Burns, Tommy

Tommy Burns
Tommy Burns
general information
Full name	Thomas Burns
Born	December 16, 1956 ; Glasgow , Scotland
Died	May 15, 2008 (51 years old); Glasgow , Scotland
Citizenship	Scotland
Position	midfielder
Youth clubs
	Maryhill
1973-1975	Celtic
Club career
National Team
Coaching career
1992-1994	Kilmarnock
1994-1997	Celtic
1997-1998	Newcastle United (Assistant Chief Coach)
1998-1999	Reading
2000-2008	Celtic
2002-2007	Scotland (assistant chief coach)
2004	Scotland (acting chief coach)
	↑ The number of games and goals for a professional club is considered only for various leagues of national championships.; ↑ Number of games and goals for the national team in official matches.;

Thomas Burns ( born Thomas Burns ; December 16, 1956 , Glasgow , Scotland - May 15, 2008 , Glasgow , Scotland ), better known as Tommy Burns ( born Tommy Burns ) - Scottish football player , coach . He acted as a midfielder . During his career as a football player, he played for such clubs as Celtic and Kilmarnock . He played eight matches with the Scottish national team .

Tommy began his coaching career at Kilmarnock, becoming in 1992 a playing coach. Subsequently, he was the mentor of the Scottish Celtic and the English Reading , also assisted Bertie Vogts and Walter Smith in the Scottish national team, Kenny Dalgliesh in Newcastle United , Martin O'Neill and Gordon Strakan in Celtic.

In 2006, Burns was given a terrible diagnosis - skin cancer . Despite reports of successful treatment for the disease, Tommy died in Glasgow on May 15, 2008 .

Career

Club career

Tommy Burns was born December 16, 1956 in the Scottish city of Glasgow .

He began his career as a goalkeeper in the Benburb amateur club. In his next team, Glasgow 's Maryhill , the coach transferred Tommy to midfield , where he settled.

In 1973, Burns moved to Celtic , two years playing for the second team of “white-green”. Tommy's debut in the first line-up of the Celts took place on April 19, 1975 , when the Glazgovites met with Dundee United . In 1988, Burns became one of the creators of the Celtic triumph - the team achieved the “ golden double ”, winning the domestic championship and becoming the owner of the national Cup .

For 14 years spent in the “Celts” Burns played 357 matches in the championships of Scotland, in which he defeated the opponents' goal 52 times.

Coaching career

Tommy's next club was Kilmarnock , which he joined in 1989 . Three years later, Killy management offered Burns a contract as a playing coach, which he agreed to. In the first season, under the leadership of Tommy, “Kilmarnock” achieved a promotion in the class, having won a place in the Premier League of the 1992/93 season.

Before the start of the football year 1994/95, Celtic appeared on Burns with a proposal to him to become a mentor of the first team of the Celts. Tommy could not refuse his native club and gave prior consent. This decision generated discontent among the people involved in Kilmarnock. The Killy management refused to let the coach go without compensation, demanding from the Celts one hundred thousand pounds. After paying “white-green” money, “Kilmarnock” allowed Burns to head the “Celtic”, but forced to include in the contract Tommy with the “Celts” the point at which he ends his football career and no longer has the right to enter the field.

The work of the Scottish specialist with Celtic almost immediately began to bear fruit - the team began to show a sharp, attractive game. In the 1994/95 season, the Celts and Tommy won the Scottish Cup. Nevertheless, Burns could not break the hegemony of the “white-green” worst enemies of the “ Rangers ” in the national championship and derby “ Old Firm ”. In 1997, Tommy was fired from his post as head coach of the Glazgovites. Almost immediately after the resignation, he became an assistant to Kenny Dalglish , who led Newcastle United .

March 25, 1998 Burns was appointed to the post of head coach of the English “ Reading ”, at that time fighting for survival in the First English League . For two months of work in the 1997/98 season, the Scottish specialist was unable to establish the team’s game, and Royals, taking the last place in the standings, flew to the Second Division of the Football League . Before the new football year 1998/99, Burns had been given the task by management to return Reading to the First Division of England. Tommy could not fulfill this goal - at the end of the season, his team was only in 11th place in the tournament. On September 16, 1999, Burns was dismissed from his post as a mentor at Reading. ^[2]

In 2002, Tommy accepted the offer to become an assistant to the head coach of the Scottish national team, Bertie Vogts . He also retained this position under the leadership of the Tartan Army by Walter Smith . He was the acting coach of the team in a friendly game against Sweden on November 17, 2004 ^[3] ^[4] .

In 2000, Burns returned to Celtic as a coach for the club’s youth team. With the arrival of the head coach of the “Celts” Martin O'Neill, Tommy led the youth academy of “white-green”. The new head coach of Celtic Gordon Strakan , who came to the club in 2005, made Burns his assistant while retaining his post at the Glazgovtsy Academy.

On January 18, 2007, Tommy announced through the official website of the White and Green that he was leaving the post of assistant coach in the Scottish national team in order to concentrate on working in the club ^[5] . This news destroyed the rumors that Burns would soon be appointed mentor of the “tartan army” that went after the dismissal of Walter Smith from this post ^[6] ^[7] .

