Tommy Burns (footballer)

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Tommy Burns
image:TommyBurns.jpg
Personal information
Full name Thomas Burns
Date of birth 16 December 1956
Place of birth    Glasgow, Scotland
Date of death    15 May 2008 (aged 51)
Place of death    Glasgow, Scotland
Playing position Midfielder
Youth clubs
Maryhill
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1975–1989
1989–1994		 Celtic
Kilmarnock
Total		 352 0(52)
151 0(16)
503 0(68)   
National team
1981–1988 Scotland 008 00(0)
Teams managed
1992–1994
1994–1997
1998–1999		 Kilmarnock
Celtic
Reading

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only.
* Appearances (Goals)

Thomas "Tommy" Burns (16 December 1956 – 15 May 2008) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. He was also a Scotland international, winning eight caps while a Celtic player. In 2006 he was diagnosed with skin cancer which, despite a brief recovery, he succumbed to on May 15, 2008.

Contents

[edit] Career

Although he started out as a goalkeeper for non-league side Benburb F.C., Burns eventually became a midfielder, and was signed by Celtic in 1973 from his second club Maryhill, a junior team from Glasgow. He made his debut against Dundee United on 19 April 1975, and he was a vital part of the side which won the league and cup double in the club's centenary season, 1988. In total, he made 352 league appearances and scored 52 goals.

The following year, Burns moved to Kilmarnock, where he became player-manager in 1992, winning the club promotion to the Scottish Premier Division in season 1992-93.

Burns moved to become manager at Celtic at the start of season 1994-95, in acrimonious circumstances as he was still under contract to Kilmarnock as both player and manager. Kilmarnock refused to release him from his contract and the Scottish Football Association subsequently fined Celtic £100,000 for 'tapping', or speaking to Burns without obtaining Kilmarnock's permission. Kilmarnock were also permitted to retain his playing registration, effectively ending his professional career as a player.

At Celtic, his team grew a reputation for playing attractive and attacking football and they won the Scottish Cup in 1995;[1] but Celtic proved unable to break the domination of Old Firm rivals Rangers. Burns was sacked from Celtic in 1997 and went on to work under Kenny Dalglish at Newcastle United. He later moved on to a period of management at Reading.

He became assistant manager of the Scottish national team under Berti Vogts in 2002 and retained the position under Walter Smith. In between, he managed Scotland for one match, a 4-1 friendly defeat to Sweden.[2] He returned to Celtic for a third time when Martin O'Neill placed him in charge of youth development. Upon the arrival of Gordon Strachan as manager in 2005, Burns was appointed First Team Coach, a role he combined with his Youth Development post.

On 18 January 2007, Burns announced through Celtic's official website that he was severing all ties with the Scottish national team to concentrate on his role at the club. It was reported that Burns had found out that he was not a potential candidate for the job of national team coach.[3].

[edit] Illness and death

On 29 March 2006, Celtic confirmed Burns had begun treatment for melanoma skin cancer.[4]. On 10 March 2008, Celtic announced that Burns was facing another skin cancer scare, and would be undergoing further treatment for the disease. [5] On 15 May 2008, Burns died at home.[6] The funeral was held at Glasgow's St Mary's Church on 20 May 2008.

[edit] Tributes

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan was among those those who paid tribute to Burns. A visibly emotional Strachan said "being Tommy's mate was the best part of joining Celtic" and that "There weren't many better than him. But, as a person, he was top of the league when it comes to being a man."[7] Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell said "If you define a Celtic man, it would certainly be Tommy Burns. He was a wonderful human being."[7] Club captain Stephen McManus said "He was courageous and he was probably as brave a man as you'll ever meet."[7] Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist, who had worked with Burns in his role for the Scotland national team, said "I have met a lot of good people through football but Tam was the very best."[8] On 16 May Rangers manager Walter Smith and McCoist arrived at Celtic Park to lay a wreath in memory of Burns, and then spent half an hour in the stadium, speaking with Celtic officials, then another half hour outside speaking to fans. Smith and McCoist also served as pallbearers at Burns' funeral.[9]

[edit] Playing honours

[edit] Celtic

[edit] Managerial honours

[edit] Kilmarnock

[edit] Celtic

[edit] References

  1. ^ Reid, Harry (2005), The Final Whistle", Birlinn, 182, ISBN 1-84158-362-6
  2. ^ "Scotland 1-4 Sweden", BBC Sport, 2004-11-17. Retrieved on 2008-05-15. 
  3. ^ Burns quits national set-up, The Scotsman
  4. ^ "Burns undergoes cancer treatment", BBC, 29 March 2006. 
  5. ^ "Burns facing fresh cancer battle", BBC, 10 March 2008. 
  6. ^ "Celtic's Burns succumbs to cancer", BBC Sport, 2008-05-15. Retrieved on 2008-05-15. 
  7. ^ a b c "Strachan leads tributes to Burns", BBC Sport, 2008-05-15. Retrieved on 2008-05-16. 
  8. ^ "Ally McCoist: Celtic's Tommy Burns was the best person I've ever met.", =2008-05-16. Retrieved on 2008-05-16. 
  9. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7409117.stm Thousands bid farewell to Burns

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Kilmarnock F.C. – Managers

Spence (1919–37) • McGrory (1937–45) • Smith (1945–47) • Mather (1947–48) • Hastings (1948–50) • McDonald (1950–57) • Waddell (1957–69) • McCrae (1969–73) • Fernie (1973–77) • Sneddon (1977–81) • Clunie (1981–85) • Morrison (1985–89) • Fleeting (1989–90) • Burns (1990–94) • Totten (1994–96) • Williamson (1996–02) • Jefferies (2002–)
v • d • e
Celtic F.C. – Managers

Maley (1897–1940) • McStay (1940–1945) • McGrory (1945–1965) • Stein (1965–1978) • McNeill (1978–1983) • Hay (1983–1987) • McNeill (1987–1991) • Brady (1991–1993) • Macari (1993–1994) • Burns (1994–1997) • Jansen (1997–1998) • Vengloš (1998–1999) • Barnes (1999–2000) • Dalglish (2000) • O'Neill (2000–2005) • Strachan (2005–)
v • d • e
Reading F.C. – Managers

Sefton (1897–1901) • Sharp (1901–02) • Matthews (1902–22) • Marshall (1922–23) • Chadwick (1923–25) • Bray (1925–26) • Wylie (1926–31) • Joe Smith (1931–35) • Butler (1935–39) • Cochrane (1939) • Edelston (1939–47) • Drake (1947–52) • Jack Smith (1952–55) • Johnston (1955–63) • Bentley (1963–69) • Mansell (1969–72) • Hurley (1972–77) • Evans (1977–84) • Branfoot (1984–89) • Chatterley (1989c) • Porterfield (1989–91) • McGhee (1991–94) • Gooding, Hopkins, Williams & Quinn (1994–95c) • Gooding & Quinn (1995–97) • Bullivant (1997–98) • Pardew (1998) • Burns (1998–99) • Pardew (1999–03) • Dillon (2003c) • Coppell (2003–)

(c) = caretaker manager