Bristol Rovers' League One rivals appoint Chelsea youth coach as new head coach

Bristol Rovers' League One rivals Burton Albion have appointed Chelsea Under-21s boss Mark Robinson as their new head coach ahead of the 2024/25 season following the departure of Martin Paterson.

Robinson has been in charge of the Blues' Under-21s for the past two years and before then was head coach of AFC Wimbledon in the third tier with the 41-year-old having a strong reputation for the development of young players.

The likes of Will Nightingale, Toby Sibbick, Anthony Harrigan, Jack Rudoni, Ayoub Assal, Jack Currie and Burton's Ryan Sweeney are all players whose development has been credited to Robinson in some way.

The appointment comes the day after the Brewers announced that long-serving chairman Ben Robinson would be selling his entire majority stake to Swedish-based Nordic Football Group.

Paterson replaced Dino Maamria in January at the Pirelli Stadium and narrowly guided Burton to survival in League One as the Brewers finished 20th, two points ahead of Cheltenham Town. The 37-year-old's departure was confirmed by the club last week upon the expiry of his short-term contract.

The appointment makes the Staffordshire club the fourth League One club to hire a new manager ahead of the upcoming campaign after Huddersfield Town (Michael Duff), Stevenage (Alex Revell) and Barnsley (Darrell Clarke) confirmed new faces in the dugout. At least one more will be made this summer with relegated Birmingham City still looking for Tony Mowbray's permanent replacement after his resignation to focus on his health.

The Brewers did the double over Rovers last season with a 4-1 win at the Pirelli in October before winning 2-1 at the Mem in February. When the two sides face each other this term will be revealed on Wednesday, June 26 when the EFL fixtures are announced.