Burton United Football Club was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in

Burton upon Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 censu ...

in England. The club was established in 1901 by a merger of Burton Swifts and Burton Wanderers, and played their last competitive season in 1910. In 1924 they merged with Burton All Saints continuing the lineage of the history of football in Burton, while at the same time legally ending the club. Between 1901 and 1907 the club were members of

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

History

The club was formed in 1901 when Burton Swifts merged with Burton Wanderers. Swifts had played in the Football League since 1892, whilst Wanderers had been Football League members between 1894 and 1897 but were now members of the

Midland League The Midland Football League, officially known as the Capelli Sport Midland Football League since January 2025 for sponsorship reasons, is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midl ...

. It was unusual for a smaller town such as Burton to host two Football League clubs so it was hoped the merger would see an upturn in fortunes for the United club. BurtonUnited

The new club took Swifts' place in the Second Division of the Football League and took over residence at their Peel Croft home. However, the new club failed to achieve success, and never finished above 10th place or made it past the first round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

. In the

1904–05 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' D ...

and 1905–06 seasons the club finished in second last place, and in 1906–07 finished bottom. At the end of the season the club failed to win re-election, losing their Football League place to

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

. Following the re-election meeting Burslem Port Vale resigned from the League, and although United applied to take their place, it was instead offered to and accepted by

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

.Twydell, p7 The club dropped into the Birmingham & District League, and in 1909 also became members of the Southern League. At the end of the 1909–10 season the club finished bottom of the Birmingham & District League and second bottom of their Southern League division, and subsequently merged with Burton All Saints, who had been established around the same time as United. They became Burton Town in 1924. They ceased playing in 1940, and were merged into Burton Albion shortly after they were founded in 1950. Albion did not reach the second tier of English football, however, until 2015–16, when they were promoted to the by-now

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...

Records

**Best performance: First round, 1906–07

References

External links

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Burton United
– Historical Kits {{former football league members English Football League clubs Defunct football clubs in England Sport in Burton upon Trent Association football clubs established in 1901 Association football clubs disestablished in 1910 Defunct football clubs in Staffordshire 1901 establishments in England 1910 disestablishments in England Southern Football League clubs