Manchester United draw was the 'most important' result in Burton Albion's history... it brought the chairman to tears, reveals Nigel Clough

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Nigel Clough has revealed the tears of his chairman the last time Burton Albion came up against Manchester United, in a tie he described as the ‘most important’ moment in the club’s history.

Against all odds, Burton held United to an FA Cup draw in January 2006, earning a replay at Old Trafford and a windfall of around £800,000, which altered the future for the then non-league side.

Burton were able to pay off the overspend on the newly built Pirelli Stadium as well as invest in a playing squad that has since risen remarkably.

Burton boss Nigel Clough and chairman Ben Robinson after their draw with Manchester United

The amateur side held Sir Alex Ferguson's great United side to earn a lucrative FA Cup replay

Clough said chairman Ben Robinson was overcome with emotion at the final whistle of the first game and both men are in place again for another trip to United, with Burton having gone from amateurs to the Championship in the intervening 11 years.

‘Getting the replay is singularly the most important development in the rise of the club,’ said Clough. ‘We needed a new stadium, but it was a big risk. It went over budget and we got Man United at the absolute perfect time. 

'The initial game wouldn’t have been enough. It was the replay that made the difference and we’ve been debt-free ever since.’

Robinson’s reaction when referee Howard Webb signalled full-time on the 0-0 result spoke volumes. 

‘He was in tears, seriously, he was crying,’ said Clough. ‘Such was the whole emotion of the day. He knew what getting that replay meant going forward. It was just a massive amount of money for a non-league club.’

The importance of the draw, rather than victory, was not lost on Robinson. 

Clough still remembers his side holding off the talents of Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney

‘We nearly got a penalty at the end when Gerard Pique handled it. Our chairman has seen Howard Webb since and Howard says, "I think it might have been a penalty". Our chairman says, "It definitely wasn’t!"

‘My outstanding memory of that first game is when United brought on Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo after 59 minutes. We faced up to them for 30 minutes and survived.

‘Our players were part-time, doing all sorts. Darren Stride, our captain, was a builder. Darren Tinson, the centre-half, was doing fitness work.’

More than 100 places separated the clubs back then, but after three promotions by Burton plus a courageous survival last season, the gap is down to 37 positions. But the financial chasm has opened. 

While United spent £75million on Romelu Lukaku this summer, Burton broke their transfer record by spending £500,000 on striker Liam Boyce, who is out injured for the season.

Clough will meet Jose Mourinho for the first time, having only previously spoken to the Portuguese on the phone, for a book on Nottingham Forest called, ‘I Believe in Miracles’. Mourinho wrote the foreword, revealing his admiration for Clough’s father Brian.

Their FA Cup replay at Old Trafford transformed the club's fortunes, earning them £800,000 

The money was used to invest in a playing squad and pay off their new stadium

‘I’m looking forward to meeting him,’ said Clough, who sees similarities between his dad and the current United manager. ‘They deal with things in such a no-nonsense manner. 

‘It’s black or it’s white, if a player does the job for him he has him in, and if he doesn’t that’s it. The way he deals with the press, there are similarities there. But he’s just no-nonsense and says what he thinks, and that’s the biggest similarity.’

Clough did not spend much time analysing Mourinho’s team against Everton, however. 

‘I watched the first 10 minutes! That was enough,’ he said. ‘My wife said, “Do you want to watch it?” I said, “Not really.” So we turned it off.

Clough, back in the same role, meets Manchester United in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday

‘You can’t learn much. You don’t know what side they’re going to put out for a start. So we will be concentrating on ourselves and not worrying too much about them because it just frightens us.

‘It frightens the players. Everton are a very good team and they literally couldn’t get out of their half for the first 10 minutes of the game. Hopefully we will. We might try to kick it a bit further than them and get a couple of balls to their corner flag.’

Burton enter the game off the back of Clough’s best result in charge, a 2-1 win over Fulham, and preparations will not be different just because the next opponents are leading the Premier League.

‘We will relax and be stressing to players to have a go, work as we do in every Championship game, but just enjoy the evening. The whole club has to enjoy it as well. We were very fortunate to go there 11 years ago and now we’re going again.’