Alexander Burns (born 4 August 1973) is a Scottish former footballer who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

, Heracles, Southend United,

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

, among other teams. He later became a police officer.

Career

Burns began his career with junior club

Shotts Bon Accord Shotts Bon Accord Football Club are a Scotland, Scottish association football, football club based in the town of Shotts, North Lanarkshire. History Shotts Bon Accord were formed in 1950 and currently compete in the . In 1995 Shotts were s ...

, before joining

in 1991. Upon departing Fir Park after six years with the Lanarkshire side, in which they finished third in the Scottish Premier Division in 1993–94 and runners-up in 1994–95, he moved around several clubs, rarely spending more than one season at each. Beginning with a spell with Dutch side

Heracles Almelo Heracles Almelo is a Dutch professional football club based in Almelo, founded in 1903. The club has won the Dutch national title twice, in 1927 and 1941. Heracles won the Eerste Divisie title during the 2004–05 season, gaining promotion to th ...

, he signed for English side Southend and returned to Scotland in 1999, joining second-tier Raith Rovers. Burns then joined

, and after helping them win promotion to the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

in 2000–01, transferred to St Mirren. After scoring a career-best 16 SPL goals with

in 2002–03, he returned to his first club Motherwell for a second spell. He had a loan spell with Clyde in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, soon turning to part-time football with Brechin City. He joined

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of L ...

the following season, before dropping out of the senior game to sign for Petershill. Burns joined Strathclyde Police in 2008 and served as a community officer in North Lanarkshire.Airdrie South Community Police
Strathclyde Police (archived version, 2010

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, Alex Living people category:Officers in Scottish police forces 1973 births Footballers from Bellshill Scottish footballers Shotts Bon Accord F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Heracles Almelo players Southend United F.C. players Raith Rovers F.C. players Livingston F.C. players St Mirren F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. players Petershill F.C. players Clyde F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players Brechin City F.C. players Stranraer F.C. players Scottish Premier League players Scottish police officers Scottish Football League players Eerste Divisie players Association football forwards Scottish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands