Karen Burke (born 14 July 1971) is an English footballer. She most recently played for Blackburn Rovers Ladies. Burke was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

and represented

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 ...

at full international level.

Club career

Burke only took up football aged 21, with a spell at St. Helens. In 1994 she reached her first

FA Women's Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup Competition is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup and now Women's FA Cup (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship reas ...

final with Knowsley United. Burke hit the crossbar in injury time as Knowsley lost 1–0 to Doncaster Belles. In the following year's final, with Knowsley now known as Liverpool Ladies, player-of-the-match Burke twice put them ahead against Arsenal, only for Marieanne Spacey to seal a 3–2 win for The Gunners. In summer 1995 Burke agreed to join Everton Ladies, but changed her mind when Liverpool appointed John Bennison—a professional coach from the

" Boot Room". In April 1996 Burke lost her third consecutive FA Women's Cup final to

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

, on penalties after a 1–1 draw at the New Den. Luckless Burke had given Liverpool the lead and converted her penalty in the

shootout A shootout, also called a firefight or gunfight, is a fight between armed combatants using firearms. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used to describe those that do not involve military forces or only invo ...

. She finally joined Everton Ladies in the 1997 close season and won the

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 Fo ...

title in 1997–1998. She played in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

in summer 1998, 1999 and 2000, with ÍBV. In 2000 Burke and teammate Becky Easton joined Doncaster Belles. Burke would travel twice weekly to Doncaster from her base in Liverpool, where she worked in a pub. The

2002 FA Women's Cup Final The 2002 FA Women's Cup Final was the 32nd final of the FA Women's Cup, England's primary cup competition for women's football teams. The final event was played between Doncaster Belles and Fulham Ladies on 6 May 2002 at Selhurst Park in L ...

was Burke's fourth unsuccessful appearance, as Doncaster were beaten 2–1 by the full-time professionals of Fulham. Burke moved to Leeds United Ladies for 2002–2003 before spending the 2003 close season back with

ic side ÍBV. She returned to Doncaster Belles for 2003–2004, before joining an exodus of players brought about by a cash crisis and moving back to Leeds, via another stint at ÍBV. Burke then suffered more FA Women's Cup final disappointment with Leeds United Ladies, in their 5–0 defeat against Arsenal in 2006. Burke left Leeds to join Blackburn Rovers Ladies in the 2007 close season. Although signed as an attacking midfielder, she moved to right-back for the 2009–10 season.

International career

Burke has won over 50 caps for the

senior team.

International goals

:''Scores and results list England's goal tally first.''

Blackburn statistics

''To October 2009''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Karen 1971 births Living people English women's footballers England women's international footballers Liverpool F.C. Women players Everton F.C. (women) players Doncaster Rovers Belles L.F.C. players Leeds United Women F.C. players Blackburn Rovers L.F.C. players Footballers from Liverpool FA Women's National League players 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup players Expatriate women's footballers in Iceland English expatriate women's footballers Women's association football midfielders Karen Burke