Tommy Burns
Celtic player and manager Tommy Burns has died after losing his long-running battle with cancer, the club said today. Burns, 51, originally contracted skin cancer in 2006. Although he received treatment, the disease returned in March. The former Scotland international, who spent 15 years as a player at Parkhead and also managed the club for three seasons, had been undergoing treatment in both Glasgow and France in recent weeks.
A statement from Celtic on their official website said: "It is with great sadness that Celtic Football Club confirmed this morning that Tommy Burns has passed away. "Tommy, a true Celtic legend and wonderful man will be sadly missed by us all. "Clearly, our thoughts are very much with Tommy's wife Rosemary and his family at this extremely difficult time." Rangers announced they had abandoned plans for a bus tour through Glasgow this afternoon, following their appearance in last night's UEFA Cup final. In a statement, Rangers said: "In light of the news of the death of Tommy Burns this morning, Rangers Football Club has decided it would be wholly inappropriate to take part in a public procession through Glasgow today.
"The club would like to extend its sincere condolences to the family of Tommy Burns at this very sad time." Burns also played for and managed Kilmarnock and served as assistant manager for the Scotland national team under Berti Vogts and Walter Smith. He joined Celtic as a teenager in 1973 and went on to play 352 league games for the club, scoring 52 goals, and winning eight Scotland caps. In 1989, he moved to Kilmarnock and was given his first job in management there three years later.
He left to take the Celtic reins in 1994 but was sacked three years later. A short spell as boss of Reading followed before Burns became Scotland number two in 2002 under Berti Vogts and later Walter Smith. He returned to Celtic as first-team coach shortly before Martin O'Neill's arrival, a position he retained when Gordon Strachan became manager.
He is survived by his wife of 28 years, Rosemary, and four children. Burns was a much-loved figure among the Celtic supporters and they paid tribute to him this morning. Celtic chairman John Reid described Burns as a man of "true integrity and dignity" whose death would be mourned by everyone connected with the club. The former Home Secretary said on the club's official website: "The passing of Tommy Burns is devastating news and my sincere and heartfelt sympathies go to Rosemary and Tommy's family.
"Tommy is someone who was loved by so many of us. He was a man of true integrity and dignity. As a Celtic player, manager and coach, Tommy served Celtic with distinction and true professionalism.
"He was a true gentleman and someone who had the ability to connect and engage with anyone he met. "As Celtic supporters, we recognised Tommy as one of our own and Tommy in turn was always delighted to spend time in the company of fellow fans. "It was a privilege to know Tommy Burns. He was a man who gave so much to the club he loved over so many years.
"Tommy's passing will be mourned by the entire Celtic family. He will be hugely missed by us all, but he is someone we will never, ever forget." Former Celtic team-mate Davie Provan also sent his best wishes to the family.
"I first came across Tommy in the Scotland Under-21 team – that must be 30 years ago," Provan told Sky Sports News. "I will remember him as a very good footballer but more than that, a great human being. He was decent and honest. "He was hugely popular at Celtic but I'm sure his death will cause great sadness among the Rangers supporters too. "He embodied everything good about the club. He made a terrific Celtic manager but was desperately unlucky that Rangers under Walter Smith were so powerful.
"He was a great example to everybody at Celtic Park. He was a universally popular at the ground. He was born and brought up in the Calton district of Glasgow – a stone's throw from Celtic Park – and he got to live the dream.
"But football was a poor third in his life. His great devotion was Rosemary and his family, and his faith."
Another former Celtic team-mate, Frank McGarvey, said: "I'm shattered and I think everyone is shattered. "My thoughts go out to his wife Rosemary and the family. It's a very sad day for everyone.
"He was one of Celtic's greatest servants and was one of the players who would try and go to every event that involved the supporters. "He was only 51 and it's very hard to understand why this happens.
"He was one of the good guys, a winner, with a great sense of humour and he will be badly missed by everyone. A good friend has been taken away." Peter Rafferty, of the Association of Celtic Supporters' Clubs, said: "I knew Tommy very well both as a friend and obviously through his connections with Celtic. I got to know him over many years.
"He was a true gentleman and a big family man. I would just like to pass my condolences on to Rosemary and his family on behalf of the Celtic supporters. "Celtic was a big part of his life but the biggest part of his life was his family. He became a grandfather a few weeks ago and that is the biggest tragedy.
"Legend is a word that is used quite a lot these days but he was. He was a great player with Celtic first and foremost.
