Harry Burrows

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Harry Burrows

| image =

| caption =

| fullname = Henry Burrows

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1941|3|17|df=y}}

| birth_place = Haydock, England

| death_date =

| height =

| position = Forward

| youthyears1 = | youthclubs1 = Wigan Boys

| youthyears2 = 1956–1958| youthclubs2 = Aston Villa

| years1 = 1958–1965| clubs1 = Aston Villa | caps1 = 147 | goals1 = 53

| years2 = 1965–1973| clubs2 = Stoke City | caps2 = 245 | goals2 = 68

| years3 = 1967 | clubs3 = → Cleveland Stokers (loan) | caps3 = 9 | goals3 = 3

| years4 = 1973–1975| clubs4 = Plymouth Argyle | caps4 = 19 | goals4 = 3

| totalcaps = 420| totalgoals = 127

| nationalyears1 = 1962| nationalteam1 = England U23| nationalcaps1 = 1| nationalgoals1 = 0

}}

Henry "Harry" Burrows (born 17 March 1941){{cite web |url=http://www.astonvillaplayerdatabase.com/203.html|title= Harry Burrows AVFC stats |publisher=Jörn Mårtensson |access-date=26 August 2007}} is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League for Aston Villa, Plymouth Argyle and Stoke City.{{cite book|last=Matthews|first=Tony|title=The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City|year=1994|publisher=Lion Press|isbn=0-9524151-0-0}}{{cite book|title=Stoke City 101 Golden Greats|year=2002|publisher=Desert Islands Books|isbn=1-874287554}}

Career

Burrows was born in Haydock and attracted the attentions of First Division clubs, Burnley, Liverpool, and Aston Villa whilst playing for Wigan Boys. He turned them all down including an offer from Stan Cullis at Wolverhampton Wanderers instead turning his attentions on becoming an apprentice with the National Coal Board (NCB). Villa manager Joe Mercer persuaded Burrows to sign part-time in March 1958 and he made his debut in 1959–60 as Villa won the Second Division title. He played and scored in the final of the inaugural League Cup in 1961 as Villa beat Rotherham United 3–2. Burrows won an England U23 cap against Greece and finished as Villa's top goalscorer in 1961–62 and 1962–63, although the departure of Mercer ended a golden period in Villa's history. The signings of new manager Dick Taylor all earned a higher basic wage then the existing Villa players which caused friction and one by one the players departed and Villa would end up languishing in the Third Division.

Burrows was a highly prized asset at Villa Park and his transfer to Stoke City for £27,000 on transfer deadline day in March 1965 was seen as a coup for Tony Waddington. His infamous 'cannonball' like shot soon made him a terrace favourite at the Victoria Ground. He scored 17 goals in 1966–67 as Stoke let a good start to the season come to nothing and they finished in 12th place. He was joint top league goalscorer in 1967–68 with 15 goals as Stoke finished 18th. He top scored again in 1969–70 with 14 and played 45 games in 1970–71 as Stoke lost out to Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final. Injuries led to Burrows being released on a free transfer in the summer of 1973 and signed for Plymouth Argyle. He helped Argyle gain promotion to the Second Division in 1974–75 but with his knee still causing him trouble he decided to retire.

Style of play

Burrows could play in all forward positions but was most regularly played as an out and out winger. He was renowned for his pace and powerful left foot shot.

Post-retirement

On his retirement Burrows returned to Staffordshire and ran a carpet business, a pub and a post office and occasionally turned out in charity matches. Burrows lived for a number of years in the Staffordshire village of Abbots Bromley where he is still the president of the local football club, the Abbots Bromley Stags.

Career statistics

Source:{{ENFA}}

Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps
class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition !rowspan="2"\|Club !rowspan="2"\|Season !colspan="3"\|League !colspan="2"\|FA Cup !colspan="2"\|League Cup !colspan="2"\|Other !colspan="2"\|Total
rowspan="7"\|Aston Villa \|1959–60 \|Second Division \|1	0	0	0	colspan="2"\|—	colspan="2"\|—	1	0
1960–61 \|First Division \|11	2	0	0	6	3	colspan="2"\|—	17	5
1961–62 \|First Division \|34	13	4	3	3	4	colspan="2"\|—	42	20
1962–63 \|First Division \|39	16	3	2	8	4	colspan="2"\|—	50	22
1963–64 \|First Division \|40	16	2	0	1	1	colspan="2"\|—	43	17
1964–65 \|First Division \|22	6	2	0	5	3	colspan="2"\|—	29	9
colspan="2"\|Total !147	53	11	5	23	15	colspan="2"\|—\|\|181	79
rowspan="10"\|Stoke City \|1964–65 \|First Division \|10	3	0	0	0	0	colspan="2"\|—	10	3
1965–66 \|First Division \|36	9	1	0	5	2	colspan="2"\|—	42	11
1966–67 \|First Division \|42	17	1	0	1	0	colspan="2"\|—	44	17
1967–68 \|First Division \|42	15	2	0	5	1	colspan="2"\|—	49	16
1968–69 \|First Division \|35	4	4	4	0	0	colspan="2"\|—	39	8
1969–70 \|First Division \|34	14	3	0	1	0	colspan="2"\|—	38	14
1970–71 \|First Division \|34	5	8	1	1	0	2{{efn\|Appearances in Texaco Cup}}	1	45	7
1971–72 \|First Division \|10	1	2	0	0	0	4{{efn\|Appearances in Anglo-Italian Cup}}	0	16	1
1972–73 \|First Division \|2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
colspan="2"\|Total !245	68	21	5	13	3	6	1	285	77
Cleveland Stokers (loan) \|1967 \|United Soccer Association \|9	3	colspan="2"\|—	colspan="2"\|—	colspan="2"\|—	9	3
rowspan="3"\|Plymouth Argyle \|1973–74 \|Third Division \|9	2	0	0	1	0	colspan="2"\|—	10	2
1974–75 \|Third Division \|10	1	0	0	2	0	colspan="2"\|—	12	1
colspan="2"\|Total !19	3	0	0	3	0	colspan="2"\|—\|\|22	3
colspan="3"\|Career total !420	127	32	10	39	18	6	1	497	156

Honours

Aston Villa

Football League Second Division: 1959–60
Football League Cup: 1960–61{{cite book |first1=Leslie |first2=Jack |last1=Vernon |last2=Rollin |title=Rothmans Football Yearbook 1977–78 |year=1977 |publisher=Brickfield Publications Ltd |location=London |isbn=0354-09018-6 |page=505}}