FA charges Burton with breaching agent regulations

Burton Albion have been charged by the Football Association with 28 breaches of agent regulations relating to deals made during the club's British-record transfer spree in 2024.

Agent Conor Hayden has also been charged over the alleged issue, first reported by BBC Sport in July 2025, which is linked to 25 player "transactions" made in the summer that the club was taken over the Sweden-based Nordic Football Group (NFG).

An unprecedented overhaul of the League One squad under NFG involved a total of 47 players moving in and out of the club - which included setting a new British record of 23 players recruited in a single transfer window.

Burton, who went on to narrowly avoid relegation from the third tier in the 2024-25 season, had outsourced its transfer dealings to the London-based agent that summer.

The FA said Hayden "allegedly concealed and/or misrepresented the reality and/or substance of these transactions so that it was not declared that he had acted for the club".

Across that entire campaign, Hayden was involved in a total of 43 deals done by Burton - including the one that brought manager Gary Bowyer to the club in December 2024.

In a statement on the Brewers website,, external Burton say they were "entitled to use the services" of the agent and went on to admit they did not immediately make the "necessary disclosures".

Burton added that the alleged breaches were "administrative oversights" and that "neither the club nor Conor gained any benefit or advantage from these disclosure failings".

"The club wishes to stress that there was no deliberate attempt on its part to circumvent the FA's Football Agent Regulations," the club said.

"Upon being contacted by The FA for clarification and realising the inadvertent administrative errors that had taken place, the club apologised and co-operated with The FA, providing fulsome disclosure throughout the course of The FA's investigation.

"The club also immediately put in place processes to ensure the same error would not happen again in future transfer windows."

BBC Sport has contacted Hayden for comment.

Burton and Hayden have until 24 June to respond to the charges.