Burton Albion Football Club, nicknamed “The Brewers” after the brewing industry of Burton upon Trent, unveiled a new club crest in July 2025 as part of its 75th anniversary celebrations. The identity change was announced ahead of the 2025/26 season, with the club describing the new mark as an updated version of a vintage brass pin badge discovered during research for the celebratory campaign.[1]
Design and History
The club’s earliest emblem, used on documents but not on match uniforms, depicted the silhouette of a figure whose head and belly formed the “B” of Burton, with the spread of the legs forming the “A” of Albion, kicking a ball bearing the initials “FC.”[2] This design is believed to have been inspired by a popular 1908 tourist poster showing a cheerful fisherman from the coastal town of Skegness.[2]
In the club’s early years, no badge appeared on shirts. In 1972, the team began using the town’s coat of arms, as other English clubs did at the time. Toward the end of the 1980s, the club introduced a crest showing a man holding a beer barrel on his left shoulder and a jug in his right hand, though this design had a short life. In the early 1990s, it was replaced by a widely criticized emblem featuring a man’s bust, a beer jug, a football and various brewing-related plant motifs such as barley and hops.[2]
In 1994, the club adopted the original brewer figure design for its match shirts, nearly 44 years after the club was founded. In 2005, the crest was redesigned, removing the club’s full name and leaving only the initials worked into the figure’s silhouette, with the nickname “Brewers” above.[2]
For the 75th anniversary, the club introduced a new crest described as a clean framework that works on any kit. After consultation with fans, the central colour was removed from the design.[1] The new identity also returned to the original black and amber colours worn by the club in 1950, replacing the paler yellow used on kits in recent seasons.[3]
Meaning and Symbolism
The 2025 crest is a circular roundel design inspired by a vintage brass pin badge found during the club’s research for its anniversary campaign.[1] At its centre sits the interlocking “BA” monogram, which the club says pays homage to the beginning of the club. The letters were lifted directly from the centre of the brewer figure on the previous shield crest, described as “the very first part of the crest to have been put to paper.”[1]
The club framed the new identity as “a small symbol of the past, guiding us on a journey to the future.”[1] The amber and black colours of the accompanying home kit were said to represent mild and bitter, paying tribute to the brewing tradition of the town.[1]
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