Mark Burchill
Encyclopedia
Mark James Burchill is a Scottish professional football player who plays as a striker. He previously played for Scottish clubs Celtic
, Dundee
, Hearts, Dunfermline Athletic
and Kilmarnock
, and in England for Birmingham City
, Ipswich Town
, Portsmouth
, Wigan Athletic
, Sheffield Wednesday
and Rotherham United
. He has been capped
six times for the Scotland national team
. He currently plays in Cyprus for Enosis Paralimni football club in the first division.
and grew up in Livingston
, West Lothian
, Scotland. He attended St Mary's Academy, Bathgate
followed by St. Margaret's Academy
, Livingston, where his footballing ability became apparent.
Burchill began his career at Scottish club Celtic
for the 1997–98 season. In his first three seasons with the club he scored 20 Scottish Premier League goals in only 17 starts, with 33 appearances as a substitute. This prolific return saw him gain a place in the Scotland national football team
, making his debut against Bosnia-Herzegovina in October 1999. While playing for Celtic against Jeunesse Esch
of Luxembourg in the qualifying round of the 2001 UEFA Cup, Burchill scored the fastest-ever hat-trick
in a European club match.
However, successive managers failed to see the Scotland international as a part of the first team picture. The signing of £6 million Chris Sutton
further pushed Burchill down the pecking order, and in September 2000 he moved to Birmingham City
on a three-month loan, making his debut in a 2–0 home win over Tranmere Rovers
. Burchill went on to score five goals in 17 games (10 as a substitute) during the spell. Birmingham wanted to complete the deal but were unable to agree personal terms with the player.
In February 2001, Burchill chose to go on another three-month loan until the season's end at Ipswich Town
, scoring once against Bradford City.
for a £600,000 fee. He showed his potential immediately at his new club. After making his debut against Stockport County
he scored twice in his next game, against Grimsby Town
. However, a knee injury suffered after less than a month put him out of action for 10 months. He recovered in time to start the 2002–03 season in fantastic form, but under new manager Harry Redknapp
he fell down the pecking order and was made available for transfer. He was loaned out to Dundee
from February 2003 to the end of the season, and helped them reach the Scottish Cup Final
, in which they lost narrowly to Rangers
.
During the 2003–04 season he was loaned out to firstly to Wigan Athletic
, and then Sheffield Wednesday
. However, he failed to score for either club and neither moved to make the deal permanent. Starting the 2004–05 season as fifth-choice striker, Burchill went on loan to Rotherham United
, hoping to impress enough to restart his career. However, after only a month, and one goal against Crewe Alexandra, he was injured and returned to Portsmouth, where he was pushed further down the pecking order by the return to fitness of long-term injured striker Vincent Péricard
.
where he scored 12 league goals in 31 games in his first season, despite the club struggling in the bottom half of the table. He signed a year's extension to his contract with "the Pars" in December 2006. In April 2008, Dunfermline manager Jim McIntyre announced that Burchill had been offered a new contract but had decided to leave the Scottish First Division
side in order to "pursue other avenues".
, where he previously enjoyed a loan spell during their Championship
campaign. He scored his first goal for the Millers in the 1–1 draw away at Dagenham & Redbridge
. However, Burchill left after the 2008–09 season.
manager Jim Jefferies
had tried to sign Burchill in 2008 when the player chose to join Rotherham. In July 2009 Burchill joined the Scottish Premier League team in Italy for pre-season training, was reported to be "looking very sharp", and signed a one-year deal with the club in August. He injured his Achilles tendon
in a friendly match against Burnley
, an injury which eventually required surgery, and resumed training in mid-October. He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 draw with Hibernian on 12 December 2009.
Burchill became a free agent after his contract with Kilmarnock expired.
On 1 September 2010 Burchill, having received several offers to move abroad, agreed to sign for Cypriot 1st Division side Enosis Paralimni FC.
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
, Dundee
Dundee F.C.
Dundee Football Club, founded in 1893, are a football club based in the city of Dundee, Scotland. They are nicknamed The Dee or The Dark Blues and play their home matches at Dens Park. Their shirt colour is dark blue. Dundee currently play in the Scottish First Division, having been relegated from...
, Hearts, Dunfermline Athletic
Dunfermline Athletic F.C.
Dunfermline Athletic Football Club are a Scottish football team based in Dunfermline, Fife, commonly known as just Dunfermline. They currently compete in the Scottish Premier League....
and Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock F.C.
Kilmarnock Football Club is a Scottish football team based in the town of Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. Founded in 1869, "Killie" is the oldest club currently in the Scottish Premier League. Home matches are played at Rugby Park...
, and in England for Birmingham City
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
, Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town F.C.
Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....
, Portsmouth
Portsmouth F.C.
Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...
, Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic F.C.
Wigan Athletic Football Club is an English Premier League Association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, having been promoted from the Championship in 2005. Wigan's current spell in the Premier League is the only top flight run in the club's history.They have played at the DW...
, Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...
and Rotherham United
Rotherham United F.C.
Rotherham United Football Club are an English professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, who compete in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. The club's colours have traditionally been red and white, although these have evolved through history...
. He has been capped
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...
six times for the Scotland national team
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
. He currently plays in Cyprus for Enosis Paralimni football club in the first division.
Celtic
Burchill was born in BroxburnBroxburn, West Lothian
Broxburn is a town in West Lothian, Scotland located west of Edinburgh on the A8 road. It is situated approximately from Edinburgh Airport, and to the north of Livingston....
and grew up in Livingston
Livingston, Scotland
Livingston is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It is the fourth post-WWII new town to be built in Scotland, designated in 1962. It is about 15 miles west of Edinburgh and 30 miles east of Glasgow, and is bordered by the towns of Broxburn to the northeast and Bathgate to the northwest.Livingston...
, West Lothian
West Lothian
West Lothian is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland, and a Lieutenancy area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Falkirk, North Lanarkshire, the Scottish Borders and South Lanarkshire....
, Scotland. He attended St Mary's Academy, Bathgate
St Mary's Academy, Bathgate
St. Mary's Academy, Bathgate was a former Roman Catholic High School located in the Eastern part of Bathgate, West Lothian in Scotland. It was a state funded High School that educated young adults mainly from the areas of Bathgate, Armadale, Linlithgow, Polbeth, West Calder, Addiewell and parts of...
followed by St. Margaret's Academy
St. Margaret's Academy
The current Head Teacher for St Margaret's Academy is Mr James Cameron.St Margaret's is a modern, bright school with excellent teachers and staff. The teachers are nice, helpful and very friendly....
, Livingston, where his footballing ability became apparent.
Burchill began his career at Scottish club Celtic
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
for the 1997–98 season. In his first three seasons with the club he scored 20 Scottish Premier League goals in only 17 starts, with 33 appearances as a substitute. This prolific return saw him gain a place in the Scotland national football team
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
, making his debut against Bosnia-Herzegovina in October 1999. While playing for Celtic against Jeunesse Esch
Jeunesse Esch
Jeunesse Esch is a football club, based in Esch-sur-Alzette, in south-western Luxembourg.- History :...
of Luxembourg in the qualifying round of the 2001 UEFA Cup, Burchill scored the fastest-ever hat-trick
Hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...
in a European club match.
However, successive managers failed to see the Scotland international as a part of the first team picture. The signing of £6 million Chris Sutton
Chris Sutton
Christopher Roy "Chris" Sutton is an English football manager and former player.In his career, Sutton played for Norwich City, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Celtic, Birmingham City and Aston Villa. Sutton scored over 150 career goals in over 400 league appearances spanning 16 years in the English...
further pushed Burchill down the pecking order, and in September 2000 he moved to Birmingham City
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
on a three-month loan, making his debut in a 2–0 home win over Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers F.C.
Tranmere Rovers Football Club are an English team based in Birkenhead, Wirral. The club currently compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system...
. Burchill went on to score five goals in 17 games (10 as a substitute) during the spell. Birmingham wanted to complete the deal but were unable to agree personal terms with the player.
In February 2001, Burchill chose to go on another three-month loan until the season's end at Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town F.C.
Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....
, scoring once against Bradford City.
Portsmouth
During the off-season Burchill was signed by PortsmouthPortsmouth F.C.
Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...
for a £600,000 fee. He showed his potential immediately at his new club. After making his debut against Stockport County
Stockport County F.C.
Stockport County Football Club is an English football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The club formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, shortly afterwards merging with Heaton Norris F.C., and adopted the current name on 24 May 1890 on the creation of the County Borough of Stockport...
he scored twice in his next game, against Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town F.C.
Grimsby Town Football Club is an English football club based in the seaside town of Cleethorpes, in North East Lincolnshire, England, who compete in the Conference National. They were formed in 1878 as Grimsby Pelham and later became Grimsby Town...
. However, a knee injury suffered after less than a month put him out of action for 10 months. He recovered in time to start the 2002–03 season in fantastic form, but under new manager Harry Redknapp
Harry Redknapp
Henry James "Harry" Redknapp is a former English footballer who has enjoyed a long career in football management starting in 1983 with Bournemouth. He is the current manager of Tottenham Hotspur....
he fell down the pecking order and was made available for transfer. He was loaned out to Dundee
Dundee F.C.
