Chairman’s only regret is one jumbo bill... after the circus came to town!

signing-on fee and agreed to £3m-a-year wages. Yearly salaries of £1m – even at this level – are becoming the norm, not the exception.

And then there is Burton, where a first-team budget of £7.5m pays for everything – salaries, travelling, coaches, the lot.

Robinson, who first became a director in 1972, has performed an outstanding job in this quaint corner of Staffordshire.

The club has just opened artificial pitches for the community trust.

A grant helped offset the cost, but, as Burton’s first-team have the facilities at St George’s Park, there was no reason to build these other than an altruistic one. At Burton they are generous in cherishing the contributions of others too. Plenty of good managers have passed through this club. Peter Taylor – right-hand man to managerial legend Brian Clough – Neil Warnock and Gary Rowett to name three. However, it is Nigel Clough who Robinson clearly holds most dear. “We wouldn’t be here today without him,” Robinson said. “He’s his own man, Nigel. “When he came to work on his first day, he was driving a big Mercedes. We were still in the Southern League then. “Nigel decided it wasn’t right for him to be seen in such a car – so he traded down. It sums him up. He’s a superb m enough how importa

“I recommended to who were developing they name a road afte

“They told me that do that until after peo they did a developme person the road was n convicted. I could reas was no way Nigel woul and narrow.

“I think his father w of what he has done h

“I remember, when the FA Cup. They w League and we were injuries, but manage jubilant and came bac Nigel’s phone rang. ‘B on the phone and wa

“I took the phone an