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Old 14-04-2022, 09:24   #1
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2021/22 Prediction League Game 43; v Burton Albion (home)

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Burton Albion


2021/22 Prediction League Game 43; v The Burtonians (home)


Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in Staffordshire, close to the border with Derbyshire: in 2011, it had a population of 72,299; it's 11 miles southwest of Derby, 27 miles northwest of Leicester, 28 miles west-southwest of Nottingham and 20 miles south of the southern entrance to the Peak District National Park.

Burton is known for its brewing. The town originally grew up around Burton Abbey. Burton Bridge was also the site of two battles, in 1322 when Edward II defeated the rebel Earl of Lancaster, and 1643 when Royalists captured the town during the First English Civil War.

For centuries brewing was Burton's major trade, and it's still an important part of its economy. The town is currently home to eight breweries; Coors Brewers Ltd (formerly Bass Brewers Ltd, and now the UK arm of Molson Coors Brewing Company) – which produces Carling and Worthington Bitter; Marston's, Thompson and Evershed plc, bought by Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries now renamed Marstons plc. The Marston's Brewery produces its own brands, draught Marston's Pedigree, draught Hobgoblin and also draught Bass under licence from InBev. Then there's Tower Brewery, Burton, a microbrewery based in the old Salts Water Tower of Walsitch Maltings, which were formerly used by the second biggest brewer in Burton; Burton Bridge Brewery is based in Bridge Street, with six pubs in and around Burton (which produces a number of traditional beers including Bridge Bitter, Stairway to Heaven, Damson Porter and Golden Delicious.) Tower Brewery is a microbrewery off Wharf Road: Old Cottage Brewery is based in Hawkins Lane, and Its beers include Oak Ale and Halcyon Daze: Black Hole Brewery is based at the Imex Centre; Gates Brewery microbrewery is in Reservoir Road.
All of which causes me to wonder what happened to "a pint of mixed", on which I was partly weaned in the 1960s ............. "Can I have a pint of Stairway to Heaven" just doesn't have the same ring, somehow

And your Brewery Starter for Ten, then: what by-product of the brewing industry is manufactured in Burton (actually, there are two - connected - so you can have either one; or - like many - you can take it or leave it)

And one of the names that caught my attention when I was scrolling through "Famous People from Burton" was Anthony John Hardy (31 May 1951 – 26 November 2020), an English serial killer who was known as "The Camden Ripper" on account of his having dismembered some of his victims (the killings were in London, but he was a Burtonian) ........

Hardy had an apparently uneventful childhood and excelled in school and college: he earned an engineer's degree from Imperial College London and subsequently became the manager of a large company, married and fathered three sons and one daughter; in 1982, he was arrested in Tasmania for trying to drown his wife, but the charges were later dropped. In 1986, Hardy's wife, Judith, divorced him, which can't have been much of a surprise ..........except that it took her four years to do it!

In January 2002, police were called to the block of flats where Hardy lived by a neighbour complaining that someone had vandalised her front door, and that she strongly suspected Hardy. When the police investigated Hardy's flat, they found a locked door and, despite his claims to the contrary, found that Hardy had a key to it. Inside the room the police found the naked dead body of a woman lying on a bed with cuts and bruises to her head. She was identified as Sally White, 38, a prostitute who had been living in London.

Astonishingly, Forensic pathologist Freddy Patel subsequently concluded that White had died of a heart attack, in spite of the circumstances. (Patel later came under scrutiny for this and other findings in his career, resulting in a suspension from the government's register of pathologists pending an inquiry.) In 2012, his name was erased from the medical register by the GMC, meaning that he can no longer practice medicine in the UK - which is a Goods Thing, if he can't distinguish a murder victim from a heart attack!

Second Starter for Ten, then ........... Lieutenant-Colonel James Herbert Porter, CBE, DSO*, was born in Burton on Trent in 1892, and died there in March 1973; clearly he was a military man of courage and prowess - but what else was he famous (and still remembered) for?

