Liam Burns Interview,
May 19th 2009. Keith Wallace.
From a First Division title at Sligo Rovers to a League & Cup double with Bohemians last season, defender Liam Burns knows every step of the ladder that Dundalk are currently on. The Belfast-born centre-half played for Port Vale for nine years, before a difficult period after his release from the Stoke-based club finally forced him to return to Ireland in 2005 after he became “disillusioned” with the game.
Celtic connection
Burns began his career at local club Celtic Boys and it is their links to Port Vale that gave him the opportunity to move to England. “I started off with a team called Celtic Boys up in West Belfast,” Liam explained to the DFC Magazine this week. “I was with them from about nine years of age up until under-15 and then I left and went over to Port Vale in England. They had close connections with the team in Belfast. A few of us went over and lucky enough I was one of the lucky ones to be offered a contract. They had a bit of a bond with players going over before, so that’s how it all started. When I left home I was 15 turning 16. I done my GCSE’s and I left straight away to take up a two-year contract. It’s everyone’s dream to go over to England to play football and I had an opportunity to do it. Especially where I’m from, it’s a bit of a rough area, so I think my parents were glad to get me out with an opportunity that I couldn’t turn down.”
Staying power
It was a long adventure which began in earnest during the 1999/00 season when Burns became a regular in the side, a spot he would hold down for five years. “I think if you had said to me back then would I last so long, I probably would have said I don’t know, because it’s hard when you move away from home,” Burns says. “But I took to it like a duck to water. I really enjoyed it and I knew I was in a privileged position. It was an opportunity to get paid for what I love doing. I thought Port Vale was excellent. Obviously it wasn’t a big-named club, but I knew I had an opportunity to get into the first team because it was a club that was renowned for bringing players through the ranks, and it was really a family-orientated club. When I signed, the first-team manager rang my parents and told them about the club, that it was a family club, and everything was great. They sent a guy from the college over to continue my education while I was there, so I was really well looked after. It was part of the deal when I went over that I actually had to do two years of education, because obviously if after the two years you didn’t make it you’d have something to fall back on. Obviously if you look at the statistics, not many people make it, and obviously education is a big thing for the PFA over there. It’s getting bigger too because not many people make it and then they get disillusioned when they’re told they’re not good enough, so they need something to fall back on.”
‘Great experience’
Burns took up residence in Stoke and made 113 league appearances during a five-season spell of first-team football after spending limited time on the pitch in his first two years in the senior setup. “(Playing regularly) was part of the reason that I went to Port Vale,” the 30-year-old says. “I knew if I got a chance in the first team that I would have stayed in, because it wasn’t a big-named club and they didn’t have big money to go out and spend. I knew they’d give youth a chance and it was just a matter of me getting my head down and working hard, and when my chance came to take it with both hands, and thankfully I done that. I played quite a few games in the Championship and the First Division, so it was a great experience. I loved it. I was happy over there. I was playing first-team football, I had my own house and there was no reason to leave, because all I wanted to do was to play first-team football and I had an opportunity to do it there. Obviously it’s quite a big derby between Port Vale and Stoke. I read about it a few years that it was around the third biggest in Britain behind the Merseyside and Glasgow derby. I played in a couple of them too which was a great experience.”
Horton exit
However, despite being a fixture on the weekly team-sheet, Burns finally ended his association with the Vale Park outfit at the conclusion of the 2003/04 season and moved to Bristol Rovers. “It was just a few things,” Burns explains about his exit. “At the start of the season Brian Horton was manager and I was in his plans. Come February, when we were talking about contracts, the club wanted to cut his salary and cut his budget. We were in the playoffs at the time and he had enough of it and left. I played most of the games that year and a new guy came in and obviously he had his own ideas and I was a bit-part player. I was disappointed to be let go because I think I played 30-odd games that year. But obviously it’s part and parcel of football, so you’ve just got to get on with it.” Horton had taken charge of Port Vale in 1999 after John Rudge ended his 16-year spell as manager, and Burns rates both as probably the best he played under at the club. “It was probably Brian Horton,” Liam says, “even though we didn’t see eye-to-eye. But he was honest with you and up front, so I’d probably say Brian Horton. But John Rudge brought me to the club, he was an excellent manager and renowned for bringing players in, buying them for £1,000 and selling them on for millions. If you look at some of the players he has brought in for peanuts and sold on for millions – Robbie Earle, Darren Beckford, Gareth Ainsworth, John McCarthy. So it’s a bit of both.”
