No smoke without Fleur
The successful yet troubled tenure of Wrexham’s first Hollywood CEO.
Burton vs Wrexham: ‘The Fleur Derby’
There are some truly great stories about Fleur Robinson.
Consider how she helped take little Burton Albion from the sixth tier of the English pyramid right up to the Championship. Or how she held her own as the only female at the table during commercial managers’ meetings. Or how she founded a Community Trust to “inspire, engage and educate local people”.
These are the stories that convinced Wrexham they needed her. On paper, Robinson seemed to be the experienced, steady hand that was required to lift us out of non-league and regain our reputation as a respected member of the FL pyramid. She knew exactly how to do that, because she’d done it all before.
But then, there are the other stories.
Like the rumours of her brusque attitude apparently earning her the nickname “the **** in the cabin” whilst she worked from the confines of a temporary outdoor office. Or how signs were hung up at the stadium with the message “No King No Kaiser No Fleurer”. Or how a coach driver used her name as a deterrent on away days, barking down the bus: “Listen! We have a CEO who isn’t afraid to ban people, so if you have any beers, put them in the bin now or you won’t be coming again.”
No key figure in the Wrexham AFC resurgence has proven quite as divisive as Robinson. She is now back where she began at Burton Albion, this time in the CEO role, with our fixture against The Brewers labelled by some (more than a little tongue-in-cheek) as “The Fleur Derby”.
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