List of Burnley F.C. players

Burnley Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Burnley, Lancashire. Founded on 18 May 1882, the club was one of the first to become professional (in 1883), putting pressure on the Football Association (FA) to permit payments to players.^[1] In 1885, the FA legalised professionalism, so the team entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1885–86, and were one of the twelve founding members of the Football League in 1888–89.^[1] Burnley have played in all four professional divisions of English football from 1888 to the present day.^[2] The team have been champions of England twice, in 1920–21 and 1959–60, have won the FA Cup once, in 1913–14, and have won the FA Charity Shield twice, in 1960 and 1973.^[2]^[3] Burnley are one of only five teams to have won all four professional divisions of English football, along with Wolverhampton Wanderers, Preston North End, Sheffield United and Portsmouth. They were the second to achieve this by winning the Fourth Division in the 1991–92 season.^[4]^[5]

A black and white image of a former Burnley player — Bert Freeman scored 115 goals in 189 appearances for Burnley between 1911 and 1921.

Jerry Dawson holds the record for the greatest number of appearances for Burnley. Between 1907 and 1929, the goalkeeper played 569 times for the club.^[6]^[7] George Beel scored 188 goals during his Burnley career and is the club's record goalscorer.^[7] Seven players who have made at least 100 appearances for Burnley went on to manage the team: Jimmy Adamson, Frank Casper (also as caretaker manager), Steve Davis (as caretaker manager), Adrian Heath (as player-manager), Brian Laws, Brian Miller, and Harry Potts.^[8]^[9]^[10] Potts became the club's longest serving manager with 728 competitive matches.^[8] During his playing career, Adamson won the Footballer of the Year award in 1962—the only time a Burnley player has won this award.^[11] Northern Irishman Willie Irvine is the only player in the club's history to be crowned top goal scorer of the first tier (in 1965–66).^[12] When Bob Kelly moved from Burnley to Sunderland for £6,500 in 1925 (equivalent to £390,000 in 2024^[a]), he broke the world transfer record.^[13]

All players who have played 100 or more first-team matches for the club, either as a member of the starting eleven or as a substitute, are listed below. Each player's details include the duration of his career with Burnley, his typical playing position while with the club, and the number of matches played and goals scored in all senior competitive matches.

Key

Statistics are correct as of the match played on 8 May 2023.
Players are initially arranged by alphabetical order of surname.
Appearances as a substitute are included. This feature of the game was introduced in the Football League at the start of the 1965–66 season.^[14]
Total appearances and goals comprise those in the Football League, including test matches and play-offs, Premier League, FA Cup, Football League Cup, Charity Shield, European Cup, Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, UEFA Europa League, Texaco Cup, Watney Cup, Anglo-Scottish Cup, Football League Group Cup, and Associate Members' Cup / Football League Trophy. Wartime fixtures and expunged matches are not included.

Symbol	Meaning
‡	Player still at the club
*	Player represented his country at senior international level during his time at the club

Positions key^[b]
Pre-1960s		1960s–
GK	Goalkeeper
FB	Full back	DF	Defender
HB	Half back	MF	Midfielder
FW	Forward

