of ed to win. We were ck on the coach when en,’ he said, ‘my dad’s nts a word with you.’ nd he said, ‘Chairman, you should take a lot of credit for this win today because you insisted that the team travelled down on Friday night. The players would have woken up this morning refreshed. So give yourself a pat on the back’.” Robinson has overseen the incredible rise, which mirrors Wimbledon’s journey to the top flight in the 1980s. But it couldn’t happen again, could it? A club that size brushing shoulders with the elite?
He said: “It’s amazing how much money is being spent. You cannot blame the players. They are going to make as much money as they can for themselves and their families.
“But chairman and owners should just say, ‘No, I’m not paying it’. The thing is, there are so many clubs with seemingly bottomless pits.
“Our aim is to survive. Other clubs have vast fortunes funding them and their goal is to reach the promised land. Our goal was to reach the Conference, it was never the Championship.
“When we played Newcastle United last season, I asked their chief executive Lee Charnley, ‘How much does your team cost?’. And he replied, ‘Well, the starting XI cost £55m, those on the bench cost £45m and we’ve spent £30m on players who can’t get in the 18’.
“Our biggest outlay is £500,000. We lost to them – twice. Their wage bill would have been phenomenal. But always, always it’s not how much you spend, it’s where you spend it that makes the difference.
“The money we have now is the sort Gary Rowett spent when he pushed Birmingham in the top half. Huddersfield Town’s wage bill last season was only £11m.
“So never say never, but we’re not getting carried away. It’s sport. We have ambition. There’s room for another Leicester City tale. It’s not impossible.
“With the right manager, right commercial set-up and controls, it is possible. Surviving is the first objective, obviously.”
Interview over, a member of Burton’s catering team enters to clear up a teapot and the accompanying crockery.
“Andrew,” said Robinson, addressing the staff member, “these biscuits haven’t been touched. You can recycle them.”
Burton’s chairman has learned the value of the details at a football club... and, like an elephant, he doesn’t forget.