NIGEL Clough says that Darren Stride is a worthy first winner of the Hall of Fame award.
Burton Albion introduced a Hall of Fame for the first time this year at the end of season Players' Awards and asked for nominations from the fans.
Supporters were invited to vote for any player who had made an oustanding contribution at any point in the club's 68-year history and Stride received the most votes.
'Stridey' played for the Brewers for 17 years from 1993 to 2010 and as captain led the club to the first league titles in the club's history - the Northern Premier League (Unibond) title in 2001/2002 and the Conference (Blue Square) title in 2008/2009. He then became the club's first captain as a Football League club.
Stride is the club's record appearance holder having played for the Brewers 654 times and he scored more than 100 goals. A dynamic midfielder in his early days, he later became a solid centre back but played in almost every position for the club including emergency goalkeeper.
Nigel Clough was his manager from 1998 to 2009. He said: "I think it's only fitting that Darren should be the first winner of the Hall of Fame for the club for the appearances he made, the goals he scored and the loyalty to the club. He played a major part in the club achieviing what it did over a number of years.
"It was clear when we first came to the club that he would make a good captain and one who would remain captain for many years."
Hall of Fame with Darren Stride Gallery - click here