"He was a manager who played football the way Celtic supporters like to see it.
"All these things pale into insignificance this morning. He was a very nice person, a very religious person. "If you needed anything, Tommy Burns would always be there for you."
Former Celtic captain Paul Lambert said: "It's a shock. Even though you knew he wasn't too good, when you hear (of his death) it's still a massive, massive shock.
"It's a great loss, no doubt about it. He was just a terrific guy to have known.
"I worked under him for a few years with the national team and it's just a sad, sad loss." Wycombe manager Lambert added: "His enthusiasm for the game was terrific. He was a very funny man.
"So soon after the Phil O'Donnell tragedy as well, and then Tommy. It's just horrific.
"It was a privilege knowing him."
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Tommy, devoted servant of Celtic, dies
ANOTHER poignant connection with old Glasgow was irreparably severed yesterday, when Tommy Burns, the former Celtic player, manager and coach, died of skin cancer at the age of 51.
Born and raised in Calton, in the tenemented, working-class East End of the city, Burns spent most of his adult life with his wife, Rosemary, and their four children in Newton Mearns, the rather posh suburb on the south side. In thought, word and deed, however, he never left his birthplace.
In the way that an authentic Cockney is said to be one who is born within the sound of Bow Bells, Burns would be the definitive "Celtic man". Had he arrived in the world 70 years earlier than he did, in December 1956, he would have been one of the reasons for the club's existence.
It was founded for charitable purposes, "to help feed the needy children of the parishes of St Mary's, St Michael's and Sacred Heart", and Burns was born into a family who worshipped at St Mary's. His dedication to Celtic – as a supporter and, later, as an active contributor – was surpassed only by his devotion to his Catholic faith, with a special reverence for the Virgin Mary.
As manager of Celtic, his desk was littered not only with paperwork, but also some Marian icons. His religious beliefs were deep and genuine and informed the caring personality that made him universally loved and admired.
Burns was an inveterate and seemingly inexhaustible fundraiser. When, a number of years ago, St Mary's was in urgent need of a substantial amount of money for a new roof, it was he who led the drive. Despite his 20-odd years in Newton Mearns, it is no surprise that his funeral will be held at St Mary's.
At charity events, he would mesmerise fans with his talks, usually ending the night with a song delivered in an exceptional voice, the Bobby Darin classic Mack the Knife, his speciality.
When the parish priest of St Pius's, in Drumchapel, on the western outskirts of Glasgow, required GBP 1,000 in a hurry, Burns, then manager of Celtic, agreed to host a fundraiser. As it happened, the event was arranged for the night after the team had lost to Raith Rovers in the Scottish League Cup final and the organisers feared it would be a disaster. Burns not only showed up, but drew such a crowd that they were hanging from the rafters. When he was asked to render his party piece, he said he would if everybody in the audience would pledge an additional GBP 1.
When he had finished, amid cries of "Encore!", they were throwing GBP 10 notes into the plastic bin bags, and the target amount was reached through Burns's impromptu song alone.
At Old Trafford 11 days ago, after Manchester United's Champions League semi-final victory over Barcelona, something occurred which encapsulates the esteem and the affection in which Burns was held by all who knew him. In the room in which Sir Alex Ferguson welcomes old friends after big matches, the United manager called me over to ask about Tommy.
He had heard the prognosis on his illness was not good and he was clearly deeply concerned. Ferguson was with Sir David Frost and, having expressed his sorrow, he turned to Frost and said: "You won't know Tommy Burns, but he is one of the kindest and most loveable men God ever put on Earth. Actually, you could call him a saint."
(c) 2008
The Scotsman
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Tears flow at Celtic after the tragic loss of Tommy Burns, a club legend Strachan is overcome at death of Parkhead hero, aged 51, just hours after bedside visit
GORDON Strachan choked back tears at a mournful Celtic Park as he paid a poignant and heartfelt tribute to Tommy Burns yesterday.
As Scottish football awoke to the desperate news of Burns' death from cancer at the age of 51, Strachan struggled to control his own grief at an emotive media conference inside the stadium.
While a carpet of floral and football memorabilia related tributes grew outside, the Celtic manager spoke movingly and with genuine warmth of his affection for his former rival whom he appointed to his first-team coaching staff on his arrival at the club in 2005.
Strachan spent time at Burns' bedside late on Wednesday afternoon, just hours before he passed away in the early hours of yesterday morning. An embrace between the pair summed up the bond they had forged, in contrast to the fierce rivalry they established as combatants for Aberdeen and Celtic three decades ago.