List of players

List of Burnley F.C. players with at least 100 appearances^[c]
Player	Nationality	Position	Club career	Appearances	Goals	Notes
Ted Adams	England	GK	1936–1943	118	0
Jimmy Adamson	England	HB/MF	1947–1964	486	18
Jock Aird	Scotland*	FB	1948–1955	143	0
Ade Akinbiyi	Nigeria	FW	2005–2006, 2007–2009	122	31	^[15]
Graham Alexander	Scotland*	DF	2007–2011	177	24	^[16]
Joe Anderson	Scotland	FW	1920–1923	126	72
John Angus	England*	FB/DF	1955–1972	521	4
Scott Arfield	Canada*	MF	2013–2018	193	22	^[17]
Gordon Armstrong	England	DF	1998–2003	113	4
Reg Attwell	England	FB	1946–1954	269	11
Tom Bamford	England	FB	1909–1920	157	0
Ashley Barnes	England	FW	2014–2023	293	54	^[18]
Fred Barron	England	HB	1898–1911	423	14
Alf Basnett	England	HB	1919–1926	157	5
George Beel	England	FW	1923–1932	337	188
Arthur Bell	England	FW	1902–1909	104	29
Arthur Bellamy	England	MF	1959–1972	250	29
Marlon Beresford	England	GK	1992–1998, 2002–2003	350	0
Adam Blacklaw	Scotland*	GK	1954–1967	383	0
Robbie Blake	England	FW	2002–2005, 2007–2010	282	72	^[19]
Billy Bowes	Scotland	FW	1891–1901	295	84
George Boyd	Scotland	MF	2014–2017	123	12	^[20]
Tommy Boyle	England*	FB	1911–1923	236	43
Graham Branch	England	DF	1998–2007	299	18
Chris Brass	England	DF	1993–2001	160	1
George Bray	England	HB	1937–1952	259	9
Ian Brennan	England	DF	1970–1980	212	14
Lee Briscoe	England	DF	2000–2003	119	7
Ian Britton	Scotland	MF	1986–1989	130	10
Bob Brocklebank	England	FW	1936–1945	128	38
James Brown	Scotland	HB	1927–1935	241	5
Josh Brownhill‡	England	MF	2020–	132	10	^[21]
Jack Bruton	England*	HB	1925–1929	176	44
Steven Caldwell	Scotland*	DF	2007–2010	119	5	^[22]
Mo Camara	Guinea	DF	2003–2005	104	1
Clarke Carlisle	England	DF	2007–2012	152	9	^[23]
Frank Casper	England	FW	1967–1976	275	89
Albert Cheesebrough	England	FW	1952–1959	158	40
Jackie Chew	England	HB	1946–1954	248	41
Ralph Coates	England*	MF	1963–1971	261	32
Doug Collins	England	MF	1968–1976	217	19
Paul Comstive	England	MF	1987–1989	103	23
John Connelly	England*	FW	1956–1964	265	104
Mike Conroy	Scotland	FW	1991–1993	101	41
Paul Cook	England	MF	1999–2003	169	15
Andy Cooke	England	FW	1995–2000	202	61
Jack Cork‡	England*	MF	2010–2011, 2017–	261	11	^[24]
Ian Cox	Trinidad and Tobago*	DF	2000–2003	131	5
Jonathan Cretney	England	HB	1905–1911	177	10
Benny Cross	England	FW	1920–1928	255	61
Tommy Cummings	England	FB/DF	1947–1963	479	3
Steve Davis	England	DF	1987–1991	181	12
Steve Davis	England	DF	1989–1990, 1991–1995, 1998–2003	388	47
Jerry Dawson	England*	GK	1907–1929	569	0
Ray Deakin	England	DF	1985–1991	247	6
John Deary	England	MF	1989–1995	275	27
Joe Devine	Scotland	FW	1925–1930	121	29
Arthur Dixon	England	FB	1900–1907	183	8
Martin Dobson	England*	MF	1967–1974, 1979–1984	497	76
Mick Docherty	England	DF	1967–1976	174	1
Michael Duff	Northern Ireland*	DF	2004–2016	383	8	^[25]
Chris Eagles	England	MF	2008–2011	143	25	^[26]
David Edgar	Canada*	DF	2009–2014	114	4	^[27]
Alex Elder	Northern Ireland*	DF	1959–1967	330	17
Roger Eli	England	FW	1989–1994	132	31
Wade Elliott	England	MF	2005–2011	282	23	^[28]
David Eyres	England	MF	1993–1997	215	55
Andy Farrell	England	MF	1987–1994	331	23
Paul Fletcher	England	FW	1971–1980	352	86
Brian Flynn	Wales*	MF	1972–1977, 1982–1984	250	27
Alex Forrest	Scotland	HB	1927–1933	116	4
John Francis	England	FW	1990–1992, 1993–1996	226	46
Bert Freeman	England*	FW	1911–1921	189	115
Steve Gardner	England	DF	1987–1990	115	0
Lee Grant	England	GK	2005–2006, 2010–2013	127	0	^[29]
Tony Grant	England	MF	2001–2005	166	3
Billy Gray	England	FW	1953–1957	130	32
Billy Green	England	GK	1903–1908	153	0
Neil Grewcock	England	MF	1984–1991	242	32
