John Burns (born 4 December 1977 in Dublin) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder in the Football League for Nottingham Forest, Bristol City,

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

and Burton Albion. Burns later played non-league football for

Hucknall Town Hucknall Town Football Club are a football club based in the town of Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, England. The club are members of the and play at Watnall Road. History Hucknall Town were renamed from Hucknall Colliery Welfare in 1987 and for ...

Ilkeston Town Ilkeston Town Football Club is a football club based in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, England. They currently play in the . History On 30 June 2017, a company, Ilkeston Town F.C. Ltd was registered at Companies House. On 20 July 2017, it was conf ...

before ending his career with Hinckley United.

Club career

Burns started his career at Belvedere before joining Forest as a sixteen-year-old in 1994. Touted as "The next

Roy Keane Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, coach and former professional player. He is the joint most successful Irish footballer of all time, having won 19 major trophies in his club career, 17 of which came during ...

", he stayed with Forest for the next four years, making his debut on 4 September 1999 in a league match against Walsall. Despite this, Burns was not able to hold down a regular first team place and made just four appearances for the club. Following his spell at Forest, John was transferred to Bristol City in November 1999 as part of the deal that saw Jim Brennan move in the opposite direction, with a valuation in the transfer reported as approximately 100k. Burns saw little playing time at City, making just eleven league appearances and spending six months on loan at Shelbourne in Ireland. In November 2001 Burns agreed to terminate his contract with Bristol City, having not featured in the league since the end of the 1999–2000 season. After leaving Bristol, John signed for

on 9 August 2002 on a monthlong contract. Despite making five appearances including four starts, his contract was not extended and Burns was released. John then moved to Burton Albion, making his debut against Farnborough Town on 30 October 2002.

International career

Whilst at Nottingham Forest, Burns was called up to the

Republic of Ireland under-21 national football team The Republic of Ireland national under-21 football team, is the national under-21 football team of the Republic of Ireland and is controlled by the Football Association of Ireland. The team played its first match in 1978 and has competed in the U ...

, having previously represented his country at Under-16, Under-17 and Under-20 level. Burns was voted U 18 FAI Young Player of the Year in 1996. Burns was also voted Young Player of the Year for Nottingham Forest in the same year.

Honours

Republic of Ireland * FIFA World Youth Championship Third Place:

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

Post-Football Activity

After leaving Football John formed a band called The Establishment, enlisting the help of the PFA who agreed to fund the production of the band's first EP in June 2008 as part of its programme to help former players start new careers. The Band is managed by former footballer Dion Dublin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, John 1977 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Shelbourne F.C. players League of Ireland players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players English Football League players Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Hucknall Town F.C. players Ilkeston Town F.C. (1945) players Association footballers from Dublin (city) Belvedere F.C. players Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers