Burton are victims of own success
NIGEL Clough says it won’t be a shock if Burton Albion stay in the Championship – because they’ve had 20 years of miracles.
Three successive victories have given the Brewers an unlikely shot of remaining in the division, after they had seemed nailed on for a return to League One, following two campaigns in the second tier.
But Clough believes both he and Burton chairman Ben Robinson might have become victims of their own unlikely success.
Clough would still be “devastated” if results don’t go their way this afternoon – but he can also see a bigger picture.
He said: “Everyone is delighted that we are in with a chance. When you don’t win at home for six months, I think they’d given up on in it.
“I think they feared the worst.
“But even if we stay up, this will still be a small club.
“There are some far bigger attendances than us even down in the Conference.”
Clough, whose first spell as Brewers boss began in 1998 when they were in the Southern League Premier division, said: “Establishing Burton as a Conference club was always the aim. Honestly. ‘Could we get into the Conference? And then maybe at some point have a dart at the Football League?’
“Now we are sitting in the Championship, one result away from retaining our status again.
“For all that people say they are not happy with this, that or anything, we can’t lose sight of that. No other club has done what this one has in the last 15 or so years [since joining the Conference in 2002].
“You know, the chairman has got a lot to answer for, seriously.
“He’s been at the helm a long time and had nothing but success over 20-odd years.
“To go up four divisions, build a new ground, pay for it, be debt-free and competing in a league where no one ever dreamed we would, he’s got a lot to answer for.”
Despite the likes of Aston Villa and Derby County now arriving as Championship equals, Burton’s Pirelli Stadium remains a homely venue – and the Brewers are refreshingly down-to-earth.
Clough added: “When Tony Pulis came the other week with Middlesbrough, he said, ‘unbelievable’.
“He was just looking around, and in the tunnel he said ‘what this club has done, it’s like coming to a nonLeague club for a cup tie’ – and he wasn’t being derogatory.
“People like him appreciate that. A lot of people in football see that this club has punched above its weight over the years.
“Someone said at the start of the season, ‘Are you going to establish yourself in the Championship now?’ No.
“Burton Albion can’t become an established Championship club.
“Fighting for survival every year, that is this club. How can we establish ourselves with Villa, Wolves, Derby, Sheffield Wednesday or Norwich?
“They are all ex-Premier League and big clubs . We can’t establish ourselves in there, we can hang on. That’s all.
“We know the importance of the Preston game – but we also know how fortunate we are to even have the opportunity.”