With gloves on her hands and boots on her feet Jackie Burns has travelled the world forging a football career.
Now, after signing a two-year contract with Burnley Women she is hoping to use the experienced gained from playing in both Europe and north America to establish herself as the club’s number one.
That will be no easy task. Burnley gained promotion to WSL 2 on the back of a solid defensive unit that kept 26 clean sheets in 33 matches in all competitions last season as they won the Women’s National League North by a single point, conceding just five goals across 22 games.
From starting out at home town club Cookstown Youth before progressing to Mid-Ulster Ladies and then Glentoran Women, Burns spent three years in the USA on a scholarship at Carson-Newman University. Just before going to the Women’s Euro 2022 Finals with Northern Ireland she had a spell in Sweden with BK Hacken.
Her performances at the Euros earned Burns a move to the WSL with Reading Women and in between two spells in the second tier at Bristol City Women came an 18-month stint in Canada, where she played with Calgary Wild.
“I’ve been in lot of different countries, but I think with all of them they’ve brought a lot of different qualities to my game and different values. For example with Sweden it was my first ever professional contract and working with one of the best Swedish goalkeepers really helped me and pushed me forward,” said Burns, who was competing with Sweden legend Jennifer Falk at Haken.
“Progressing on into England with Reading, it was great to get to the standard of WSL football. It maybe didn’t go as I planned, but you face those battles in different ways and it shows that you can push on.
“Following on with Bristol into the Championship – we’ll meet them as we go into the season. They’re a great team and it’s a great place to be a part of whenever you’re there. They’re definitely a team that you’re going to have to fight with.
“With Canada, it was a new league and a new team so it was very different. Going into all these places it can be challenging, but you bring it into your next adventure really.”
Burns knows the challenge that awaits her at Burnley if she is to become a first-team regular. Kirstie Levell kept 18 clean sheets last season to win the league’s Golden Glove prize. As a player who describes herself as ‘commanding and fearless’ the battle for the number one spot is one that she is ready to embrace.
“I’m coming into such a great standard, that’s something that I like to push in my game is a high quality standard,” said 29-year-old Burns.
“Hopefully I can push on and we can all push on together and really make it competitive, but also have a friendly environment because at the end of the day we spend a lot of time with each other and we need to be each other’s friends, but also each other’s competitors.
“It’s been so far so good and the girls have been great along with the GKU (goalkeeper union).”
“I’ve been in lot of different countries, but I think with all of them they’ve brought a lot of different qualities to my game and different values.”
Jackie Burns
Three of Burns’ Northern Ireland team mates helped Burnley earn promotion last season. Louise McDaniel and Danielle Maxwell have since returned to Cliftonville Ladies, but Brenna McPartlan remains at the club and a conversation with the midfielder helped make the decision to move to Lancashire.
“I had a chat with the staff and the manager and everything they said aligned with what I wanted to do moving forward. The more I talked to them it just felt like the right time to come to Burnley and really push on with them in the Championship,” said Burns.
“It was good to be able to talk to those girls, to get the likes of Brenna to give me a little insight into what the team’s about and it’s great to have her still here. It just makes it a little bit easier and a bit more relaxing to have that familiar face, especially in with a new team.”
