| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Benjamin Kieron Burgess | ||
| Date of birth | (1981-11-09)9 November 1981 (age 43) | ||
| Place of birth | Buxton, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Oldham Athletic | |||
| Stoke City | |||
| Everton | |||
| Blackburn Rovers | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1998–2002 | Blackburn Rovers | 2 | (0) |
| 2000–2001 | →Northern Spirit (loan) | 27 | (16) |
| 2001–2002 | →Brentford (loan) | 43 | (17) |
| 2002–2003 | Stockport County | 19 | (4) |
| 2003 | →Oldham Athletic (loan) | 7 | (0) |
| 2003–2006 | Hull City | 70 | (24) |
| 2006–2010 | Blackpool | 126 | (23) |
| 2010–2012 | Notts County | 45 | (5) |
| 2012 | →Cheltenham Town (loan) | 7 | (2) |
| 2012 | Tranmere Rovers | 0 | (0) |
| Total | 346 | (91) | |
| International career | |||
| 1999–2000 | Republic of Ireland U18 | 4 | (1) |
| 2001–2002 | Republic of Ireland U21 | 4 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Benjamin Kieron Burgess (born 9 November 1981) is an English-born Irish retiredfootballer best known for his time playing forHull City andBlackpool. He was capped by the Republic of Ireland at U18 andU21 level.
Burgess began his career with spells as a youth atOldham Athletic,Stoke City,Everton and joinedBlackburn Rovers at age 16,[1] where he stayed until 2002, but made just two league appearances for the club.[2] On 3 October 2000 he went on loan toNorth Sydney basedNorthern Spirit in Australia.[2] He scored 16 goals in 27 appearances for the club.[3] In the 2001–02 season he went on loan toBrentford, before moving toStockport County on 16 July 2002.[2] He had a two-month loan spell atOldham Athletic from January to March 2003, before signing forHull City on 27 March.[2]
Burgess became the first Hull City player to score a hat-trick at theKC Stadium on 26 April 2003, in a match againstKidderminster Harriers. He was City's top scorer in their2003–04 promotion campaign, scoring 18 goals and forming a partnership withDanny Allsopp. However, he suffered a serious cruciate ligament injury late in the season in a match againstHuddersfield Town and did not appear in Hull's2004–05League One campaign until promotion had already been secured, showing sportsmanship by declining to accept any promotion award.[4]
He soon returned to scoring despite playing two levels higher in theChampionship, scoring one of two goals in the Tigers' first win of the2005–06 season at home againstBrighton & Hove Albion.[5]
Burgess joined Blackpool on 31 August 2006, for an initial fee of £25,000, with a further £75,000 paid after he had played 30 games. On 31 October 2006, he scored his first goals for Blackpool when he bagged a brace in a 4–4 draw withAccrington Stanley in theLeague Trophy.[6] On 27 May 2007, Burgess was an unused substitute in Blackpool'sLeague One play-off final victory overYeovil Town atWembley.[7] On 14 August 2007, Burgess, on as a second-half substitute, scored the only goal of the game as Blackpool beat Huddersfield Town in the first round of theLeague Cup.[8] On 7 May 2008 Blackpool activated an option to extend his contract with the club by one year.[9] On 27 March 2009 Burgess signed a new twelve-month contract withthe Seasiders with an option for a further year.[10]
Burgess started the 2009–10 season by scoring inthe Seasiders opening day 1–1 draw withQueens Park Rangers atLoftus Road on 8 August 2009.[11] His 100th league appearance for the club was as a 61st-minute substitute in a goalless draw withSwansea City at theLiberty Stadium on 24 October. He gained his fourth promotion and second with Blackpool in the Championship play-off Final at Wembley on 22 May 2010.[11]
On 2 August 2010 Notts County confirmed the signing of Burgess from Blackpool on a free transfer. In May 2012 he was released by Notts County, along with 12 other players.[12]
On 22 March 2012 it was confirmed that Burgess would join Cheltenham Town on loan until the end of the season, scoring the second goal of Cheltenham's play-off semi-final first leg at Whaddon Road against Torquay United with a header from "a full 18 yards".[13]
On 1 June 2012 it was confirmed that Burgess had joined League One outfit Tranmere Rovers on a two-year deal after turning down a contract offer fromCheltenham Town due to the club having failed to gain promotion from League Two.[14] After just under two months at Tranmere, Burgess decided to leave the club and retire from professional football. He stated that he felt he could no longer give 100% consistently and felt retirement was appropriate at that time. He went on to thank Tranmere for their continued support.
Although born in England, Burgess qualified to play for bothEngland andRepublic of Ireland. Burgess chose to represent Ireland and won caps for the U18 andU21 teams.[15]
Burgess is aManchester City supporter.[1]
| Club | Season | Division | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Blackburn Rovers | 1999–00[16] | First Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |
| 2000–01[17] | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| Northern Spirit (loan) | 2000–01[3] | National Soccer League | 27 | 16 | — | — | — | 27 | 16 | |||
| Brentford (loan) | 2001–02[18] | Second Division | 43 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4[a] | 0 | 51 | 18 |
| Stockport County | 2002–03[19] | Second Division | 19 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2[b] | 0 | 24 | 6 |
| Oldham Athletic (loan) | 2002–03[19] | Second Division | 7 | 0 | — | — | — | 7 | 0 | |||
| Hull City | 2002–03[19] | Third Division | 7 | 4 | — | — | — | 7 | 4 | |||
| 2003–04[20] | 44 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 18 | ||
| 2004–05[4] | League One | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2005–06[5] | Championship | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 15 | 2 | ||
| 2006–07[6] | 3 | 0 | — | 1 | 1 | — | 4 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 70 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 74 | 25 | ||
| Blackpool | 2006–07[6] | League One | 27 | 2 | 3 | 1 | — | 1[b] | 2 | 32 | 5 | |
| 2007–08[8] | Championship | 35 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | 37 | 10 | ||
| 2008–09[21] | 29 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 31 | 6 | |||
| 2009–10[11] | 31 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3[22] | 0 | 33 | 8 | ||
| Total | 126 | 23 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 133 | 29 | ||
| Notts County | 2010–11[23] | League One | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 1 |
| 2011–12[13] | 28 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 4 | ||
| Total | 45 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 5 | ||
| Cheltenham Town (loan) | 2011–12[13] | League Two | 7 | 2 | — | — | 3[22] | 1 | 10 | 3 | ||
| Career total | 346 | 91 | 13 | 4 | 12 | 4 | 13 | 3 | 384 | 102 | ||
Burgess gained a First class honours degree in Sports Journalism in 2009. After the end of the 2007–08 season he spent time at theBlackpool Gazette as a trainee journalist on work experience. In August 2012, after he had retired from playing football he started writing a weekly column about former club Blackpool for the newspaper.[24] In his first column he revealed that he would be studying for aPostgraduate Certificate in Education atEdge Hill University,Ormskirk, with a view to becoming aprimary school teacher. He also began working forBBC Radio Lancashire as a summariser for Blackpool home games.[25][26] Burgess began working as a teacher in September 2013, but continues some of his media work.[3]
Blackpool
