The Pirelli Stadium: Burton Albion 2-0 Hereford United

Sunday, 10 November 2013

Burton Albion 2-0 Hereford United

Aerial shot of the Pirelli Stadium (Martin Handley - Flickr)

Programme - £3.00

Ratings

Overall Ground Quality : 7/10

Ease of getting there : 10/10

Atmosphere : 5/10

Programme : 8/10

View of Action : 7/10

Quality of the game : 7/10

The "football" feeling : 7/10

Chances of coming here for a random game : 9/10

Legroom : N/A

Surrounding area : 6/10

Overall : 66/100

Main Stand

West Terrace

'Welcome to the Pirelli Stadium'

Popular Side

East Terrace

The low lying sun during the first half

West Terrace

Main Stand

East Terrace

The sun setting on the Pirelli Stadium

East Terrace

Main Stand

West Terrace

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Burton Albion 0-5 Liverpool

Who would have ever thought that Burton Albion would be just one division below giants Liverpool!

Burton's positive start to life in the Championship for the first time ever has so far seen 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss.

Not a bad start considering Burton were winning the Northern Premier League title back in 2001/02 season almost 15 years ago (at the time of writing).

As for Liverpool in 2001/02 season, they finished 2nd in the Premier League, they were the UEFA Super Cup Winners and Champions League Quarter Finalists .

It is a fresh start under the charismatic German (or soft German to Sam Allardyce), Jurgen Klopp who starts his first full season in English football. Klopp was appointed midway through the 2015/16 season finishing 8th in the Premier League. They will be hoping to finish in the top 4 of the Premier League in order to achieve a Champions League qualification.

The aim for Nigel Clough’s Burton Albion is to try and stay in the Championship and anything more than that would be a bonus.

Tickets for their biggest encounter since they played Manchester United in the FA Cup in 2006 were sold out in less than 5 hours.

Thankfully Adrian and I (Ross) managed to get tickets for this match.

Being a local game for us, following a day's work we met up off Derby Road in Burton and made the short walk to the ground.

Film crew and presenters were already filming their piece for local TV outside the ground as a crowd gathered outside waiting for the Liverpool team bus to arrive.

Even a star struck Hamza Chaudhry was loitering outside waiting for the Liverpool players to arrive.

When the bus arrived, the players leapt off the bus without acknowledging the crowd and straight through the door. This excludes the manager Jurgen Klopp and England striker Daniel Sturridge who both smiled and waved to the crowd as they went through the players entrance.

As we walked around the ground taking photos, we found numerous half and half scarf sellers and even a few Liverpool shirts in the home concourse areas!

As we made our way onto the terrace whilst both teams were warming up, Jurgen Klopp was on the centre spot watching the Burton Albion players warming up.

With the vast amount of interest in this fixture, we later found that the record attendance was beaten and the new record was set at 6,450 following that match.

The match itself was a bit of a mismatch, Klopp selected a very strong Liverpool team and Burton Albion with a big local derby against Derby County three days later were forced to juggle the squad.

With Championship survival the main aim, several players carrying knocks were rested with Friday in mind.

The game could have been different if Stuart Beavon had won an early penalty, but after reserve keeper Stephen Bywater denied Origi twice the writing was on the wall when Mane’s pace took him past McGrory and Origi tapped in his cross.

The Brewers goalkeeper contributed to Liverpool’s second with a throw straight at the lively Mane. His pass found Clyne on the right and Firmino headed in his centre for 2-0.

Liverpool’s passing and moving was excellent and their high pressing meant that Burton were struggling to get anywhere near the Liverpool penalty area.

It was game over when Naylor inadvertently put the ball into the back of his own net from a Milner corner for 3-0.

Substitute Sturridge then entered the fray for a brace, another tap in from a Milner cross and then a thumping shot with his left foot from just inside the box.

As for Burton, they appeared completely overawed, Lucas Akins did fire over the bar in the second half and there were several late corners, but all came to nothing as the Premier League side comfortably went through to the third round.

Well done to Liverpool a strong side put out some excellent football played, I was surprised the home side didn't close them down and get in their faces as you would expect so consequently as a game it was disappointing.

After the match, we made a quick dash for the cars and made our respective journeys home along the A511.

Burton Albion 2-0 Hereford United

After a rather disappointing result against local rivals Nottingham Forest yesterday, I (Ross) turned my attention to the FA Cup 1^st round with a trip to the Pirelli Stadium to see League 2 Burton Albion take on Conference Premier Hereford United.

Only a 30 minute journey meant I arrived in Burton at 2pm and parked off Derby Road only a few minutes from the Pirelli Stadium.

Upon my arrival at the ground, I took some photos outside before making my way into the Popular Side.

The Pirelli Stadium was opened in 2005 and cost around £7.2m to construct. The current record attendance for the stadium stands at 6,192, in a Blue Square Premier 1–0 defeat against Oxford United, during the club's title-winning season. This was only bettered by the addition 1 person, yes one supporter from the previous record attendance which stood at 6,191, for an FA Cup third round match on 8 January 2006 against Manchester United.

The low lying sun made taking photos and watching the game difficult during the first half.

A close fought contest during the first half with end to end chances but it was the Brewers who took the lead through Adam McGurk following a corner from the left.

With the sun now setting making visibility a lot easier, the second half got underway with the both sides having chance after chance. A Matty Palmer strike from 20 yards sealed Burton’s place in the 2^nd round with a trip away to Fleetwood Town.

Burton Albion 0-1 Dagenham and Redbridge

With Burton being promoted from the Conference to League 2, I (Ross) took the opportunity to see them in the Football League in their first season. I caught my local bus to Burton at 12:30 and reached Burton an hour later. After a 30 minute walk from Burton Town Centre, I made it to the Pirelli Stadium. With a petrol station being only across the road from the ground, I opted to buy some lunch from the garage before I made my way into the ground.

The game saw the 10-man Brewers lose 1-0 to Dagenham & Redbridge. The only goal of the game was scored by Paul Benson whilst Burton’s Guy Branston saw red. Burton had the opportunity to equalise when they were awarded a penalty. Shaun Harrad stepped up to take the kick from the spot which was consequently saved by veteran keeper Tony Roberts keeping the score at 0-1 until the final whistle.

After the match, I made my journey back towards the town centre and caught my bus home.

Burton looked like they were struggling with the step up from Conference to League 2. Unlike the opposition today who were promoted to League 2 only a few years before, seemed to be pushing for promotion to League 1!

Burton Albion 2-0 Aldershot

The Pirelli Stadium is home of Burton Albion (The Brewers). I (Ross) caught my local Arriva bus (X2) to Burton from Coalville. Once I arrived in Burton Town Centre, I walked towards the Pirelli Stadium which took about 20-30 minutes to get there.

The Pirelli Stadium is a modern 4 sided ground. It was built in 2005 with a vision to eventually be a Football League venue. The ground cost £7.2 million to build with the land being donated by tyres firm, Pirelli, who in return received the naming rights for the stadium.

Burton Albion beat Aldershot 2-0 in their bid for promotion to the Football League for the first time ever.

After the match, I walked back towards the town centre and caught my return bus back to Coalville and getting home about an hour and a half after the match finished.

I was impressed with the set up at Burton Albion. They certainly look like a team who have a good chance of being in the Football League in the next few years.