Deon John Burton (born 25 October 1976) is a football coach and former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a striker and who is the current Under-23's Manager of

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

club

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

. His numerous clubs in English football included

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

and

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

. He represented

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

internationally, including at the

1998 World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

, and was named

Jamaican Sportsman of the Year The Jamaican Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year is an annual election, organised by the RJR Sports Foundation, which honours outstanding achievement(s) in sport by Jamaican athletes during the previous year. List of winners See also *Athlete ...

in 1997.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

, Berkshire, Burton began his professional career with

, with whom he made his debut in the 1993–94 season, playing in two games. Burton would play intermittently for Portsmouth over the next three seasons and scored the goal that kept the club in the First Division in a 1–0 final day win against

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

in May 1996. In 1997, former Portsmouth manager Jim Smith signed Burton for

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

in a £1 million move.

Derby County, return to Portsmouth and loans

Burton would again struggle to establish a starting role at Derby, playing intermittently there with

loans In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that de ...

at other clubs including Stoke in February 2002, and a second spell at Portsmouth, which began in August 2002. He returned to Derby in September having broken a bone in his foot, but later signed for Portsmouth in December 2002 for a fee rising to £250,000 and Portsmouth were promoted at the end of the season. Burton stayed shortly at Portsmouth, but, unable to establish a starting role, was loaned to

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

and

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

, where he scored once against Wycombe Wanderers. In July 2004 he signed for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

, playing for them in the 2004–05 campaign and helping the club to the League One play-off semi-finals against Sheffield Wednesday as their top scorer.

Rotherham United

In July 2005 he joined

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

on a free transfer, signing a contract for two years. After scoring 14 goals in the first half of the season, including a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in a 4–0 victory against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

, Burton put in a transfer request in December 2005.

Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday bought Burton from Rotherham United in January 2006 for a fee of £110,000, after he had failed to turn up at the Yorkshire derby between Rotherham and

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

on New Year's Eve. He scored his first goal for Wednesday in March 2006 against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

. He went on to play a crucial part in Sheffield Wednesday's Championship survival and returned to play against his old club Derby County on the final day of the 2005–06 season, captaining the Wednesday side to a 2–0 victory with another former Ram,

Marcus Tudgay Marcus Tudgay (born 3 February 1983) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for South Normanton Athletic. He has played in the English Football League for Derby County, Sheffield Wednesday, Nottingham Forest, Barnsley, C ...

, scoring the first goal. His good form for Wednesday led to a recall to the international stage. Named as a standby for the friendlies against

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, he was eventually called up as a replacement for Watford striker

Marlon King Marlon Francis King (born 26 April 1980) is a Jamaican former professional footballer who played as a striker. Born and raised in south London, he started his career in non-League football with Dulwich Hamlet. He played for Barnet, Gillingham ...

who was sent home for a breach of discipline. Burton made a second-half appearance as substitute in the 6–0 defeat to

. Despite only scoring one goal with four months of the 2006–07 campaign gone, Burton's second half of season form was excellent. He scored 12 more goals, making him the club's joint top scorer for the season, alongside Steve MacLean. Burton reached a milestone 100 career goals at club level on 26 December 2007, scoring a penalty against Burnley at

Turf Moor Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C. since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in English professional football ...

. On the last day of the season against

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, with Wednesday needing a win to guarantee survival, Burton cancelled out

Darren Huckerby Darren Carl Huckerby (born 23 April 1976) is an English football coach and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a forward who notably played in the Premier League for Newcastle United, Coventry City, Leeds United, Manchester Cit ...

's opening goal with a penalty, before scoring his second, and Wednesday's third, later in the game, which was won 4–1 by Wednesday. These two goals brought his tally for the season to nine goals in all competitions, again making him the club's top scorer for the 2007–08 season. Burton scored his first goal of the 2008–09 season on 25 November 2008, in Wednesday's 0–2 away win at

Charlton Athletic

Burton joined Championship side

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

on loan on 27 November 2008 with a view to a permanent move, Wednesday manager

Brian Laws Brian Laws (born 14 October 1961) is an English former professional footballer and manager. Playing as a defender, Laws made over 100 appearances for each of Burnley, Middlesbrough, and Nottingham Forest. In 1994, Laws became player-manager of ...

citing Burton's poor start to the 2008–09 season for the move as well as not being able to give the player assurances over his long-term future at Hillsborough. On 2 January 2009, Burton was named as a permanent Charlton player, joining the club on a free transfer.

Gabala

In 2010, Burton joined

Azerbaijan Premier League The Azerbaijan Premier League ( az, Azərbaycan Premyer Liqası) is a professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Azerbaijan football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is conteste ...

outfit Gabala under the management of

Tony Adams Tony Alexander Adams (born 10 October 1966) is an English former football manager and player. Adams played for Arsenal and England, captaining both teams. He spent his entire playing career of 19 years as a centre back at Arsenal, making 672 ...

signing a two-year contract. After two years and 15 goals in the 50 league games, Burton left Gabala at the end of the 2011–12 season.

