Benjamin Kieron Burgess (born 9 November 1981) is an English-born Irish retired footballer best known for his time playing for Hull City and Blackpool. He was capped by the Republic of Ireland at U18 and U21 level.

Ben Burgess
Personal information
Full name Benjamin Kieron Burgess
Date of birth (1981-11-09) 9 November 1981 (age 42)
Place of birth Buxton, England
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
Oldham Athletic
Stoke City
Everton
Blackburn Rovers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2002 Blackburn Rovers 2 (0)
2000–2001Northern Spirit (loan) 27 (16)
2001–2002Brentford (loan) 43 (17)
2002–2003 Stockport County 19 (4)
2003Oldham Athletic (loan) 7 (0)
2003–2006 Hull City 70 (24)
2006–2010 Blackpool 126 (23)
2010–2012 Notts County 45 (5)
2012Cheltenham Town (loan) 7 (2)
2012 Tranmere Rovers 0 (0)
Total 346 (91)
International career
1999–2000 Republic of Ireland U18 4 (1)
2001–2002 Republic of Ireland U21 4 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career edit

Early career edit

in Buxton-born Burgess began his career with spells as a youth at Oldham Athletic, Stoke City, Everton and joined Blackburn Rovers at age 16,[1] where he stayed until 2002, but made just two league appearances for the club.[2] On 3 October 2000 he went on loan to North Sydney based Northern Spirit in Australia.[2] He scored 16 goals in 27 appearances for the club.[3] In the 2001–02 season he went on loan to Brentford, before moving to Stockport County on 16 July 2002.[2] He had a two-month loan spell at Oldham Athletic from January to March 2003, before signing for Hull City on 27 March.[2]

Hull City edit

He became the first Hull City player to score a hat-trick at the KC Stadium on 26 April 2003, in a match against Kidderminster Harriers. He was City's top scorer in their 2003–04 promotion campaign, scoring 18 goals and forming a partnership with Danny Allsopp. However, he suffered a serious cruciate ligament injury late in the season in a match against Huddersfield Town and did not appear in Hull's 2004–05 League One campaign until promotion had already been secured, showing sportsmanship by declining to accept any promotion award.[4]

He soon returned to scoring despite playing two levels higher in the Championship, scoring one of two goals in the Tigers' first win of the 2005–06 season at home against Brighton & Hove Albion.[5]

Blackpool edit

Burgess joined Blackpool on 31 August 2006, for an initial fee of £25,000, with a further £75,000 paid after he had played 30 games. On 31 October 2006, he scored his first goals for Blackpool when he bagged a brace in a 4–4 draw with Accrington Stanley in the League Trophy.[6] On 27 May 2007, Burgess was an unused substitute in Blackpool's League One play-off final victory over Yeovil Town at Wembley.[7] On 14 August 2007, Burgess, on as a second-half substitute, scored the only goal of the game as Blackpool beat Huddersfield Town in the first round of the League Cup.[8] On 7 May 2008 Blackpool activated an option to extend his contract with the club by one year.[9] On 27 March 2009 Burgess signed a new twelve-month contract with the Seasiders with an option for a further year.[10]

Burgess started the 2009–10 season by scoring in the Seasiders opening day 1–1 draw with Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road on 8 August 2009.[11] His 100th league appearance for the club was as a 61st-minute substitute in a goalless draw with Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium on 24 October. He gained his fourth promotion and second with Blackpool in the Championship play-off Final at Wembley on 22 May 2010.[11]

Notts County edit

On 2 August 2010 Notts County confirmed the signing of Burgess from Blackpool on a free transfer. In May 2012 he was released by Notts County, along with 12 other players.[12]

Cheltenham Town edit

On 22 March 2012 it was confirmed that Burgess would join Cheltenham Town on loan until the end of the season, scoring the second goal of Cheltenham's play-off semi-final first leg at Whaddon Road against Torquay United with a header from "a full 18 yards".[13]

Tranmere Rovers edit

On 1 June 2012 it was confirmed that Burgess had joined League One outfit Tranmere Rovers on a two-year deal after turning down a contract offer from Cheltenham Town due to the club having failed to gain promotion from League Two.[14] After just under two months at Tranmere, Burgess decided to leave the club and retire from professional football. He stated that he felt he could no longer give 100% consistently and felt retirement was appropriate at that time. He went on to thank Tranmere for their continued support.

