Burton Albion

Built on the site of the former Pirelli UK Tyres Ltd Sports & Social Club, the land for Burton’s stadium was donated to the club by Pirelli and in return they received the naming rights for the ground. It opened in 2005 at a cost of £7.2 million and was designed by the same architects who designed Morecambe’s Globe Arena. The idea for a new ground for the club was first mooted in 2003 when it was felt that Burton’s former ground, Eton Park, wasn’t big enough to match the club’s ambitions. That was in spite of the fact that £1 million had been invested in improving the ground enough for it to be suitable for use in the Football League. The original proposals for the new ground included a training pitch that was intended to be available for public use. The club’s chairman, Ben Robinson, felt that the stadium should be the focal point for the local community of Burton. This included the redevelopment of Eton Park into residential houses. Their attempts to make the ground a haven for the community didn’t exactly pan out as they hoped, with the club needing to install CCTV in 2007 after numerous acts of vandalism took place. This included rocks being thrown at shop windows and newly planted trees being uprooted.