Gary Bowyer recently achieved the feat of one year at Burton Albion as first-team manager.
In this time, Bowyer has brought stability to the side winning 19 games, saving Albion from relegation, and guiding them to 17th place in League One currently.
Meanwhile, the former Bradford City manager has also managed to guide Burton to the seventh best away form this season with the side picking up 12 points on their travels.
Now, with Bowyer celebrating one year at Burton Albion, this piece gives an overview of the era so far and what the short-term future may hold.
Following the sacking of Tom Hounsell in December 2024, Burton were sitting joint-bottom of the League One table with relegation looking likely.
With this in mind, Bowyer came into the club with a mighty task: save Burton Albion from relegation.
However, with a nine point gap existing between Albion and 20th place Rotherham United at the time, improvement would be needed to bridge the gap and to save themselves from relegation.
On the 1st of January 2025, Burton sat bottom of the League One table (eight points from safety).
But, the three months that would follow would see the gap close with Albion cutting the gap to six points by the end of March.
In this three month period, Gary Bowyer guided his side to wins against teams such as Rotherham, Lincoln City, and Shrewsbury Town helping them to pick up key points.
However, with a six point gap still present, work had to continue if Albion were to survive.
The start of April saw Albion win two games against Leyton Orient and Huddersfield Town whilst losing once against Wrexham.
These results saw Burton move out of the relegation zone with five games to go.
Following this, a win against Cambridge United alongside draws with Exeter City and Wigan Athletic saw the outfit survive by just one point with Crawley Town going down in 21st.
For Gary Bowyer and Burton Albion, surviving following the nine point gap that had been present was arguably a miracle but also a credit to the work that the manager had put into his side.
The 2025/26 season has seen Burton pick up 23 points, putting them in 17th after the first 19 games of the season.
Furthermore, with some sides having played twenty games, Burton could look to move away from the relegation zone (which currently is just one point below Albion).
Meanwhile, with the January window coming up, recruitment in the correct form could be crucial to ensuring survival is once again achieved by the side.
Therefore, for Bowyer, the upcoming window arguably could be the most important in his year-long reign at the club.
But, only time will tell in how Gary Bowyer chooses to recruit in the window and in how he decides to set up in the coming weeks and months.