Burton Albion was formed in 1950, and worked its way up through the Leagues until - as you may remember - in January 2009 Nigel Clough left to become the manager of Derby County, with Roy McFarland installed as caretaker manager until the end of the season. Despite this managerial change, Burton went on to set a league record for the most consecutive wins, and in February 2009, when the team was 19 points clear at the top of the table, Conference sponsors Blue Square, in a public relations stunt in which they paid out all bets, declared Burton the winners of the 2008–09 title. Following that announcement, the club saw their Bananarama lead reduced week by week, but despite McFarland's efforts, they secured promotion to the Football League in the final game of the season, despite losing 2–1 away to Torquay United, when Cambridge United could only manage a goalless draw to Altrincham.

They've done League Two, and League One, and Le Championnat; in 2017/18 they were GreasyPoled back to Ligue Un in 23rd place, below everyone except Slumberland ........... in 2018/19 they finished 9th, in Covid Season 2019/20 they finished 12th with 48 points, and last season they slid to 16th, with 57 points to our 67 ........... This season, statistically, they could still be overhauled (although only by Fleetwood, Morecambe and Gillingham) - so one chance in four of going down ........... we can't be relegated (unless we incur a points deduction for impertinence, or the manager complaining every week how we get picked on, given all the cr*p ref, and never get an even break)

Their home record for the season is P21 W9 D6 L6, and their away record is a fairly dodgy W4 D4 L13, for an overall P42 W13 D10 L19 GF48 GA63 and 49 points ...... they humiliated us 4-0 chez eux in late November (two of their goals by Daniel Jebbison, who's their leading scorer on 7 (League) or 8 (everything) .... and in their last fourteen games (since the beginning of February) they've won 2, drawn 4 and lost 8, and they haven't scored in their last four ... out of the FA Cup to Portly V in Round Two, the EFL Cup in Round One to Oxford on penalties after a half Desmond, and the Troffy in the Group stages (although they did thrash Wycombe 5-0 away)

And did I really see that You Fat Bastard is retiring? We'll miss you, Bro

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Friday 15th April (Good Friday, which we hope it will be .... for us!) ... in the Transfer Window they've signed loads of other people's castoffs (casts off?), signing players from Algeria, France, Morocco, Senegal, and England, and their three loan signings include Man U GK Matěj Kovář (Czech Republic)

And as for the Starters for Ten; Lt Col James Herbert Porter was the son of a master brewer, and began working for Newcastle Breweries in 1909, but his career was interrupted by the First World War, during which time he received the Distinguished Service Order twice for gallantry. After the war, Porter returned to Newcastle Breweries: the company's directors became aware of the rising demand for bottled beer in the early 1920s and they asked their brewers to begin developing a new product. As assistant brewer, Porter worked alongside the firm's chief chemist, Archie Jones, to create a new formula - the now very famous Newcastle Brown Ale.

First advertised in 1927, it won all seven major awards at the 1928 Breweries Exhibition. Porter became managing director of Newcastle Breweries in 1931, and in 1953 he was appointed vice-chairman of Newcastle Breweries, and two years later became its chairman. Following the company's merger with Scottish Breweries in 1960, he became the latter group's vice-chairman and subsequently its vice-president.

So hands up if - like me - you always thought that Newcastle Brown was a Tyneside beverage? Wrong!

And - you may have known - a by-product of the brewing industry is Marmite, now made in Burton. The original Marmite factory (now demolished) was at the corner of Cross Street and Duke Street before they moved to the current factory on Wellington Road in the 1960s. The production of Marmite has in turn generated the production of Bovril. Both are owned by Unilever (marmite has been said to taste like soap). And I bet you still can't get a bovril and a pie a half time ...............

So once more - three to go; Good luck to everyone! ............. Keep the Faith! ............ And thanks for playing!

COYR!



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