Burton rebuild 'just starting' amid leadership reshuffle

Burton Albion are "confident" they can reach an agreement to extend manager Gary Bowyer's (right) contract as the club restructures its leadership group

Burton Albion was "far from" financially sustainable last season, but former deputy chairman Tom Davidson says the Brewers' rebuild is "just getting started" amid a club leadership overhaul.

Albion revealed on Monday that Davidson, chairman Ole Jakob Strandhagen and commercial director Kevin Skabo would step down from their positions, following the earlier departures of sporting director Bendik Hareide and chief executive Fleur Robinson.

Wouter Gudde, a rebuild specialist formerly of Dutch side FC Groningen, will take over as interim chairman and chief executive.

Hareide's replacement as sporting director has also been confirmed as Richard Dorman, former technical director of Finnish team SJK Seinäjoki, while Tom Mahon will step in with immediate effect as chief operating officer, a position he previously held at Stockport County.

"Richard and Tom are the key people because they're the ones on the ground that live and breathe the football club," Davidson said in an interview with BBC Radio Derby.

Explaining the restructure of the club's board, which will retain other representation from owners Nordic Football Group (NFG), Davidson said: "We always called ourselves a start-up board, identifying what we need to do and adjust to fulfil the plan going forward, and finding the right people that can lead the football club forward."

"Running a football club is a craft that we have an enormous respect for, and we now have a very solid group that will build Burton Albion for the future."

Davidson, NFG's founder who has been the public-facing figurehead of the club's ownership throughout its "transitional" season, said Gudde would "guide the integration of [Albion's] new leadership team" before eventually phasing out.

"We're very confident that the way forward is to build a new leadership team for Burton and give them space," he added.

The Swede, who is to remain with the Brewers in an advisory role, said the "significant financial losses" suffered by the club in a "far from sustainable" 2024-25 season was a trend that "cannot continue", but stressed that the "really tough" period had passed.

"Now we are taking a new step with a wealth of experience," Davidson said.

"We're at the start of an exciting journey. It will be tough, that's the promise football will always deliver on, but I'm excited and proud that we have people coming to the club now and want to lead it.

"Football is a craft and now we have really seasoned professionals running the club going forward."

He continued: "We know it will take a couple of years to build the club, and there is an investment to be made there. We need to rebuild and that is not easy.

"We all have to set our expectations right for the next season, that it is a massive task.

"We're obviously investing for the future, and we're not going to beat any transfer records this summer, but there will be a lot of change."

Brewers ownership 'confident' Bowyer will stay

Albion, sat one place and one point off the foot of the League One table, appeared in deep trouble when manager Gary Bowyer was appointed in December.

But the 53-year-old ex-Blackburn and Dundee boss pulled off what Davidson described as a "miracle" to ultimately guide the Brewers to safety with a 20th-placed finish.

The outgoing deputy chairman said Bowyer had been unwilling to discuss a new contract during the season, but that both parties were now in "positive discussions" and that the club was "confident that we should reach an agreement".

'I nearly fainted'

Recalling Albion's high-stakes home match against Cambridge United in April, Davidson said he has "never felt so much relief" as when Dylan Williams netted the hosts' stoppage-time winner to essentially secure their survival and condemn Cambridge to the drop.

"I get goosebumps now when I think about Cambridge," he said.

"First the pain when they equalised and I thought we were going down, I went into the box and almost fainted.

"And then Dylan scores, and I've never felt so much relief in my life.

"I'm enormously grateful for that, that we stayed in League One and can now go into this exciting chapter with a new organisation that I think is totally unique from a Burton Albion perspective, while we also celebrate 75 years."

He added: "This year it will be a total new design of kits and apparel, lots of great stuff happening with the 75th anniversary, and then we keep on trying to build this club going forward."