Wayne Burnett (born 4 September 1971) is an English football coach and former
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 ...
who is manager of
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...
under-23's team.
As a player Burnett was a
midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
from 1989 until 2004 notably playing in
the Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...
for
Plymouth Argyle,
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. Th ...
and
Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...
. Whilst at Grimsby he scored the winning
golden goal
The golden goal or golden point is a rule used in association football, lacrosse, field hockey, and ice hockey to decide the winner of a match (typically a knock-out match) in which scores are equal at the end of normal time. It is a type of sud ...
in the 1998
Football League Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...
final. He also briefly played
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 ...
football for
Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...
and also played in
the Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...
for
Leyton Orient
Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profession ...
,
Bolton Wanderers and
Peterborough United
Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...
as well as playing
non-League football for
Woking,
Grays Athletic and
Fisher Athletic. After retiring from football in 2004, Burnett went on to become manager with former clubs Grays and Fisher as well as a spell with
Dulwich Hamlet before returning to Leyton Orient as youth team manager.
Playing career
Burnett was born in
Lambeth, London and started out playing for
Leyton Orient
Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profession ...
as a youngster, and represented England at youth level.
He soon earned himself a move to
Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...
, becoming one of
Kenny Dalglish's first signings but after a year with the Rovers he was transferred to
Plymouth Argyle in 1993.
In 1995 Premiership newcomers
Bolton Wanderers signed Burnett. But after only a season with the club he was sold to
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. Th ...
following a short loan spell. His time in Yorkshire was a rather mixed one. He alternated between a deep-lying creative midfield role and that of a libero-style sweeper. Described as a flair player with much skill, he scored a wonder goal against Bradford City from just inside his own half in a League Cup tie, which proved to be his only goal for Huddersfield. At the time of his goal, the tie was balanced at 2–2 on aggregate. Burnett's goal in the 77th minute put Huddersfield through to the next round.
Following a clear out at Huddersfield, Burnett was loaned to
Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...
in 1998 and scored in his debut against
Scunthorpe United as the Mariners put their local rivals out of the
Football League Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...
.
It was in the same competition at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...
against
AFC Bournemouth that Burnett scored the winning golden goal in the 1998 final and played in the promotion winning team in the play-off final a month later. Burnett helped the Mariners to an impressive finish in the
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
, almost securing a play-off spot to the Premiership the following season.
He stayed with Grimsby until the summer of 2002, but was troubled by a persistent injury problem that made him miss chunks of the
1999–2000,
2000–01 and
2001–02 seasons. Burnett was released by manager
Paul Groves with the player sidelined for the majority of his time in his last season.
Burnett dropped out of professional football and signed with
Conference National club
Woking, but his time at his new club was short lived after a spat with the club's supporters. The incident happened in a Conference game in which Woking were trailing 2–0 with 20 minutes remaining. Burnett was brought on as a substitute but could not change the outcome of the game. In a statement made to the ''
Grimsby Telegraph
The ''Grimsby Telegraph'' is a daily British regional newspaper for the town of Grimsby and the surrounding area that makes up North East Lincolnshire including the rural towns of Market Rasen and Louth. The main area for the paper's distributi ...
'', Burnett claimed that Woking supporters had singled him out for abuse, stating that they expected him to come on and win the game for them because he was a professional footballer. Burnett claimed that just because he is a professional does not mean he can change the outcome of every game.
He then joined
Grays Athletic and
Fisher Athletic for a short period of time before appearing to retire from the sport.
In 2004 Burnett made a return to the professional game signing for
Peterborough United
Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...
on a non-contract basis. He did not make any appearances for the club before leaving.
Managerial career
Burnett started his managerial career with
Fisher Athletic in 2004, winning the
London Senior Cup and
Southern Football League Eastern Division.
He then joined
Dulwich Hamlet in 2006.
He was appointed manager of Fisher Athletic for the second time in May 2007.
On 23 September 2008, it was announced that Burnett would join Conference side
Grays Athletic as manager on 29 September.
He left the club by mutual consent on 29 January 2009.
Burnett briefly worked as the youth team manager at former club
Leyton Orient
Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profession ...
before it was confirmed on 7 May 2009 that Burnett would take up the position of assistant manager to
John Still
John Still (c. 1543 – 26 February 1607/1608) was Master of two Cambridge colleges and then, from 1593, Bishop of Bath and Wells. He enjoyed considerable fame as an English preacher and disputant. He was formerly reputed to be the author of an ...
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
Dagenham & Redbridge for the forthcoming 2009–10 season. On 26 February 2013 Burnett was appointed caretaker manager following Still's departure to
Luton Town
Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...
. On 2 May 2013, following Dagenham & Redbridge's survival in League Two, Burnett was appointed permanent manager.
After winning just one game from 16 played in the 2015–16 season, Burnett was sacked by Dagenham on 21 December 2015.
On 29 June 2017, Burnett was appointed head coach of
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...
's under-23 team.
Television work
During the 2003–04 season Burnett went into acting appearing as an extra for
Sky One football television drama
Dream Team
Dream Team may refer to:
Sport
Basketball
* Dream Team, the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team in Barcelona
* Dream Team II, the 1994 U.S. men's national basketball team at the FIBA World Championship
* Dream Team III, the 1996 ...
. Burnett can be seen in a number of episodes appearing to be sat on the substitutes bench also training with the fictional
Harchester United team.
Filmography
Managerial statistics
Honours
Player
Grimsby Town
*
Football League Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...
:
1997–98
*
Football League Second Division
The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third t ...
play-offs
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
:
1997–98
Manager
Fisher Athletic
*
Southern Football League Eastern Division:
2004–05
*
London Senior Cup: 2005–06
References
External links
*
electronicfishcake.comGrimsby player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burnett, Wayne
1971 births
Living people
Footballers from the London Borough of Lambeth
English men's footballers
England men's youth international footballers
Men's association football midfielders
English male television actors
Leyton Orient F.C. players
Blackburn Rovers F.C. players
Plymouth Argyle F.C. players
Bolton Wanderers F.C. players
Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players
Grimsby Town F.C. players
Woking F.C. players
Grays Athletic F.C. players
Fisher Athletic F.C. players
Peterborough United F.C. players
Premier League players
English Football League players
National League (English football) players
English football managers
Fisher Athletic F.C. managers
Dulwich Hamlet F.C. managers
Grays Athletic F.C. managers
Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. managers
English Football League managers
National League (English football) managers
Southern Football League managers
Tottenham Hotspur F.C. non-playing staff