Rumours abound but all fans can do is wait to see just how big a summer it is for Albion
IF any of several rumours come to fruition, there will be big changes with Burton Albion this summer. But, as things stand, that is all they are, rumours, to those of us not part of the club’s inner workings, writes Colston Crawford.
Chairman Ben Robinson plays his cards close to his chest, as he has done all of his business life, and that is how it should be. What we do know, then? Well, the chairman, in more than one interview now, has acknowledged that he cannot go on forever. He is closing in on 80, he will make the occasional wry joke about his memory not being quite what it was and, very reasonably, says he wants to make sure he sees more of his grandchildren.
As he knows, he has, over the years, made a rod for his own back by being completely hands on. Everything still goes through him at the club and the club is a much bigger operation, with its community trust arm, than it was when he stepped into the chair for the second time at Eton Park in the 1980s.
There is, then, the hint that he is formulating some sort of succession plan. There has also been the hint that he is seeking investment.
It is a tricky one, because while sensible funding would be welcome, he does not want Burton Albion to become something that it is not. The tightness with the community must remain.
It might excite certain sections of the fan base if, under new owners, Burton “did a Bournemouth” and raced to the Premier League with swathes of unrealistic cash. But just look at the losses Bournemouth have incurred doing that.
Something more akin to the sensible rebuild and development of Notts County by the Danish brothers Alexander and Christoffer Reedtz might be more up Ben’s street.
OK, since I have mentioned the Danes at Notts, let’s acknowledge the Scandinavian rumour. It seems to have more credence than most.
It is said that a consortium of Swedish businesspeople may have turned their attention to Burton after initially looking at Shrewsbury Town. And people have said: “well, if not Shrewsbury, why would they be interested in Burton?”
The answer could be that Shrewsbury are not quite as financially stable as Burton.
In January, the Shrews’ chief executive, Liam Dooley, admitted to a fans’ forum that chairman Roland Wycherley and finance director Duncan Montgomery were both putting in money to keep the club running – and that Wycherley was looking to sell.
Dooley said at the time that the club were negotiating with two parties. Nothing has yet happened.
Intriguingly, when supporters have asked Ben about the rumours, he has not denied them.
The news that his daughter, Fleur, the Brewers’ former commercial director, is leaving her role as chief executive of Wrexham, has, of course, got fans talking as well.
It had been rumoured for some time and, arguably, Fleur has accomplished the task she was set when she went in at Wrexham.
Freshly solvent with the introduction of money from the American actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, the club had to be transformed, in its day to day operations, to suit their ambitions.
That transformation would inevitably have put a few noses out of joint and Fleur headed up that operation.
She knows what she’s doing, having diligently built a career in football circles, sitting on a lot of committees. She is now a successful football administrator.
That does not necessarily add
up to a return to Burton to take over from her father but, equally, it cannot be ruled out.
Next up, the apparent delay in announcing a retained list and the future of manager Martin Paterson.
The rumour mill suggests the delay may be because the very future of the club’s ownership is as yet undecided and that may not be wrong.
But, also, it may not be significant. Just because several clubs announced their retained list the day after the last match of the season does not mean Burton Albion have to – after all, the division they were to be playing in was not confirmed until the final whistle.
It was May 17 before the Brewers’ retained list was released last year.
Meanwhile, if the chairman and Paterson are talking and if Paterson is, in principle, carrying on, negotiations could be about length of contract, budget, backroom staff and any number of other factors.
A conclusion? There isn’t one, as yet. I have tried to gather together the various strands of speculation and ally them to the facts we do already have.
After that, we are back to the old adage for Burton fans: “In Robinson we trust.” Most still do, I think.
We will see but it certainly promises to be an interesting summer, once it unfolds.