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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.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Benjamin Kieron Burgess | ||
| Date of birth | 9 November 1981 | ||
| 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) |
| 2000–2001 | → Northern Spirit (loan) | 27 | (16) |
| 2001–2002 | → Brentford (loan) | 43 | (17) |
| 2002–2003 | Stockport County | 19 | (4) |
| 2003 | → Oldham Athletic (loan) | 7 | (0) |
| 2003–2006 | Hull City | 70 | (24) |
| 2006–2010 | Blackpool | 126 | (23) |
| 2010–2012 | Notts County | 45 | (5) |
| 2012 | → Cheltenham 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 | |||
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Early career
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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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]
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Burgess is a Manchester City supporter.[1]
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| 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 | ||
- 3 appearances in Football League play-offs, 1 appearance in Football League Trophy.
- Appearances in Football League Trophy.
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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]
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As a player
Blackpool
- League One play-off final winner: 2006–07[6]
- Championship play-off final winner: 2009–10[11]
As an individual
- National Soccer League U21 Player of the Year: 2000-01[27]
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