Hotel Bristol
Burns soon moved to Bristol Rovers but it was a season which would see the centre-half play for four different clubs, as he followed up his time at Memorial Stadium with spells at Shrewsbury Town, Kidderminster Harriers and Forest Green Rovers. “My contract was up (at Port Vale) and I went to Bristol Rovers,” Liam explains. “There were one or two offers on the table but if you look at Bristol Rovers, it’s a big club, they have a big fan base and they had big ambitions. It was quite hard because there I was living in a hotel for six or seven months. I didn’t want to commit because I had a house (in Stoke) so they put me up in a hotel. I was enjoying it at the start but when I was training Monday to Friday and I wasn’t playing on a Saturday I became a bit disillusioned and I wasn’t enjoying my football. I always said if you’re not enjoying your football there’s no point being at a club, it doesn’t matter how much money you’re on. I think if you ask every footballer the one thing they want to do is play games. I was training hard Monday to Friday but come the weekend I wasn’t playing and I wasn’t enjoying it. Obviously you can look back now and say maybe it wasn’t the best decision but I never regret it. I played in a big city and things like that, but I wasn’t enjoying my football and that’s the main thing for me – I’ve got to be enjoying my football.”
‘Disillusioned’ days
Then came Shrewsbury. “That was more of a thing,” he says. “I was closer to my home so I could move home and be in the house and be with my partner, and things like that. That just didn’t work out for financial reasons. They had quite a few players. I played a few games for them but there was nothing concrete for me there so I just decided that was it.” Before Kidderminster was next up. “I was helping them and they were helping me,” Burns says. “They had loads of injuries and with me just up the road the manager gave me a ring and asked me would I go down to help them out to stay fit and that. I played a few games for them but I wasn’t very happy. I went to Forest Green then. It was another hard place to be. Looking back now it was maybe a wrong decision but it’s something that I don’t regret. When I left Port Vale I was getting a bit disillusioned with the game and I wasn’t quite enjoying it. I was used to playing every week and, as I said, I just wasn’t enjoying the football after that.”
Sligo success
As a result, Burns returned to Ireland ahead of the 2005 season and signed for Sean Connor for the first time at Sligo, who went on to win the First Division and promotion to the top flight at the first attempt. “Sean just rang me and told me who he was and would I fancy coming over to have a look at the place,” Liam recalls. “He lived in Stoke for a while so he knew who I was and he knew John Rudge very well, so he rang up John and enquired about me and it started from there. He came over and told me what plans he had for the club. Even though they were in the First Division, he told me it was a big club, and when I signed it was a bit of a shellshock, to be honest, where I was. But I really enjoyed it, and that was one of the main things that I wanted to do, to get back enjoying my football, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I moved to Sligo and it was good there. It’s a great part of Ireland that I never really knew about. I met a lot of good friends that I still have, and it was a great experience. The Gaffer brought in loads of new players. If you look when he first went in there, they were fourth from bottom in the First Division. When he went in there he knew what he had to do and he built he squad, and not just from Ireland – he brought players from Bolivia, America, Barbados, England, Bosnia, everywhere. We just obviously clicked and there was a great team spirit there, and it was fantastic to win the league in the first season. (It wasn’t a surprise) for us because when we got in there we knew that we had the squad, it was just a matter of gelling together and hitting the ground running. Thankfully we done that and it just continued throughout the season.”
