Michael Burke (28 June 1904 – 16 October 1984) was a Scottish 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 league football in Scotland, Ireland and England. He played in the

Scottish League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional association football, football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers F.C., Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, wh ...

for

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

and

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, was a member of the

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

team that won the

1932–33 League of Ireland The 1932–33 League of Ireland was the twelfth season of the League of Ireland. Shamrock Rovers were the defending champions. Dundalk won their first title, becoming the first team from outside Dublin to do so. Overview Two teams were not re- ...

title, and made 55 appearances in the English

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for Lincoln City,

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

and

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

. He played as an

inside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

outside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

Life and career

Michael Burke was born on 28 June 1904 in Blythswood, in what was then

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfr ...

. He was the eldest of nine children of an Irish father and a Scottish mother, and began his working life as a

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in the shipyards in

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. He played

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football for Dumbarton Harp and Old Kilpatrick before joining Ashfield in June 1927. In December, he took part in a trial for the Intermediate League representative eleven, and, writing in the ''

Sunday Post ''The Sunday Post'' is a weekly newspaper published in Dundee, Scotland, by DC Thomson, and characterised by a mix of news, human interest stories and short features. The paper was founded in 1914 and has a wide circulation across Scotland, N ...

'' a month later, "The Traveller" mentioned Burke as one who might have a future in the senior ranks. He helped Ashfield reach the final of the Intermediate Cup, "all but had the first goal with a shot that got the crossbar", and made the pass for Peter Cunningham to score what proved the only goal of the match. Both Burke and Cunningham joined

early in the 1929–30 Division One season. Burke scored once from 14 league matches, before moving on to

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. Having made no first-team appearances, he was given a free transfer at the end of the 1930–31 season, and signed for Division Two club

after a trial. Despite the second half of his 1931–32 season being disrupted by injury and illness, he was one of six players offered terms for a second season, but did not accept. Instead, he signed for Irish club

, and made his debut in October 1932 in the Leinster Cup, playing at

outside left Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. He continued in the side for the rest of the season as Dundalk became the first team from outside

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

to win the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

title. He stayed with Dundalk for a second season, at the end of which he had 31 goals from 74 matches played, 13 from 29 in the league. Dundalk's trainer-coach, Steve Wright, was appointed trainer of Lincoln City, newly

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

to the English

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

, in June 1934, and on his recommendation, Burke joined the club on trial a few weeks later. By the end of October, Lincoln had decided to keep him. He made his debut in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

against

Shildon Shildon is a town and civil parish in County Durham (district), County Durham, in England. The population taken at the 2011 Census was 9,976. The town has the Locomotion Museum, due to it having the first , built in 1825, and locomotive works on ...

in November and his first appearance in the English

on 2 February 1935, after which he played in 10 of the remaining 16 matches as Lincoln finished in fourth place. He was a regular at

inside right Forwards (also known as attackers) are Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring Goal (sport)#Association footbal ...

in the first couple of months of the next season, but fell out of favour and, though impressing for Lincoln's

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History Th ...

team, played only once more for the first team after the turn of the year and was one of eleven players released at the end of the campaign. Burke moved on to another Third Division North club,

. He scored on debut in the opening match of the 1936–37 season in a 1–1 draw with

Hartlepools United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Har ...

, and continued in the team until a groin muscle pulled during his ninth appearance kept him out for two months. He played a further 11 matches, but never regained a regular place in the side, and scored the second of his two goals for Southport in his last match, a defeat at

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

on 3 April 1937. He finished his Football League career with a season at

, where he was mainly a reserve, making only nine appearances for the first team. He returned to Scotland, signed for Division Two club

in August 1938, and played regularly for much of the season. The following August, he went back to England for a month's trial with Midland League club Burton Town, but the outbreak of war put an end to his career. Burke returned to the shipyards as an electrician, and later worked in the docks. He continued to live in Glasgow, where he died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

in the Broomhill area on 16 October 1984 at the age of 80.

Honours

Ashfield * Scottish Intermediate Cup: 1927–28 Dundalk *

: 1932–33 *

League of Ireland Shield The League of Ireland Shield ( ga, Sciath Sraithe na hÉireann) is a defunct Irish football tournament which was introduced when the League of Ireland started in 1921 and ran uninterrupted until 1972. It was played before the league season began ...

runners up: 1932–33 *

LFA President's Cup The LFA President's Cup was an association football cup competition featuring League of Ireland clubs affiliated to the Leinster Football Association. It was played for between 1930 and 2002. It was a ''de facto'' national super cup and on twent ...

runners up: 1933–34

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Micky 1904 births 1984 deaths People from Renfrewshire Footballers from Glasgow Scottish footballers Association football forwards Ashfield F.C. players Clyde F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Southport F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Burton Town F.C. players Scottish Football League players League of Ireland players English Football League players Midland Football League players