International career edit

Although born in England, Burgess qualified to play for both England and Republic of Ireland. Burgess chose to represent Ireland and won caps for the U18 and U21 teams.[15]

Personal life edit

Burgess is a Manchester City supporter.[1]

Career statistics edit

Club Season Division League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Blackburn Rovers 1999–00[16] First Division 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
2000–01[17] 0 0 1 0 1 0
Total 2 0 0 0 1 0 3 0
Northern Spirit (loan) 2000–01[3] National Soccer League 27 16 27 16
Brentford (loan) 2001–02[18] Second Division 43 17 2 1 2 0 4[a] 0 51 18
Stockport County 2002–03[19] Second Division 19 4 2 2 1 0 2[b] 0 24 6
Oldham Athletic (loan) 2002–03[19] Second Division 7 0 7 0
Hull City 2002–03[19] Third Division 7 4 7 4
2003–04[20] 44 18 1 0 1 0 0 0 46 18
2004–05[4] League One 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
2005–06[5] Championship 14 2 0 0 1 0 15 2
2006–07[6] 3 0 1 1 4 1
Total 70 24 1 0 3 1 0 0 74 25
Blackpool 2006–07[6] League One 27 2 3 1 1[b] 2 32 5
2007–08[8] Championship 35 9 1 0 1 1 37 10
2008–09[21] 29 6 1 0 1 0 31 6
2009–10[11] 31 6 0 0 2 2 3[22] 0 33 8
Total 126 23 5 1 4 3 4 2 133 29
Notts County 2010–11[23] League One 17 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 18 1
2011–12[13] 28 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 31 4
Total 45 5 3 0 1 0 0 0 49 5
Cheltenham Town (loan) 2011–12[13] League Two 7 2 3[22] 1 10 3
Career total 346 91 13 4 12 4 13 3 384 102
  1. ^ 3 appearances in Football League play-offs, 1 appearance in Football League Trophy.
  2. ^ a b Appearances in Football League Trophy.

Post retirement edit

Burgess gained a First class honours degree in Sports Journalism in 2009. After the end of the 2007–08 season he spent time at the Blackpool Gazette as a trainee journalist on work experience. In August 2012, after he had retired from playing football he started writing a weekly column about former club Blackpool for the newspaper.[24] In his first column he revealed that he would be studying for a Postgraduate Certificate in Education at Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, with a view to becoming a primary school teacher. He also began working for BBC Radio Lancashire as a summariser for Blackpool home games.[25][26] Burgess began working as a teacher in September 2013, but continues some of his media work.[3]

Honours edit

As a player edit

Blackpool

As an individual edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Brentford Football Club". Archived from the original on 11 August 2002. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d "Ben Burgess | Football Stats | No Club | Age 36 | 1998–2012 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  3. ^ a b c Burgess, Ben. "Ben Burgess: Ex-Blackpool and Hull striker on becoming a teacher". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  4. ^ a b "Ben Burgess | Football Stats | No Club | Season 2004/2005 | 1998–2012 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Ben Burgess | Football Stats | No Club | Season 2005/2006 | 1998–2012 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  6. ^ a b c d "Games played by Ben Burgess in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
  7. ^ "Yeovil 0–2 Blackpool". bbc.co.uk. 27 May 2007. Retrieved 27 May 2007.
  8. ^ a b "Ben Burgess | Football Stats | No Club | Season 2007/2008 | 1998–2012 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  9. ^ "Retained List Latest". Blackpool F.C. 7 May 2008. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 7 May 2008.
  10. ^ "Contract Latest". Blackpool F.C. 27 March 2009. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2009.
  11. ^ a b c d "Ben Burgess | Football Stats | No Club | Season 2009/2010 | 1998–2012 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  12. ^ "Curle Confirms Retained List". Notts county FC. 9 May 2012. Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  13. ^ a b c "Ben Burgess | Football Stats | No Club | Season 2011/2012 | 1998–2012 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  14. ^ "Tranmere Rovers agree deal for striker Ben Burgess". BBC Sport. 1 June 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  15. ^ "Ben Burgess". 11v11.com. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  16. ^ "Ben Burgess | Football Stats | No Club | Season 1999/2000 | 1998–2012 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  17. ^ "Ben Burgess | Football Stats | No Club | Season 2000/2001 | 1998–2012 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  18. ^ "Ben Burgess | Football Stats | No Club | Season 2001/2002 | 1998–2012 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  19. ^ a b c "Ben Burgess | Football Stats | No Club | Season 2002/2003 | 1998–2012 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  20. ^ "Ben Burgess | Football Stats | No Club | Season 2003/2004 | 1998–2012 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  21. ^ "Ben Burgess | Football Stats | No Club | Season 2008/2009 | 1998–2012 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  22. ^ a b Appearances in Football League play-offs.
  23. ^ "Ben Burgess | Football Stats | No Club | Season 2010/2011 | 1998–2012 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  24. ^ "Ben Burgess signs for The Gazette". Blackpool Gazette. 29 August 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  25. ^ Maginn, Tom (28 August 2012). "Burgess Planning For Life After Football". Blackpool F.C. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  26. ^ Burgess, Ben (1 September 2012). "Ben Burgess column – It's official, I'm finished". Blackpool Gazette. Archived from the original on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  27. ^ "Brentford | News | Latest News | Latest News | FORMALITIES COMPLETED". world.brentfordfc.co.uk. 16 August 2001. Archived from the original on 12 February 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2018.

External links edit