Dundee Football Club, founded in 1893, are a football club based in the city of Dundee, Scotland. They are nicknamed The Dee or The Dark Blues and play their home matches at Dens Park. Their shirt colour is dark blue. Dundee currently play in the Scottish First Division, having been relegated from...
from February 2003 to the end of the season, and helped them reach the Scottish Cup Final
2003 Scottish Cup Final
The 2003 Scottish Cup Final was played on 31 May 2003 at Hampden Park in Glasgow and was the final of the 117th Scottish Cup. The final was contested by Dundee and Rangers. Rangers won the match 1–0 with a Lorenzo Amoruso goal.-Match details:...
, in which they lost narrowly to Rangers
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
.
During the 2003–04 season he was loaned out to firstly to Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic F.C.
Wigan Athletic Football Club is an English Premier League Association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, having been promoted from the Championship in 2005. Wigan's current spell in the Premier League is the only top flight run in the club's history.They have played at the DW...
, and then Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...
. However, he failed to score for either club and neither moved to make the deal permanent. Starting the 2004–05 season as fifth-choice striker, Burchill went on loan to Rotherham United
Rotherham United F.C.
Rotherham United Football Club are an English professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, who compete in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. The club's colours have traditionally been red and white, although these have evolved through history...
, hoping to impress enough to restart his career. However, after only a month, and one goal against Crewe Alexandra, he was injured and returned to Portsmouth, where he was pushed further down the pecking order by the return to fitness of long-term injured striker Vincent Péricard
Vincent Péricard
Vincent de Paul Péricard is a French professional football player, who played in France with Saint Etienne and in Italy with Juventus before moving to England. In England he has played for several clubs. He has also played for the France U21 team...
.
Hearts
On 28 January 2005, Burchill was allowed to leave Portsmouth on a free transfer after spending two years out of favour. He chose to return to Scotland and sign for Hearts, where he remained until the end of the season.Dunfermline Athletic
On 6 July 2005, he joined Dunfermline AthleticDunfermline Athletic F.C.
Dunfermline Athletic Football Club are a Scottish football team based in Dunfermline, Fife, commonly known as just Dunfermline. They currently compete in the Scottish Premier League....
where he scored 12 league goals in 31 games in his first season, despite the club struggling in the bottom half of the table. He signed a year's extension to his contract with "the Pars" in December 2006. In April 2008, Dunfermline manager Jim McIntyre announced that Burchill had been offered a new contract but had decided to leave the Scottish First Division
Scottish Football League First Division
The Irn-Bru Scottish Football League First Division Championship is the highest division of the Scottish Football League and the second highest in the Scottish football league system....
side in order to "pursue other avenues".
Rotherham United
On 11 June 2008, Burchill signed a two-year deal with Rotherham UnitedRotherham United F.C.
Rotherham United Football Club are an English professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, who compete in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. The club's colours have traditionally been red and white, although these have evolved through history...
, where he previously enjoyed a loan spell during their Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...
campaign. He scored his first goal for the Millers in the 1–1 draw away at Dagenham & Redbridge
Dagenham & Redbridge F.C.
Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club , informally known as Daggers, is an English association football club based in Dagenham, in the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham, East London. It was formed in 1992 after a merger between Redbridge Forest and Dagenham...
. However, Burchill left after the 2008–09 season.
Kilmarnock
KilmarnockKilmarnock F.C.
Kilmarnock Football Club is a Scottish football team based in the town of Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. Founded in 1869, "Killie" is the oldest club currently in the Scottish Premier League. Home matches are played at Rugby Park...
manager Jim Jefferies
Jim Jefferies
James "Jim" Jefferies is a Scottish football former player and manager. Jefferies played for Heart of Midlothian for almost his whole playing career and enjoyed a successful first managerial spell with the club, winning the 1998 Scottish Cup...
had tried to sign Burchill in 2008 when the player chose to join Rotherham. In July 2009 Burchill joined the Scottish Premier League team in Italy for pre-season training, was reported to be "looking very sharp", and signed a one-year deal with the club in August. He injured his Achilles tendon
Achilles tendon
The Achilles tendon , also known as the calcaneal tendon or the tendo calcaneus, is a tendon of the posterior leg. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius and soleus muscles to the calcaneus bone.- Anatomy :The Achilles is the tendonous extension of 3 muscles in the lower leg:...
in a friendly match against Burnley
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...
, an injury which eventually required surgery, and resumed training in mid-October. He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 draw with Hibernian on 12 December 2009.
Burchill became a free agent after his contract with Kilmarnock expired.
On 1 September 2010 Burchill, having received several offers to move abroad, agreed to sign for Cypriot 1st Division side Enosis Paralimni FC.