Burton United
Formed 1871
Founder member of Division Two 1892. Failed re-election 1907
Kit History
Burton Swifts
Formed 1871
1892-1895 a d
1895-1897 a d
1897-1901 a d
Burton Wanderers
Formed by merger of Burton Swifts and Burton Wanderers 1901
1901-1902 d
1902-1903 a d
1903-1904 a
1904-1905 d
1905-1907 d
Background
Formed originally as Burton
Swifts, the club joined the Combination in 1890 and the following year
they joined the Football Alliance. The Alliance clubs were incorporated
into the Football League in 1892 as Division Two. After a promising start,
Swifts generally finished on the lower half of the table and in 1897 they
were forced to apply for re-election along with their neighbours, Burton
Wanderers. Wanderers lost their place while the Swifts lived to fight
another day but in 1901 they finished bottom and had to apply once again
for re-election. Prior to the crucial meeting, it was agreed that the
Swifts and Wanderers should merge and it was as Burton United that the
club was re-elected.
Results did not improve, however, and United faced re-election in 1905, 1906 and 1907, when the patience of the League clubs ran out and United lost their place. Shortly afterwards the club was wound up.
Despite their relatively short career, the Burton clubs sported a motley array of strips, including (in 1904-05) green shirts with "Indian Red" (ie chestnut) trim followed by light blue/brown shirts in their final two seasons.
Sources
- (a) Association of Football Statisticians - provided by Pete Wyatt
- (b) Club Colours (Bob Bickerton 1998)
- (d) Rejected FC (Dave Twydell 1989) - information provided by Pete Wyatt.