‘Massive step-up’
Burns then remained at the Showgrounds for the club’s return to the Premier Division and it proved another memorable season as the Bit O’ Red finished fifth. “I think if you look over the years, even last year, teams that come up from the First Division find it a big step-up, even though they think it’s not,” he says. “It’s a massive step-up from the First Division and a lot of people expected us to get relegated. But fair dues to the Gaffer – of the squad that won the First Division he got rid of 13 or 14 players. He knew that the squad that won the First Division wouldn’t be good enough to maybe stay in the Premier Division and push on. He’s always been an ambitious manager and fair play to him. He brought in 14 new players, he knew it was a quality squad and just a matter of gelling. We done that, and I think if you look at where we finished in that league with the budget that we had and the teams at that time that were in the league, we finished fifth and we got to the semi-finals of the FAI Cup and took Derry to a replay.” Connor left near the end of that campaign and Burns admits that that move came as a shock to the squad. “I didn’t know what he was doing,” he says. “I knew teams were looking at him because of the success he had at Sligo, the budget he had and what he done with it and where he took the club. But I didn’t know anything about it until he took the job, so it came as a bit of a surprise when he left two games before the end of the season. We were safe in fifth at the time and we couldn’t finish any better. As I said, the Gaffer is ambitious and he wanted to move on and he felt Bohs were a big club and it could develop his career.”
McDonald mess
Burns was intent on staying at Sligo for another year, though, but that was before the arrival of new boss Rob McDonald. “He came in and he had his own ideas and he wanted to bring a whole new squad in instead of trying to keep the players that he had there,” Liam explains. “He got rid of a lot of players and the way he dealt with me and the contract situation I wasn’t very happy about. When Sean came in for me, I had a few options at the end of that season with other clubs, but working with Sean and the plans he had for Bohs, I decided to follow him. To a degree, I wanted to stay at Sligo because, as I said before, it’s all about being happy and I was happy there and enjoying my football. But with the new manager coming in, he had his own ideas and the way he treated me just through my own contract situation I wasn’t too happy about. I had the opportunity to go to Bohs and when I sat down with Sean and he showed me what plans he had and what he wanted to do, it was a no-brainer really.”
Double delight
However, despite finishing third, Connor departed Dalymount Park at the end of his first season in charge, leaving Burns with another change of manager as Pat Fenlon was appointed to the hot-seat. “I thought Sean was hard done by,” Burns says. “I’m sure everybody knows the story by now. Look at what he done with Bohs, he done the same with Sligo. Bohs finished fourth from bottom the year before he came in. They had a massive budget too with Gareth Farrelly, and if you look at the players they had they should have done a lot better, but Sean took the team from fourth from bottom to third and into Europe. We got to the League Cup final and the semi-final of the FAI Cup, so his record was excellent. Pat was alright. He was his own man and had his own ideas, and right from the start he wanted to stamp his own authority. I’m a professional footballer and I’m paid to play games, so I just got my head down. We had an excellent season. We won the league and cup, but football is about habits, and we got into a winning habit and we just kept winning. Losing is a habit too. We just hit the ground running. Pat walked into a very good team I think, because if you look when Sean came in he had 14 new players and he had to gel them all together and he had a long-term plan, whereas Pat just walked straight into a very good team and he didn’t really have to do much. He just had to tweak it a little. If you ask anyone, the league is your main priority, but to get to a cup final was excellent and it was a great experience – the crowd and the whole day – and thankfully we won it.”
Lilywhite life
Shortly after that, Burns was offered a contract renewal by Bohemians but turned it down in favour of moving to Dundalk to work with his old boss again. “I met Sean, I worked with him before, and I knew what plans he had for this place,” Liam says. “It was a no-brainer. I worked with him twice before and I know what he’s all about. He’s ambitious and I think Sean seen the potential here at this club. To tell the truth, I didn’t know the potential it had until I came up here. If you look at our home games and even our away games, our support has been excellent, and I didn’t really know how big the club was until this season. I’m enjoying myself here. Obviously we could do with one or two more results, but I think if people look at us, we’re making progress. We don’t have the biggest of squads but if you look at the results, we’re not getting tanked and what’s costing us at the minute is just individual mistakes. I think if you look at our games here in Oriel, teams have been lucky to get away and we’ve been really unlucky. A few decisions haven’t gone our way but that’s part and parcel of football, we’ve just got to get ourselves dusted down and get on with it. We know that there’s real potential here to do well.”