Joey Guðjónsson	Iceland*	MF	2007–2010	109	7	^[30]
Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson‡	Iceland*	MF	2016–	200	13	^[31]
George Halley	Scotland	FB	1913–1922	153	5
Billy Hamilton	Northern Ireland*	FW	1979–1984	251	77
Peter Hampton	England	DF	1984–1987	134	2
Ted Hancock	England	HB	1933–1936	123	31
Ray Hankin	England	FW	1973–1976	139	47
Roger Hansbury	England	GK	1983–1985	103	0
Jon Harley	England	DF	2005–2008	126	3	^[32]
Gordon Harris	England*	MF	1958–1968	313	81
Gerry Harrison	England	MF	1994–1998, 2000	146	3
Jack Hays	England	HB	1939–1951	154	13
Adrian Heath	England	FW	1992–1995, 1996–1997	148	35	^[d]
Tom Heaton	England*	GK	2013–2019	200	0	^[33]
Jeff Hendrick	Republic of Ireland*	MF	2016–2020	139	10	^[34]
Jack Hill	England*	FB	1923–1928	198	13
Jimmy Hill	Scotland	HB	1889–1897	162	42
Jack Hillman	England*	GK	1890–1895, 1898–1902	188	0
Kevin Hird	England	MF	1984–1986	100	30
Teddy Hodgson	England	FW	1911–1919	137	62
Bill Holden	England	FW	1950–1955	199	78
David Holt	England	DF	1980–1983	110	4
Ron Hornby	England	HB	1934–1949	135	19
Ashley Hoskin	England	MF	1985–1989	105	13
Jamie Hoyland	England	MF	1994–1998	105	4
Tommy Hutchison	Scotland	MF	1983–1985	114	5
Micah Hyde	Jamaica*	MF	2004–2007	114	2
Billy Ingham	England	MF	1969–1980	266	31
Danny Ings	England	FW	2011–2015	130	43	^[35]
Willie Irvine	Northern Ireland*	FW	1960–1968	148	97
Joe Jakub	Scotland	MF	1973–1980, 1989–1993	255	9
Leighton James	Wales*	MF	1970–1975, 1978–1980, 1986–1989	399	81
Brian Jensen	Denmark	GK	2003–2013	310	0	^[36]
David Jones	England	MF	2013–2016	131	3	^[37]
Michael Keane	England*	DF	2014–2017	108	7	^[38]
Bob Kelly	England*	FW	1913–1925	299	97
Steve Kindon	England	MF	1967–1972, 1977–1979	225	58
Sandy Lang	Scotland	FB	1885–1895	134	3	^[e]
Les Latcham	England	MF	1960–1971	184	12
Brian Laws	England	DF	1979–1983	160	15
Dick Lindley	England	FW	1908–1920	152	46
Glen Little	England	MF	1996–2004	283	36
Archie Livingstone	Scotland	HB	1893–1900	181	3
Andy Lochhead	Scotland	FW	1958–1968	266	128
Matthew Lowton	England	DF	2015–2023	203	3	^[40]
Doug MacFarlane	England	FW	1903–1908	125	34
Phil Malley	England	MF	1984–1988	113	6
Dean Marney	England	MF	2010–2018	221	10	^[41]
Harry Mather	England	FB	1938–1955	329	0
Chris McCann	Republic of Ireland	MF	2005–2013	268	31	^[42]
Andy McCluggage	Ireland*	FB	1925–1931	213	24
Colin McDonald	England*	GK	1948–1950, 1951–1961	201	0
John McGreal	England	DF	2004–2007	106	1
Jimmy McIlroy	Northern Ireland*	MF/FW	1950–1963	497	131
Tom McLintock	Scotland	FB	1893–1903	254	15
Dwight McNeil	England	MF	2018–2022	147	7	^[43]
Ian Measham	England	DF	1988–1993	230	2
Ben Mee	England	DF	2011–2012, 2012–2022	376	12	^[44]
David Merrington	England	MF	1962–1971	126	2
Brian Miller	England*	HB/DF	1954–1967	455	37
Hugh Moffat	England	FB	1904–1910	214	13
Mark Monington	England	DF	1989–1994	101	6
Willie Morgan	Scotland*	MF	1961–1968, 1975–1976	232	22
Jonathan Morley	England	HB	1908–1912	108	17
Tony Morley	England	MF	1976–1979, 1988	107	7
Billy Morris	Wales*	FW	1939–1952	230	53
Tommy Morrison	Ireland*	FW	1894–1895, 1897–1902, 1906–1907	195	28
Eddie Mosscrop	England*	FW	1912–1922	198	20
John Mullin	England	MF	1992–1995, 1998, 1999–2001	113	11
Joe Neenan	England	GK	1985–1987	104	0
Billy Nesbitt	England	HB	1911–1923	192	20
Doug Newlands	Scotland	FW	1955–1959	104	23
Keith Newton	England	DF	1972–1978	253	7
Tom Nicol	Scotland	FW	1891–1896	149	44
Peter Noble	England	FW	1973–1980	301	80
Kurt Nogan	Wales	FW	1995–1997	108	42
Geoff Nulty	England	MF	1968–1974	153	24
James O'Connor	Republic of Ireland	MF	2004–2008	149	11	^[45]
Brian O'Neil	England	MF	1961–1970	282	25