Burns came to be Strachan's most trusted lieutenant and, according to the manager, he would not have been able to cope with the demands of the job without the counsel he provided. "The best part of coming to Celtic, above everything else in what has been a fantastic journey, has been to call Tommy Burns my friend for the last three years," said Strachan. "That's no disrespect to the club, but being Tommy's mate has been the best part of joining Celtic.
"The most important thing I did when I came here was make Tommy first-team coach. Through his intelligence, common sense and humour, he made me understand what Glasgow was all about. If I didn't have him, I would have gone off my head. He kept me sane at times.
"It was just a privilege to be in his company every day. When you lose one of your relatives, it is painful, but you may not have seen them every day. But Tommy has been part of my life every day for three years and that's why I'm taking it pretty hard at the moment."
While Burns will be remembered for his considerable gifts as a vibrant and technically gifted midfield player for Celtic, it is his widely recognised human qualities which Strachan will cherish most fondly. "There were not many footballers better than Tommy, but as a person he was top of the league when it comes to being a man," he added. "He wasn't a guy to go on about what he did in football, he was too busy helping other people.
"Even yesterday when I was with him, his faith was incredible. All he was interested in was making sure his wife Rosemary and the kids were all right and that I was all right. He wasn't thinking about himself. The last thing he did was make his family strong.
"Typical of Tommy, we still managed to have a laugh even just 14 or 15 hours before his death. When I was giving him a hug, I said to him that if the Celtic and Aberdeen fans 30 years ago could have seen us now, they wouldn't have believed it. But that's the type of man he was. He could change from us kicking lumps out of each other 30 years ago to someone I am now missing as badly as I've ever missed anyone.
"If you judge people on being a man, then he is the world champion. He radiated. Every time he walked into a room, no matter how you were feeling, you felt better when he was about. We have missed him being about the place during his illness. It's not the same when he's not there." Strachan and his equally distraught players now face the task of dealing with the untimely loss of Burns in a manner which allows them to prepare properly for their final SPL fixture of the season at Dundee United next Thursday, a game which may yet see them win a third successive championship. "I can't think about that just now," said Strachan. "All of us will know how lucky we were that Tommy was a part of our life. He showed us that football is a poor second to family."
(c) 2008
The Scotsman
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Sir Alex recalls buzz-bomb midfielder who played the beautiful game
ALTHOUGH they would later become friends, Sir Alex Ferguson yesterday reflected on the time when Tommy Burns was the infuriating buzz-bomb midfielder whose talents he felt compelled to single-out prior to matches between his Aberdeen team and Celtic in the Eighties.
The Manchester United manager paid tribute to Tommy Burns the player at the club's training academy at Carrington, and recalled a "beautiful, educated" footballer.
"He was a talented player," said Ferguson. "He was such a nice, quiet guy off the pitch. But he had a bit of fire about him. He was red-haired, and you expect those with red hair to have a bit of fire – players like Billy Bremner and Jimmy Johnstone. He had fire but he was a beautiful, educated footballer in terms of his left foot. He was always worth a goal. When we used to play against Celtic I used to say to the players all the time: 'watch him coming late into the box'. He was good at that. He was a competitive wee lad. I think he got sent off against us at Pittodrie once."
"When you look at the careers of players you know they can't be an angel all the time," he continued. "I am doing a foreword for Willie Johnston's book and I make that point. You can't use one blip in a person's football career [to define someone], because you'd have to examine every tackle made and every bad deed ever done on a football pitch. What you can talk about is what the player contributed to the game in general. The excitement [Tommy] brought a Celtic fan – and not just for a minute or two, but for more than a decade – has to be acknowledged. When a player makes a contribution to a football club it's not because he has just played there a year or so, it's because he's been there ten years or, like Ryan Giggs with us, he has stayed for 20 years."
(c) 2008
The Scotsman
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Life and times of a man who realised all his dreams A devout Celtic man, Burns won six titles at Parkhead, was capped for Scotland and was made manager of his beloved club
COUNTLESS thousands of Celtic supporters have dreamed of playing for their club or of taking charge as manager. Tommy Burns was one of a very select few who was able to turn that dream into a reality.
Born in 1956, he came to the attention of Celtic while playing for Maryhill. He signed for them as a teenager, and after brief spells as a reserve and then as a fringe member of the first-team squad, he established himself as an essential member of the side.
