Mark Burke

Mark Stephen Burke (born 12 February 1969) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. A player skilled at retaining the ball, he enjoyed a 15-year professional career in England, the Netherlands, Japan, Romania, and Sweden.

He began his career at Aston Villa, turning professional in February 1987. He was sold to Middlesbrough for £50,000 in December 1987 and played for Fourth Division champions Darlington on loan in October 1990. He transferred to Wolverhampton Wanderers for a £25,000 fee in March 1991 before playing on loan at Luton Town in March 1994. He signed with Port Vale in August 1994 before moving on to Fortuna Sittard the following year. He joined Omiya Ardija in 1999 before signing with TOP Oss via Rapid Bucharest and IF Brommapojkarna in 2001, helping the latter to the Division 2 Östra Svealand title.

Career Burke joined Aston Villa as a youth team scholar in June 1985 and played for England Schoolboys and England Youth before signing professionally in February 1987. He made his senior debut in a 1–0 defeat to Everton on 18 April 1987, as the "Villans" were relegated out of the First Division in 1986–87. They were immediately promoted in 1987–88. Burke managed only eight appearances for the club but he impressed the author, Lee Child, a fan of Aston Villa; the naming of the fictional character, Rev. Patrick Burke, friend of Reacher in the 23rd book of the Jack Reacher series, Past Tense (2018) is a nod to Mark.

He joined fellow Second Division side Middlesbrough for £50,000 in December 1987. This move reunited him with Graham Turner, who had been Villa manager at the time of Burke's arrival there. Darlington went on to top the Fourth Division in 1990–91, whilst Wolves finished 12th in the Second Division.

The midfielder made his Wolves debut in a 3–3 draw with Oxford United on 16 March 1991 but was again unable to hold down a regular first-team spot. The club improved slightly to post an 11th-place finish in 1991–92. His best season at Molineux came in 1992–93 when he managed 34 appearances, scoring 8 times – the best seasonal tally of his career, as Wolves again came 11th. He was again on the periphery for the following campaign, as his side finished 8th, three points behind Derby County in the play-offs.

After a short spell on loan at First Division rivals Luton Town in March 1994, he returned to his parent club to find Graham Taylor, another of his former managers from his Villa days, was now at the helm. Burke was unable to win a place in Taylor's plans, though, and had a trial at Tottenham Hotspur before eventually joining Port Vale in August 1994. He scored twice in 15 First Division games under manager John Rudge in 1994–95, before quitting England to explore foreign football.

His first foreign club were Fortuna Sittard in the Dutch Eredivisie, where he played under Pim Verbeek. Burke had been recommended to the club by Terry Lees. He scored the winning goal on his debut against De Graafschap. Rapid finished fourth in Liga I in 2000–01. Burke moved on to Swedish Division 2 club IF Brommapojkarna, and helped his new club to the Östra Svealand title in 2001. He then played four games for TOP Oss of the Eerste Divisie in 2001–02.

"In England if the manager said it, you just did it. When I went to Fortuna .. I really started to understand the shape of the field, horizontally and vertically. In England, the only time I had training sessions like that was when I went on coaching courses."|Burke learned a lot from playing outside England.

Personal life In 2013, Burke released his first eBook A different kind of soccer book, which was aimed at children, coaches, and parents.

He is capable in several languages: English, Spanish and Dutch.

Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals

1986–87 First Division

1987–88 Second Division

7!!0!!0!!0!!1!!0!!8!!0

1987–88 Second Division

1988–89 First Division

1989–90 Second Division

57!!6!!3!!0!!6!!0!!66!!6 Darlington (loan) 1990–91 Fourth Division

1990–91 Second Division

1991–92 Second Division

1992–93 First Division

1993–94 First Division

68!!11!!2!!0!!7!!2!!77!!13 Luton Town (loan) 1993–94 First Division

Port Vale 1994–95 First Division

1995–96 Eredivisie

1996–97 Eredivisie

1997–98 Eredivisie

1998–99 Eredivisie

108!!10!!!!!!4!!1!!112!!11

1999 J2 League

2000 J2 League

51!!9!!2!!0!!0!!0!!53!!9 Rapid Bucharest 2000–01 Divizia A

TOP Oss 2001–02 Eerste Divisie

326!!40!!10!!0!!21!!3!!357!!43

Honours Darlington Football League Fourth Division: 1990–91

IF Brommapojkarna Division 2 Östra Svealand: 2001