29 Facts About George Burley

1.

George Elder Burley was born on 3 June 1956 and is a Scottish former football player and manager.

2.

George Burley had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player, making 628 league appearances and earning 11 Scotland caps.

3.

George Burley's nephew, Craig, is a former Scotland international footballer.

4.

George Burley joined Ipswich Town in 1972 as an apprentice and made his senior debut against Manchester United at Old Trafford in 1973, being given the job of marking George Best.

5.

George Burley moved back to Scotland in 1989 to play for Motherwell.

6.

George Burley joined Ayr United as a player-manager in 1991, succeeding Ally MacLeod.

7.

George Burley moved briefly to Falkirk in 1993 as a player before returning to Motherwell as player-coach.

8.

In June 1994 George Burley returned to East Anglia as player-manager of Colchester United.

9.

George Burley was appointed manager at his former club, with Dale Roberts as his assistant, having had talks with Town without Colchester knowing and so compensation was duly paid.

10.

George Burley made his playing return for Ipswich, ten years after his last game for the club in a match against Motherwell in 1995 although didn't feature again as a player.

11.

Relegation the following season saw George Burley's side struggling at the foot of Football League First Division and his contract was terminated by mutual agreement in 2002.

12.

George Burley again applied for the job in 2012, losing out to Mick McCarthy.

13.

George Burley was later critical of how the club was being run, in 2017, following the club's lowest finishing in nearly 60 years, stating that:.

14.

George Burley again showed interest in the Ipswich job following Mick McCarthy's exit in 2018, but he again lost out in favour of Paul Hurst.

15.

In November 2002, George Burley was on the verge of taking over as Stoke City manager, but he had a late change of heart and declined the offer.

16.

In 2003, George Burley became interim manager of Derby County while permanent manager John Gregory was suspended.

17.

George Burley managed to halt Derby's alarming slide towards the relegation zone of the First Division and kept the club up comfortably.

18.

George Burley was then appointed manager permanently when Gregory was sacked.

19.

George Burley was appointed manager of Heart of Midlothian on 30 June 2005.

20.

However, he left the club the day after major shareholder Vladimir Romanov, with whom George Burley had a notoriously uneasy relationship, announced a bid to take private control of Hearts.

21.

George Burley was appointed as Head Coach of Southampton on 23 December 2005 following the departure of Harry Redknapp.

22.

George Burley signed a contract with the Scottish board until 2012.

23.

George Burley became the third former Ipswich manager to manage his country, as Alf Ramsey and Bobby Robson had before him.

24.

The Rangers striker quickly announced his retirement from international football while George Burley was still in charge.

25.

Scottish FA chief Gordon Smith moved to confirm that George Burley's position was not under threat, but said that much depended on the final two matches.

26.

On 15 November 2009, George Burley came under fire, with reports suggesting he would lose his job as Scotland manager.

27.

On 17 June 2010, George Burley took charge of Crystal Palace, with fellow Scot Dougie Freedman as his assistant.

28.

On 10 May 2012, George Burley was appointed as manager of Cypriot side Apollon Limassol.

29.

George Burley was sacked after two games in charge due to an alleged rift with the club's sporting director.