Charlie Burns

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Charles "Charlie" Burns is a former footballer and coach.

Burns was born in Scotland and as a youth, he joined Celtic F.C. Here, he excelled and was hailed as an exciting prospect. However, his budding career was painfully cut short when he suffered a damaged cruciate ligament injury. He gave up football and later became a plumber. In 1993, Burns moved to Derry in Northern Ireland, with hope of getting a job. He settled in the small village of Strathfoyle. It was here where he re-discovered his passion for football, as he joined the local team, Lisahally F.C., however his efforts were in vain, as his knee simply could not cope with the strains of football. He later became the assistant manager of Lisahally and helped guide them to relative success locally. Burns is renowned for his ability to motivate his players. He has a drive and passion for the sport that is almost unrivalled and his most famous outburst came in the 2001 Foyle Cup, when he entered a young Institute F.C. dressing room at half time when they were losing and delivered a team talk that Alex Ferguson would be proud of. Institute then went on to win the game, and Burns was offered a position as assistant manager at the Drumahoe side. He politely declined but agreed to send young players from Lisahally on trial. This was a breakthrough for the Strathfoyle side, who had never before formed any links with such a club. Mid-way through the 2006 season, Burns left Lisahally to take up a coaching job in Scotland. While at Lisahally, his players referred to him as "Scotch Charlie".