Martin Burleigh

Martin Burleigh
Personal information
Full nameMartin Stewart Burleigh[1]
Date of birth2 February 1951[2]
Place of birthWillington, County Durham, England
Playing positionGoalkeeper
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
196?–1968Willington
1968–1974Newcastle United11(0)
1974–1975Darlington30(0)
1975–1977Carlisle United26(0)
1977–1979Darlington71(0)
1979–1982Hartlepool United84(0)
1982–19??Bishop Auckland
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Martin Stewart Burleigh (born 2 February 1951) is an English former professional footballer who made 222 appearances in the Football League playing as a goalkeeper for Newcastle United, Darlington, Carlisle United and Hartlepool United.[2]

Club career

Burleigh was born in Willington, County Durham,[2] and played for the local club, Willington A.F.C., before turning professional with Newcastle United in 1968. He made his first-team debut on 26 December 1970, in a 3–0 defeat away to Leeds United in the First Division. An injury to undisputed first-choice goalkeeper Iam McFaul in February 1975 allowed Burleigh a run of games in the first team,[3][4] but the run ended when he broke a finger,[5] and he played only twice more. In six years with the club he made just 14 first-team appearances in all competitions.[4]

He spent the 1974–75 season with Fourth Division club Darlington, before moving on to Carlisle United, newly relegated to the Second Division, in 1975.[2] Although a transfer request was accepted in November that same year,[6] Burleigh remained with Carlisle until 1977. He then returned to Darlington for a further two-year spell,[2] in the first of which he was the club's player of the season.[7] He finished his professional career with three seasons at Fourth Division Hartlepool United, for whom he made 96 appearances in all competitions,[1] before moving into non-league football with Bishop Auckland in 1982.[2]

He went on to work as a painter and decorator in Ferryhill, County Durham.[3]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Player stats: MS Burleigh". PoolStats. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "Martin Burleigh". Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Players Database. Neil Brown. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Struthers, Greg (17 April 2005). "Caught in time". Sunday Times (London). p. Sport 26.
  4. 4.0 4.1 "Player Details: Martin Burleigh". Toon1892. Kenneth H Scott. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  5. "Hill to look for sponsors". The Guardian. 17 April 1973. p. 27.
  6. "Millwall sell to survive". The Guardian. 13 November 1975. p. 19.
  7. Amos, Mike (8 February 2005). "West set for big stage". The Northern Echo (Darlington). p. 22 via Newsbank.