Burton Albion: Sweden-based owners delivering more than flatpack football

Players from across the football landscape – in England and overseas – were quickly corralled.

Among them: England Under-20 international Charlie Webster, signed for an undisclosed fee from Chelsea after spending last season on-loan in the Netherlands with Heerenveen, Costa Rica international Alejandro Bran, a loan signing from Major League Soccer side Minnesota United, and Terence Vancooten, a Guyana international whose move from Stevenage is understood to have made him one of Burton’s most expensive ever signings.

Burton’s spending has had rivals talking of their new financial flex,, external but Hareide says “speculation that new owners are throwing money at it” was to be expected – despite not wanting to divulge what the rebuild has cost.

“We are not splashing cash at all,” he added.

“I feel we have been smart. I don’t want to disclose any fees, but I can confirm that Terence was a signature signing for us because he is an establish League One player, who performed well last season and he has proven attributes that fit our model and style of player – a backbone we want to have at the club.”

For Hareide it’s a “brick-by-brick” project, about getting everyone “aboard the same boat and rowing in the same direction”.

And when jokingly asked about its similarities to flatpack furniture, he laughed as he said: “I’m Norwegian, we are envious of what the Swedes have done with Ikea”.

And in Tom Davidson, NFG have a Swedish founder who has gone on to become deputy chairman at Burton.

The consortium around him has been “handpicked”, Davidson explains, with Burton Albion the focus of what he calls “dynamic Nordic cooperation” whose aim is to try establish a “sustainable and stable” League One club whose way of working can help shape the game in the countries that each stakeholder represents.

“Can we make a difference from the Nordic scene in the number one football county in the world? The responsibilities, the challenges and the opportunities are massive with going into an English football club,” Davidson said.

“Club football today is so big, so there is space not only for the giants, but for other clubs with other values – smaller vibrant clubs with a big heart and who maybe have a smile on their face.”

At a club with an image shaped by the town it represents, whose stadium holds just under 7,000 spectators and shares a training ground with England’s national teams, Davidson is adamant they can carve out a place as “one of the coolest most progressive clubs”.

“This was the brewing capital of England, we are called the Brewers, we have a fat guy kicking a ball on the shield – we can do so much cool fans stuff at the stadium with this,” he added.

“Burton is a fantastic underdog club, from this little town that has had a miracle journey. We can maybe have a unique and positive space in football.”

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