BURTON Albion Chairman Ben Robinson has been awarded the MBE in the Queen’s birthday honours list.
The award has been made to mark Ben’s charity work and impact on the community.
As well as positioning Burton Albion as a community-focused club and championing the work of the club’s charity arm Burton Albion Community Trust, Ben is chairman of the Consolidated Charity of Burton and President of the YMCA and the Staffordshire Playing Fields Association. He is a trustee and director at the Burton Addiction Centre.
He was made a Deputy Lieutenant of Staffordshire in 2017 and has previously been awarded the BEM.
Ben said: “I am honoured and delighted to receive this award, especially as it recognises the community work which has always been so important to me. Whether it has been through Burton Albion or the charities which I have had the pleasure to serve, trying to put something back into the community where I have always lived and worked has been at the heart of what I have tried to achieve and will continue to do.”
Ben first joined the board at Burton Albion in February 1975 and within 18 months became chairman for the first time. After a nine-year break to concentrate on developing his insurance business he returned for a second spell as BAFC chairman in 1995 and under his guidance the club moved from the second tier in non-league football to the Championship – enjoying four promotions (three as champions).
After entering the Football League, the club launched its charity arm and Burton Albion Community Trust’s work has seen the Brewers twice named Midlands Community Club of the Year. Ben also masterminded the club’s move to the Pirelli Stadium in 2005.