THERE would be no Burton Albion without the 700 people who packed into the Town Hall to bring the club to life 65 years ago.
On July 6, 1950, there was a feeling of excitement in the town as plans to restore senior football to Burton took shape.
Not only did the meting demonstrate to civic leaders that there would be sufficient backing to get a new football club up and running in time for the start of the Birmingham Senior League season just six week later, but all the key decisions were made that day.
The Lloyds foundry ground on Wellington Street was made available, a strip was offered the club, a plan to issue shares was devised and most importantly a vote was taken on what to call the new team.
One of the 700 attendees was loyal Brewers fan Vince Hall, back then a 15-year-old who was taken to the meeting by his father Harry, but now an 80-year-old who has seen all the great moments in Brewers history and who was one of the first to sign up for a season ticket for 2015/2016.
He said: “Councillor Burnell was the chairman of the meeting and the town hall was packed. We voted on the names and a lot of people voted for Burton Borough but I voted for Burton Albion and that got the most votes.
“It was a noisy meeting. When they decided they would definitely form the club everyone clapped and cheered. It was just ordinary people from the town.
“It all took shape very quickly and only a few weeks later we played our first match. I did a bit of maintenance as well for the club back then, painting the handrails around the ground.”
Vince might have even been a Burton Albion player in those early days.
He says: “I was keen on football and played for my works team, Baguley. Because I had been down the ground helping out with my dad, Don McPhail the manager said to me ‘you play football, would you like a game? ‘
“They had a Possibles vs Probables game on the Saturday and he put me on at half time for the Possibles. At the end he asked me if I wanted to sign on but I said ‘no' as I wanted to keep playing for my works team.”