Vince Overson	England	DF	1979–1986, 1996–1998	264	7
Louis Page	England*	FW	1925–1932	259	115
George Parkin	England	HB	1924–1929	128	2
Gary Parkinson	England	DF	1994–1997	163	5
Martin Paterson	Northern Ireland*	FW	2008–2013	151	37	^[46]
Andy Payton	England	FW	1998–2003	176	81
Chris Pearce	Wales	GK	1987–1992	236	0
John Pender	Republic of Ireland	DF	1990–1995	222	11
Mike Phelan	England	MF	1980–1985	214	13
Brian Pilkington	England*	MF/FW	1951–1961	340	77
Walter Place	England	HB	1886, 1890–1900	129	9	^[e]
Walter Place	England	FW	1893–1900	187	36
Ray Pointer	England*	FW	1957–1965	270	132
Nick Pope	England*	GK	2016–2022	155	0	^[47]
Harry Potts	England	FW	1937–1950	181	50
Adrian Randall	England	MF	1991–1995	144	10
Jerry Reynolds	Scotland	FB	1895–1900	124	0
Gilbert Richmond	England	FB	1932–1939	193	2
Alick Robinson	England	HB	1933–1945	221	9
Jimmy Robson	England	FW	1956–1965	242	100
Billy Rodaway	England	DF	1971–1981, 1986–1987	303	3
Jay Rodriguez‡	England	FW	2007–2012, 2019–	264	72	^[48]
Harry Ross	Scotland	FB	1899–1904	111	2
Derek Scott	England	DF	1975–1985	358	29
Bobby Seith	Scotland	FB/DF	1949–1960	238	6
Jason Shackell	England	DF	2012–2015	136	4	^[49]
Les Shannon	England	HB/MF	1949–1959	281	44
Frank Sinclair	Jamaica	DF	2004–2007	102	1
Len Smelt	England	FB	1919–1926	248	0
Albert Smith	England	FW	1905–1908	107	21
Cecil Smith	Wales	FW	1932–1936	119	53
Dave Smith	Scotland	FB/DF	1950–1961	108	1
Dick Smith	England	FW	1904–1910	185	75
Fred Smith	England	DF	1959–1970	107	1
Malcolm Smith	England	FW	1976–1980	102	20
Paul Smith	England	MF	1994–2001	128	5
George Sommerville	Scotland	GK	1926–1932	124	0
Junior Stanislas	England	MF	2011–2014	101	8	^[50]
John Steel	Scotland	HB	1925–1931	152	5
Trevor Steven	England	MF	1981–1983	102	16
Alan Stevenson	England	GK	1972–1983	543	0
Jimmy Strong	England	GK	1946–1954	285	0
John Talbut	England	FB/DF	1957–1966	160	1
James Tarkowski	England*	DF	2016–2022	219	7	^[51]
Charlie Taylor‡	England	DF	2017–	190	0	^[52]
David Taylor	Scotland	FB	1911–1924	250	5
Gareth Taylor	Wales*	FW	2001–2003	106	37
Joe Taylor	England	FB	1893–1907	352	14
Steve Taylor	England	FW	1980–1983, 1987–1989	180	52
Dave Thomas	England	MF	1967–1972	179	23
Mitchell Thomas	England	DF	1999–2002	112	0
Ian Thomas-Moore	England	FW	2000–2005	216	50
Steven Thompson	Scotland	FW	2008–2011	100	18	^[53]
Harry Thomson	Scotland*	GK	1959–1969	141	0
Jim Thomson	Scotland	DF	1968–1981	364	6
Sammy Todd	Northern Ireland*	DF	1962–1970	128	2
Kieran Trippier	England	DF	2011–2015	185	7	^[54]
Chris Vinnicombe	England	DF	1994–1998	114	4
Sam Vokes	Wales*	FW	2011–2019	267	64	^[55]
Colin Waldron	England	DF	1967–1976	356	18
Ross Wallace	Scotland	MF	2010–2015	165	14	^[56]
Stephen Ward	Republic of Ireland*	DF	2014–2019	113	4	^[57]
George Waterfield	England*	FB	1923–1935	394	5
Billy Watson	England*	HB	1909–1925	380	20
Walter Weaver	England	FW	1919–1924	116	18
Paul Weller	England	MF	1993–2004	288	13
Dean West	England	DF	1999–2004	178	6
Ashley Westwood	England	MF	2017–2023	181	7	^[58]
Winston White	England	MF	1988–1991	128	21
Mark Winstanley	England	DF	1994–1999	182	5
Doug Winton	Scotland	FB/DF	1947–1959	198	1
Chris Wood	New Zealand*	FW	2017–2022	165	53	^[59]
Arthur Woodruff	England	FB	1936–1952	292	0
Kevin Young	England	MF	1979–1984	156	12

Footnotes

References

Specific

General

Simpson, Ray (2007). The Clarets Chronicles: The Definitive History of Burnley Football Club 1882–2007. Burnley Football Club. ISBN 978-0-9557468-0-2.

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Search

List of Burnley F.C. players

Contents

Key

List of players

See also

Footnotes

References