A career at the top of the Scottish game

club’s Former player and manager was a child of glasgow’s east end

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WITH a distinguished career in Scottish football spanning more than 30 years, Tommy Burns was highly respected, both on and off the pitch.

He made 352 league appearances for Celtic, scoring 52 goals. He also represented his country, gaining eight caps for Scotland.

He had recently returned as first-team coach and head of youth development at the Glasgow club, which he had supported since he was a young boy.

Burns was born in the east end of Glasgow in 1956, near to Parkhead.

He first joined Celtic as a teenager, and went on to star in the Celtic side that won the Premier Division and Scottish Cup in 1988, the club’s centenary year.

The following year, he left Celtic, aged 32, to join Kilmarnock.

Burns made a farewell Celtic appearance in a friendly against Ajax. Facing the Dutch giants was an emotional experience.

“I wanted to go out with a smile on my face and not a tear in my eye,” said Burns.

“So I got all of my crying out of the way during the warm-up.

“I ran about the pitch for 20 minutes with tears running down my cheeks because I knew I would never wear a Celtic jersey again.”

He later became Kilmarnock’s player-manager before returning to Celtic as manager in 1994, replacing Lou Macari.

Burns’ time in charge saw the Hoops end a six-year trophy famine by winning the Scottish Cup against Airdrie at Hampden in 1995.

But during his time at the helm, Celtic failed to prevent Rangers winning the title in 1996 and lost to them in both cup competitions.

In May 1997 Burns was sacked. He headed south to Newcastle where he took up the role as assistant manager, working alongside fellow ex-Celt Kenny Dalglish.

A brief spell as manager of Reading followed, but Burns was sacked again.

After the appointment of Martin O’Neill as manager, he took over as Celtic’s youth development manager.

In 2002, he combined his Celtic job with an inter- national role as assistant to Scotland manager Berti Vogts.

He remained in the role as assistant to Walter Smith after Vogts was sacked and in 2005 returned to Celtic as first-team coach.

The following year it was confirmed he was being treated for skin cancer after he was diagnosed as suffering from a melanoma.

In 2006 he was given the all-clear by doctors after having two lumps removed from his leg.

At the time, Burns had talked of the possibility of the cancer returning.

“If it comes back again then you will have to deal with that,” he said. “My friends and family will help me.”

He also hoped his case might make people more aware of the problem.

“Men in general don’t examine their bodies, their moles and marks, not in the west of Scotland — not that we get that much sun.”