FOUR Burton Albion legends from the 1950s have been inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame.
Every year Burton Albion fans are invited to vote for their all-time Brewers legend with the winner inducted into the Hall of Fame. The winner is then invited to the annual awards dinner to receive the award. With the pandemic making that impossible this year a different approach was taken.
To coincide with the 70th anniversary season of Burton Albion it was decided to celebrate the founding fathers of the club we all know and love.
Therefore, we asked a panel of long-standing Burton Albion fans and historians to make the decision.
They have chosen four worthy winners:
- Nobby Hadfield – Albert Hadfield was described by Rex Page in his Burton Albion book as unquestionably the first man in the queue for the Burton Albion Hall of Fame. A 26-year-old centre half, he took the No 5 shirt in the Brewers first ever game in August 1950. Tough but fair, he was considered the best defender in the old Birmingham League. He clocked up 270 appearances between 1950 and 1957 and was rewarded with a benefit game watched by almost 5,000 fans.
- Dave McAdam – For most of the first decade of the club’s existence Burton Albion had only one first choice left half, a skilful footballer who although born in Hereford became a Burtonian through and through. From 1951 to 1960, Dave McAdam made 238 appearances. Long after his playing career was over, he was still a fan, attending games right up to the end of his life.
- Bill Townsend – The former Derby County goalkeeper made 204 appearances between 1953 and 1960 for the Brewers. The landlord of the Smiths’ Arms in Branston he was the hero of Albion’s epic FA Cup run to the Third Round in 1956, especially in earning a 0-0 draw in the Second Round at Halifax pulling of a string of saves despite an injured shoulder that meant he couldn’t even pull a pint in his pub the next day.
- Reg Weston – the former Derby County defender became player-manager in the 1953/54 season and brought the Brewers their first silverware – the Birmingham Senior Cup in front of a 5,700 crowd. A month later the Brewers were awarded the Keys Cup as runners up in the Birmingham League. He retired in the summer of 1957 after four seasons in charge and 158 appearances.
All four will be now take their rightful places in the Burton Albion Hall of Fame.