Michael Burgess (17 April 1932 – 17 June 2021) was an English 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 ...

. He played for

Bradford (Park Avenue) Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in , at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The name derived from their former hom ...

, Leyton Orient, Newport County,

Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as Bo ...

, Halifax Town, Gillingham and

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

during a 14-year professional career.

Personal life

Burgess was born in Montreal, Quebec,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He died on 17 June 2021 in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

at the age of 89.

Football career

He joined Newport County in February 1956 as part of a deal which took Tommy Johnston to Leyton Orient for £4,000. He went on to play 23 times and score seven goals during one and a half seasons in South Wales before leaving at the end of the 1956–57 season. On the opening day of the 1962–63 season a foul by Burgess injured Crystal Palace winger Stewart Imlach, who was making his Palace debut. This incident is recalled by Gary Imlach in his biography of his father, ''My Father and other Working Class Football Heroes''.

References

1932 births 2021 deaths English men's footballers Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Aldershot F.C. players Canterbury City F.C. players English Football League players Soccer players from Montreal Men's association football defenders {{england-footy-defender-1930s-stub