Burgess Charlie Image 2 Portsmouth 1902

Description

Montrose, Angus born right back Charlie Burgess began his football career with hometown club Montrose in the early 1890’s, from where he was signed by Scottish League club Dundee in the summer of 1895 to play in the club’s third ever season.

The Dee at that time were playing their home games at Carolina Port at the city’s harbour and he made his Scottish League debut at ‘The Port’ on 10th August 1895 in a 2-1 defeat Celtic in front of a 10,000 crowd – Dundee’s highest home crowd of the season. Burgess missed just two matches of the 1895-96 campaign helping Dundee finish a creditable fifth, their highest League finish at the time. An ever present in his third season with The Dark Blues, after 52 matches he joined Southern League club Millwall Athletic in the summer of 1898.

Burgess made 62 appearances over two seasons with The Lions before heading north to First Division club Newcastle United for the 1900-01 season, making his Football League debut against Nottingham Forest that September, missing only 4 matches, making 31 appearances as The Toon finished in a creditable sixth place at the start of an era of dominance for Newcastle United.

Burgess returned south to join Portsmouth where he won a Southern League Championship medal in 1902 with Pompey, playing two seasons at Fratton Park before returning to play for Montrose in 1903 before retiring from football.

He later became a noted golfing professional in the United States following the end of his football career. Initially the pro at The Royal Albert Golf Club in Montrose he emigrated in 1909 and played in the 1910 US Open. Francis Ouimet, America’s first golfing hero and first amateur to win the US Open in 1913 who said “Whatever progress I have made in golf, I owe to Charles Burgess from Montrose”. He is also credited with saving The Ryder Cup as an ongoing golf tournament in the late 1920’s. and he was inducted into the New England Professional Golfers Association Hall of Fame in 2003 having been their first ever President when they were formed in 1921.