Gillingham

On 7 August 2012, Burton signed a one-year deal at

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club Gillingham, turning down the offer of a deal at an unnamed

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side. He made his debut for Gillingham on 18 August 2012 in 3–1 win over

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

. He scored his first goal for the club on 25 August in a 2–1 win away to

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as Dag ...

. Burton was not offered an extension to his contract and left the club.

Later career

Burton signed for League Two club

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

on a one-year deal on 22 July 2013 after impressing on trial. He joined League Two team

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

, managed by his former Scunthorpe manager

Russ Wilcox Russell "Russ" Wilcox (born 25 March 1964) is an English former professional footballer who is currently manager of Farsley Celtic. Wilcox played as a defender between 1980 and 2003 and spent the final six years of his career with Scunthorp ...

, on a one-month loan on 30 October 2014. He made his debut two days later in a 1–0 away win over

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

, but after being ruled out for two to three months with a medial ligament injury sustained in his second appearance for the club, the loan came to an end on 12 November 2014. Burton was released from Scunthorpe in January 2015 and then joined

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...

the following month. After a short spell at Eastleigh, Burton signed for

Brackley Town Brackley Town Football Club is a Association football, football club in Brackley, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at St. James Park. The club won the FA Trophy in 2018. History Established in 1890, the club sp ...

on 8 August 2015. He then moved on to

Worcester City Worcester City Football Club is an English football club based in Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Midland Football League, the ninth tier of English football. Established in 1902, the club play at Claines Lane. Worcester City's ...

in September 2015. He retired from football at the end of the 2015–16 season. Burton now runs a football training company called Deon Burton Training Academy.

Coaching career

In 2018, Burton joined

as a youth coach. In July 2020, Burton was named as the manager of the U23 team after he had impressed when he took over on a temporary basis when

Michael Appleton Michael Antony Appleton (born 4 December 1975) is an English professional football manager and former player. He is currently the head coach of Blackpool. As a player, he operated as a midfielder, in a nine-year career that began in 1994 and e ...

left the role to join to Lincoln City in September 2019. On 13 May 2022, Burton lead West Brom U23 to victory in the

2021–22 Premier League Cup The 2021–22 Premier League Cup was the eighth edition of the competition. The defending champions, Everton, who won the 2018–19 competition, were eliminated in the group stage. The previous two editions of the competition were cancelled, o ...

, beating Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s on penalties in the final.

International career

Burton made his debut for the Jamaica national team on 7 September 1997 in the latter stages of their 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign. He finished with four goals from five games, an exploit which won him

Award for almost single-handedly getting the country to the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

finals. However, he failed to score in France. He also appeared in each of Jamaica's games as they finished fourth in the

1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the fourth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). The tournament was once again held in the United States, in Los Angeles, Miami, and O ...

but he failed to score. He was also in the squad that failed to qualify for the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

and was again included on the roster for the

2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the fifth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), and the 15th overall CONCACAF tournament. It was held in Los Angeles, Miami, and San Diego ...

. He was included in the qualifying squad for the

2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the seventh edition of the Gold Cup, the association football championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). For the first time since 1993, the tournament was held in more than one c ...

, making substitute appearances but was dropped from the squad after qualification. Burton had to wait three years for his next international involvement – coming against the country of his birth

. Good form for

meant that he was recalled for a friendly match against

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

on 27 March 2008. He came on as a second-half substitute for

in a 2–2 draw. He kept his place in the squad for the next friendly game against

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea wh ...

on 3 June, again coming off the bench for King in the second half, to score his side's fourth goal a minute later and also to cross for

Ricardo Gardner Ricardo Wayne Gardner (born 25 September 1978), commonly known as Bibi, is a Jamaican former professional footballer. He works as assistant coach at Portmore United. A left winger, he could also play in the centre of midfield or at left wingbac ...

to score the fifth and final goal in the 87th minute of a 5–1 victory.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Stoke City * Football League Second Division play-offs: 2001–02 Portsmouth *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

: 2002–03 Gillingham *

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Scunthorpe United *Football League Two runner-up: 2013–14

Individual

League Two Player of the Month The EFL League Two Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player adjudged the best for each month of the season in EFL League Two, the English football league system, fourth tier of English football. Originally na ...

: December 2013

As a coach

West Bromwich Albion U23 * Premier League Cup: 2021–22

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, Deon 1976 births Living people Sportspeople from Reading, Berkshire English footballers English expatriate footballers Jamaican footballers Jamaican expatriate footballers Jamaica international footballers Association football forwards Portsmouth F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Gabala FC players Gillingham F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players York City F.C. players Eastleigh F.C. players Brackley Town F.C. players Worcester City F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players Azerbaijan Premier League players National League (English football) players Black British sportspeople Expatriate footballers in Azerbaijan 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players English sportspeople of Jamaican descent Jamaican expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Footballers from Berkshire West Bromwich Albion F.C. non-playing staff