| Chris Burns - Player Manager |
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| On the night that City were playing Cardiff in their FA Cup replay at Meadow Park, twelve miles away in darkest Cheltenham, Chris Burns, recently signed from Sharpness scored five goals in a Midland Floodlit Cup game against Alvechurch. It featured as a passing mention in a sport section that was dominated by news of City's narrow defeat. How ironic that thirteen years later he would be managing us. |
| His stay at Whaddon Road didn't last too long. Rave reviews as a hard working midfielder saw him move to the south coast under ex-Villa boss Tony Barton for £25,000. Within two weeks of playing part time and working on a building site he was taking on the might of Manchester United at Old Trafford. It wasn't his only big game at Fratton Park. His team, which included the likes of Paul Walsh and Darren Anderton went on a good FA Cup run and were very unlucky to be beaten by Liverpool in the semi-final. |
| He enjoyed a few more years with Pompey, before spells at AFC Bournemouth, Swansea City and Northampton Town saw an end to his Football League career. Despite interest from Hereford United he signed for City in October 1996 and made his debut in the table topping clash with Nuneaton Borough. Surprisingly it took him until the FA Trophy tie at Yeading in January before he scored his first goal for the Tigers. |
| To say he was the driving force behind the push for promotion and FA Trophy run that season would be an understatement. Try as they might it seemed that going for glory in two competitions was too much as too many games in the last few weeks put paid to both Trophy and League success. |
| Chris stayed at Meadow Park for the next two seasons before Forest Green, now in the Conference, offered £15,000 for his services. The offer was turned down, but in line with the mismanagement at the club at the time he was allowed to walk away at the end of the season due to his contract not being fulfilled. |
| He class shone through with his new club as he enjoyed his spell at the higher level. When I watched Rovers play he looked like he was the best footballer on the pitch, and that was in the same team as Tony Daley, Jason Drysdale and Stuart Slater. His second season at the Lawn seemed to be too much though as the fans criticised him all too often on the clubs messageboard. A move to centre back seemed to be a temporary reprieve but it was no surprise when he opted to take the reins at City in the summer of 2001 despite the offer of a one-year extension to his contract. |
| Back at City he found himself with just five registered players after most had decided to seek their football elsewhere in the wake of Tommy Callinan's resignation. With a limited budget he turned to his mates at Brockworth and brought in a number or raw recruits from the Northern Senior League. This was a brave move because it was very rare for City to use local talent, now the whole side was made of Gloucester people. Despite a very inexperienced team, and the fact that many thought we'd be relegated, City did well to finish the season in fourteenth place under Burns' leadership. |
| The 2002/03 season has shown how Burns has matured as a manager as he led his young charges to fifth in the league and the quarter finals of the FA Trophy. |
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Previous Clubs:
Sharpness, Cheltenham Town, Portsmouth, AFC Bournemouth (loan), Swansea City, Northampton Town, Gloucester City, Forest Green Rovers. |
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Appearances & Goals: (upto & including 29/04/06)
| Season |
Apps |
Subs |
Goals |
| 1996/97 |
45 |
1 |
5 |
| 1997/98 |
59 |
- |
10 |
| 1998/99 |
47 |
- |
8 |
| 2001/02 |
37 |
2 |
6 |
| 2002/03 |
47 |
2 |
9 |
| 2003/04 |
34 |
3 |
1 |
| 2004/05 |
26 |
4 |
2 |
| 2005/06 |
15 |
1 |
- |
| Total |
310 |
13 |
41 |
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| Image Gallery: (click to view full size pics) |
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