A RECORD number of away fans for the modern Old Trafford will be cheering on Burton Albion at tonight’s replay as the Nationwide Conference club prepare to take their profits from their FA Cup third-round tie with Manchester United past the £1 million mark — and the players will not receive an extra penny.
About 11,000 Burton fans are making the trip to cheer on Nigel Clough’s team, who drew 0-0 at the Pirelli Stadium ten days ago, but Jon Shaw, the club’s top-scorer, revealed that the squad opted against negotiating any financial bonuses for this season and, because of FA regulations, are prohibited from doing so now.
Burton’s part-timers are relatively well paid at Conference level, earning about £500 a week, and the club laid on a party for the players and their partners at the stadium last Saturday. An open-top bus ride is also being planned for this weekend to mark the feat of the players, who were also taken on a trip around Old Trafford last Thursday.
“We don’t have bonuses here,” Shaw, who joined Burton on a free transfer from Sheffield Wednesday last season, said. “When I arrived, we were still at Eton Park and a lot of money was being put towards the new stadium. There’s no FA Cup bonus, and nothing for reaching the play-offs. But we know the club will look after us.”
Shaw, 22, is relishing running out in front of about 55,000 fans tonight. “I played in front of just under 30,000 at Hillsborough against Queens Park Rangers when I got my first and last goal in front of the Kop,” he said. “That was what every Sheffield Wednesday fan dreams of doing. It was the highlight of my career to date so we’ll have to see if we can go one better. If you ask anybody in the country which ground they want to score at, it’s Old Trafford.”
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Shaw admits he has dreamt of scoring tonight. “I thought all my dreams had come true in the twelfth minute of the first tie when I had that header cleared off the line. It was nice even to come that close,” he said. “We’ll just go up there to enjoy it.”
Burton sold out of their original allocation of 9,000 tickets by last Friday and a further 1,000 tickets sent by courier from Old Trafford sold out the next day. With home supporters unlikely to buy their normal allocation, United officials agreed to open a section of seating not usually allocated to away fans. Ben Robinson, the Burton chairman, said: “United say it will be the biggest away following seen at Old Trafford since the introduction of all-seat stadia and that includes games against the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea. We are anticipating the figure could be nearer 11,000 fans.”
Clough, the Burton manager, who may recall Aaron Webster after a knee injury, said: “It is absolutely staggering that we have sold so many tickets, and I think it is recognition of the fact that playing at Old Trafford is something that might happen only once in a lifetime.”