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Fullname: John Burns
aka: N/A
Born: 1895
Died: […]
Birthplace: […]
Signed: 1 April 1918 (prov); 22 July 1918 (full)
Left: May 1920 (free); 10 Dec 1920 (Queen of the South)
Position: Outside-Right
Debut: Hibernian 0-3 Celtic, League, 17 Aug 1918
Internationals: none
Biog
John Burns made 13 league appearances for Celtic after signing for the Bhoys in 1918. He had played for Scottish Juniors in a 2-1 victory over English counterparts at Firhill on 30 Mar 1918.
“A likeable lad with a cunning foot enough“.
Signed from junior outfit St Anthony’s the right-sided forward made his debut in a 3-0 victory at Hibernian, and he was dubbed to be a “crack young forward“.
He made all his appearances for the Hoops in the first half of the championship winning campaign of 1918/19, scoring a possible hat-trick against Dumbarton in a 5-0 win, although some reports state that he only got a double. That Dumbarton game was held up for half an hour as both teams struggled to field a full eleven due to the Spanish Flu epidemic. In the event Celtic had two debutants, Billy Mitchell and Paddy Corcoran and they loan Tom McGregor to Dumbarton for his debut for that side.
However, it was straight after that goal scoring performance v Dumbarton that he was dropped for McLean, returning for a few games in December. He signed off with the first team with a goal in a 2-0 win over Clyde on 2 Jan 1919.
He actually had a good record with the first team, with only two defeats, both against Rangers, one in the league (3-0 loss) and a 2-0 defeat in the Glasgow Cup final. Celtic were to go on and win the 1918/19 league title by just 1pt over Rangers.
He also played in the 3-1 defeat to Queen’s Park in the Glasgow Charity Cup final in May 1919, and a 2-0 win over Vale of Leven in the Victory Cup.
Problem seemed to be that:
“he crosses a fine ball but lack of physique may count against him”
“[John lacked the] force, fire, fearlessness… [of his performances as a junior]”
“has not been a real success on the right-wing“
The great Andy McAtee returned (having been detained with the artillery in the war effort assisting the Italians in the Alps north of Venice) to take over to cement his role that John Burns was playing for. New signing Charles Watson was the fallback for the start of the next season, and as John Burns failed to make a first team start during this next season, he was to leave the club (after various loan spells) in 1920 to join Queen of the South.
He later played for East Stirling and was described as a ‘dandy inside-left‘.
He moved to Canada in 1922.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1918-20 | 13 | 0 | n/a | n/a | 13 |
| Goals: | 4 | 0 | – | – | 4 |
Honours with Celtic
Scottish League