Coaching Statistics

Club	A country	Beginning of work	Shutdown	Indicators
Club	A country	Beginning of work	Shutdown	AND	AT	N	P	% wins *
Kilmarnock	Scotland	August 1, 1992	July 12, 1994	42	14	18	ten	33.33
Celtic	Scotland	July 12, 1994	May 31, 1997	146	80	23	43	54.79
Reading	England	March 25, 1998	September 16, 1999	68	20	thirty	18	29.41
Total				256	114	71	71	44.53

And - games, B - wins, N - draws, P - losses,% wins - percentage of victories

Scotland Team

During his football career, Burns has played eight matches for his country's national team . Tommy's debut as part of the “tartan army” took place on May 19, 1981 , when the Scots met with the Northern Irish team .

Scotland Matches and Goals

Burns Matches and Goals for Scotland

No.	date	A place	Opponent	Score	Burns Goals	Competition
one	May 19, 1981	Hampden Park , Glasgow , Scotland	Northern Ireland	2-0	-	UK Home Championship
2	March 23, 1982	Hampden Park , Glasgow , Scotland	Netherlands	2: 1	-	Friendly match
3	May 24, 1982	Hampden Park , Glasgow , Scotland	Wales	1-0	-	UK Home Championship
four	December 15, 1982	Eisel , Brussels , Belgium	Belgium	2: 3	-	1984 European Cup Qualifier
five	May 24, 1983	Hampden Park , Glasgow , Scotland	Northern Ireland	0: 0	-	UK Home Championship
6	June 12, 1983	Empire Stadium , Vancouver , Canada	Canada	2-0	-	Friendly match
7	June 20, 1983	Varsity , Toronto , Canada	Canada	2-0	-	Friendly match
eight	May 21, 1988	Wembley , London , England	England	0: 1	-	Rous cup

Total: 8 matches / 0 goals; 5 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses.

Summary statistics of games / goals for the national team

**Team appearances**
National team	Year	World Cup Qualifiers		World Cup Final Matches		European Qualifiers		Final matches		Friendlies		UK Home Championship		Rous cup		Total
National team	Year	Games	Goals	Games	Goals	Games	Goals	Games	Goals	Games	Goals	Games	Goals	Games	Goals	Games	Goals
Scotland	1981	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	one	0	-	-	one	0
	1982	-	-	-	-	one	0	-	-	one	0	one	0	-	-	3	0
	1983	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	0	one	0	-	-	3	0
	1988	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	one	0	one	0
Total career		0	0	0	0	one	0	0	0	3	0	3	0	one	0	eight	0

Sickness and death

On March 29, 2006, the Celtic press service confirmed the information in the press that Tommy started treatment after being diagnosed with skin cancer ^[8] . On March 10, 2008, representatives of the Celts said that despite good treatment, the disease continues to progress ^[9] .

Two months later, on May 15 , Burns died of cancer in his home ^[10] ^[11] .

Farewell to Tommy took place on May 20 in the Glasgow Cathedral of St. Mary - the founding place of the Celtic Club. On the same day, the legend of the "Celts" was buried in the cemetery "Lynn" ( born Linn Cemetery ).

Memory

Gordon Strakan, former head coach of Celtic:

Tommy has been my best assistant in team leadership for my entire coaching career. There were not many football players on the football field who excelled him in their playing qualities. However, if we talk about what kind of person he was in everyday life, then I can confidently say that he was the best ^[12] .

Peter Lowell , Celtic Executive Director:

If you define a person who personifies the “Celtic”, then they would undoubtedly be Tommy Burns. He was a wonderful person ^[12] .

Stephen McManus , captain of Celtic 2007–2010:

He was an unusually bold person. Tommy is probably the bravest man I have ever met ^[12] .

Allie McCoist , Rangers head coach, who worked with Burns in the Scottish team:

In the football world, I met a lot of good people, but Tommy was the best of them ^[13] .

On May 16, the Rangers head coach Walter Smith and his assistant Allie McCoist, despite the difficult relationship between the clubs, laid a wreath in front of Celtic Park Stadium in memory of Burns. After that, they had an hour and a half conversation with officials of the “Celts” regarding farewell to Tommy, then half an hour they talked with fans of the “white-green”. At the funeral of Burns, Smith and McCoist carried the coffin of the legend "Celtic" ^[14] .

On May 15, a parade was to be held in the streets of Glasgow to mark the participation of the Rangers in the UEFA Cup final on the eve. As a sign of respect to the memory of the former Scottish national team player, the march was canceled by the Jersey leadership ^[15] .

Memorial events

The music group Charlie and the Bhoys, which performs the famous song “ You'll Never Walk Alone ” before each home game of the Celts , raised 10 thousand pounds at its concert in Glasgow in September 2008 . This amount was the first installment to the Tommy Burns Skin Cancer Foundation, which the musicians themselves had founded a few days earlier.

The Tommy Memorial match was held on May 31, 2009 . It met the Celtic and the Old Bhoys XI team, whose captain was Burns' son, Jonathan. The fight ended with a score of 11: 4 in favor of the first.

Achievements

Player Achievements

Celtic

Champion of Scotland (6) : 1976/77, 1978/79, 1980/81, 1981/82, 1985/86, 1987/88
Scottish Cup Winner (4) : 1979/80, 1984/85, 1987/88, 1988/89
League Cup Winner (1) : 1982/83

Achievements as a trainer