Scottish football has known gifted players who lacked application, and hard workers whose technical ability was limited. In Burns, Celtic were fortunate to find a midfielder who was both richly talented and utterly willing to give his last ounce of energy for the cause.
His first major honour, the league title of 1976-77, was won when Jock Stein was still manager. His second, two years later, came under Billy McNeill. He won six in all as a player, in addition to three Scottish Cups and one League Cup, but he was far more than a player who could be relied upon to come good on the big occasion.
At times, in the first half of the 1980s when Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen were the dominant force in Scotland, Celtic were a poor team, at least judged by their own high standards. But even when some of those playing alongside him were hardly worthy of appearing on the same pitch, Burns would not let his commitment waver.
His enthusiasm for the sport, his commitment to the cause, and his belief in the necessity for honest hard work could not be separated into distinct ingredients. Instead, they were intertwined elements of his personality which reinforced each other – and that personality, in turn, gave hope to the Celtic support even in situations when they might have succumbed to despair.
Burns was not the only player in the squad to have a never-say-die attitude, but he was often the only one skilled enough to turn defiant hope into a tangible result. That attitude and the ability which went with it ended up by inspiring virtually every player at the club, and at times they all appeared to believe they simply could not lose.
The 1985-86 season, when Celtic won the title on goal difference on the last day, was a case in point. So too was the centenary season, 1987-88, when the Scottish Cup joined the league flag among the trophy haul.
Celtic should not even have got past their first match in the cup that year, as Stranraer had a penalty saved and another excellent chance missed before Frank McAvennie popped up to score the only goal of the game. And they would not have got past Hearts in the semi-final, when they were a goal down with minutes to play, but for the kind of late rally which Burns had led them to believe they could make. They won that game 2-1, then won the final, against Dundee United, by the same score.
It was towards the end of that centenary season that Burns realised another long-held ambition, when he was capped against England at Wembley. Andy Roxburgh was the manager then, and Craig Brown, the assistant who would succeed him, yesterday recalled the gratitude shown by Burns.
"Before he went on to the pitch [as a substitute], Tommy stopped at the bench to thank Andy for giving him something that meant so much on a personal and a family level," Brown said. Burns, who went on to win eight caps, later said himself that even coming off the bench to play for Scotland against England "fulfilled a boyhood dream".
In 1989,at the age of 32, Burns moved on to Kilmarnock. He served three years at Rugby Park as a player, and then in 1992 became player-manager. The club were promoted to the Premier Division in 1993, and Burns was earmarked as one of the brightest young managers in the game.
His promise was not lost on his former employers at Celtic Park, and in 1994 he returned to his old club as manager. He was still under contract to Kilmarnock at the time, and Celtic were disciplined for tapping him. The reality, though, was that Burns required no untoward inducements to go back to the East End of Glasgow as boss.
In retrospect, it can be seen that the move came too soon. But he knew that, if he turned down the chance once it might never come again. Therefore, he had little choice but to accept it.
Celtic won the Scottish Cup in 1995, beating Airdrie in the final, but it was Burns' misfortune to have taken the reins during a period in which Rangers were utterly dominant. This was the great Ibrox nine-in-a-row side in which players such as Andy Goram, Ally McCoist and Paul Gascoigne all played their part.
For Burns, it was the goalkeeper Goram in particular who proved crucial in prolonging Rangers' success and securing that ninth title. "On my gravestone it will read: Andy Goram broke my heart," he said at the time.
Goram and colleagues possibly also ended any hopes Burns had of making a success as Celtic manager, and in 1997 he was sacked. He would later become Reading manager, but from the time he left Celtic Park on, he tended to have more hands-on coaching roles. It was in that capacity, for example, that he worked with Kenny Dalglish at Newcastle United in his first job after his dismissal from Celtic.
Burns became Scotland's assistant manager in 2002 under Berti Vogts, and he held on to the job when Walter Smith took over from the German. In the last few years of his life he was also able to contribute once more to Celtic.
He was given a post in charge of youth development by Martin O'Neill, and then under Gordon Strachan he was also appointed first-team coach. At first these activities were done in tandem with his Scotland role, but at the start of 2007, following Smith's departure for Rangers, Burns announced that he too was quitting the national team.
By then, he had had one course of treatment for skin cancer, and had apparently responded well. When the illness recurred earlier this year, however, he was given a leave of absence, one which in the end proved permanent.
(c) 2008
The Scotsman