Tommy Burns

May 19 2008 by David Charters, Liverpool Daily Post

HE NEVER played for our teams, but you can well imagine him being the soul of the Gwladys Street end or the Kop – with his red hair and his temper, whose fuse burned perilously close to the fizzing point.

But that was because he was passionate.

He also possessed in gen- erous measure that sullen humour which emerged from a city, where men perched on bar-stools, challenging each other to talk about politics, religion or “fitba”.

So when it was made known that his pale skin had succumbed to melanoma (skin cancer), he observed: “Men in general don’t really examine their bodies, their moles and marks, especially in Scotland – not that we get that much sun”.

His nickname in the “Jungle”, home to Glasgow Celtic’s most fervent fans at Parkhead was “Wee Tawnsy”, probably a reference to his colouring.

The ground was his spiritual home. If he had not been blessed by God with exceptional gifts as a player, he would have been there with them, in his green and white hooped shirt, clinging to his Crucifix.

Tommy Burns was far removed from the celebrity mercenaries, whose strange-sounding names now fill the team-sheets of teams on both sides of the border.

He was born near Parkhead and educated at St Mary’s School, by the church, where Marist Brother Walfrid had founded Celtic FC in 1888.

As a devout boy, Tommy included all the usual saints in his prayers, but his special plea was to play for Celtic.

The prayer was answered and he was signed in 1973 by Jock Stein, Celtic’s legendary manager, who had been impressed by his passing and dribbling abilities developed with Maryhill Juniors.

He made his debut in 1975 and stayed with the club for 14 years making 352 League appearances and scoring 52 goals.

His many successes at Celtic as a midfield “general” led to him being capped eight times by Scotland.

In 1989, the season after he had helped Celtic secure a League and Cup double, he was transferred to Kilmarnock – throwing his cherished shirt into the Jungle while overwhelmed with high emotion.

A spell as manager of Celtic in the mid-1990s was not particularly happy, but Burns, married with four children, had more success as assistant to the Scotland manager and was later brilliant coaching Celtic’s youngsters, his people.

Tommy Burns, footballer; born December 16, 1956, died May 15, 2008.