We need to be realistic - Burton chairman

Burton Albion's interim chairman Wouter Gudde has stressed the club need to be realistic over immediate on-pitch ambitions.

Gudde, who took over as interim chairman in May 2025, has also admitted the club must continue to reduce its financial losses to safeguard its future.

In an interview with BBC Radio Derby, he outlined plans to cut the financial deficit further after reporting losses of around £8.3 million in the 2024/25 season. The 2025/26 figure is expected to drop to approximately £5.5 million.

"The most important job you have is not bringing success on the pitch, but creating a future for the club," he said.

"Working with very big losses without having a forecast for the next three years to be profitable, or close to profitable, I think is very dangerous," he added.

The chairman acknowledged manager Gary Bowyer's desire to change the club's narrative from relegation battles but said expectations must remain grounded.

Bowyer was described as a 'miracle worker' in the 24/25 season after guiding the Brewers to League One safety in his first year as manager. He then led them to a 17th place finish in the 25/26 season, confirming safety in late April.

"I really understand what Gary's saying, because it can be frustrating to be in a relegation battle every year, but I'm also realistic," he said.

"The expectation to go next year to a top half finish and compete for playoffs, that's not realistic. It doesn't mean that we're not going to try to be competitive every game."

Gudde, a rebuild specialist formerly at Dutch side FC Groningen, was vocal about the wider financial challenges in the EFL.

He criticised the system in place, and called for stronger regulations on injections of cash.

When asked by BBC Radio Derby for his solution, Gudde replied: "Simple. You need to be a lot stricter with regulation. The equity should be limited or not even allowed.

"I think we should strive to work towards a sustainable situation where you don't lose money at all," he said. "We need to be willing to change."

He confirmed Nordic Football Group (NFG) remained committed to the club despite early challenges.

The chairman also defended the club's evolving structure, moving towards a more distributed leadership with a sporting director and planned CEO appointment.

"It's never going to be a one or two-man show at Burton Albion," he said.

The club is still awaiting the outcome of an FA investigation into previous matters, for which Gudde said there was no update but pledged full transparency when a decision was reached.

You can hear the full interview with the Burton Albion interim chairman Wouter Gudde on BBC Sounds.