Burgess Charles Image 1 Stoke 1905

Description

Full back Charlie Burgess was born in Church Lawton, Cheshire and played amateur football with Butt Lane Swifts before joining First Division Stoke in 1901, he apparently signed the contract with Stoke whilst sitting on a haystack at his father’s farm. He made his Football League debut at Nottingham Forest in February 1902 and he soon became a regular member of Horace Austerberry’s squad at a time when Stoke were struggling financially it came as a welcome relief to find a very capable local player. He was a solid defender who produce some had but fair challenges on opponents. He remained with Stoke until they went bankrupt in 1908 and at that time Burgess joined Manchester City after making 195 appearances for Stoke. Initially a regular at Hyde Road in Manchester City’s team relegated in 1908-09, he played only 4 times as they were promoted as Second Division Champions in 1910 and only twice more in the First Division, being hampered by a knee injury which eventually caused him to retire in 1911 after 32 appearances for The Citizens.