Nathan Burns (born 7 May 1988) is a retired

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played for the Australian national team.

Club career

Adelaide United

He formerly played for

Parramatta Eagles Parramatta Football Club, commonly known as Parramatta Melita Eagles or just Melita, are a semi-professional Australian Association football, soccer club based in South Granville, New South Wales, South Granville, New South Wales. The club was e ...

and trained at the AIS. After a few substitute appearances for

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional men's soccer club located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club was one of the eight founding members of the A-League Men and have competed in it concurrently since its formation, u ...

, Burns finally got his first start against

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club, commonly known as Sydney FC, is a professional association football, soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They compete in the top-tier men's league in Australia, the A-League Men. Established in 2004, ...

scoring his first

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

goal in the 4–1 loss. On 21 January 2007 Burns scored

's first ever hat trick during a match against

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Mar ...

, giving his side a 2nd-place finish on the league table to close out the 2nd

season. After his great season with Adelaide United, Norwegian champions

SK Brann Sportsklubben Brann is a Norwegian professional football club based in Bergen. Founded on 26 September 1908, Brann has played in the first tier of Norwegian football for 67 out of 80 seasons, the second most of any club. They play their hom ...

invited Burns for a 10-day trial where he would train with fellow

Socceroo The Australia men's national soccer team represents Australia in international men's soccer. Officially nicknamed the Socceroos, the team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is affiliate ...

Michael Thwaite Michael Errol Thwaite (born 2 May 1983) is an Australian former professional soccer player. Education He has a Bachelor of Human Movement Science degree from CQUniversity Australia. Michael also is a certified AFC B-Licence coach. Club career ...

AEK Athens

On 10 June 2008, he signed with

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

on a four-year contract. He wore the number 24 shirt. Burns made his Greek Super League debut for AEK Athens on 28 February 2009, as 65th-minute substitute against

Skoda Xanthi Xanthi Football Club () is a Greek Association football, football club based in Xanthi, Western Thrace. They play their home matches at Skoda Xanthi Arena Founded in 1967, Xanthi is well set up in terms of their financial support and youth set ...

at the Spyros Louis Olympic Stadium in Athens. Burns scored the winner against

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

in the final game of the

2010 Sydney Festival of Football The Sydney Festival of Football was an association football friendly tournament competition hosted by A-League club Sydney FC in 2010, held in Sydney and funded by the Events NSW department of the New South Wales Government. It was intended to ...

. He scored his first league goal on 27 February 2011, in a 3–2 away win against

Ergotelis Ergotelis Football Club () is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Heraklion, Crete, which competes in the Heraklion Football Clubs Association, FCA Heraklion A1, the fourth tier of the Greek football league system, ...

. In August 2009, he was loaned out to

Beta Ethniki The Football League () was the second highest professional football league in Greece since its inception in 1962 as ''Beta Ethniki'' and until 2019. It then served as a third tier after the creation of the Super League 2 as the new second tier ...

side

Kerkyra Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is admin ...

on a one-year loan deal. Although he was brought from Australia as a promising youngster, he never fulfilled his potential. On 19 January 2012 he terminated his contract with AEK.

Incheon United

He joined

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

club

Incheon United Incheon United FC () is a South Korean professional football club based in Incheon that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. Founded in 2003, the club is a so-called "community club", with the government of the ...

on 25 January 2012. Burns was on loan with Australian side

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from the Australi ...

in the

from 25 July 2013 until 11 January 2014, playing 12 games and scoring a brace.

Wellington Phoenix

On 25 June 2014 it was announced that he had signed a 2-year deal to join New Zealand team

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League Men, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the 2007–08 ...

in the A-League beginning with the 2014/15 season. On 18 October 2014, he scored his debut goal for the club against

. Burns made history in the Round 8 clash against Melbourne City, becoming the first Phoenix player to score a

hat trick A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mechan ...

in their 5–1 victory. On 6 December he scored his 8th goal of the season in a 3–1 come from behind victory over

at Hunter Stadium. On 21 December he scored two goals in a 2–0 away win over Sydney FC, making him the fastest A-league player to ever reach 10 goals in a season, and did not return to New Zealand as he got his international recall for Australia ahead of the

Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior list of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the contin ...

FC Tokyo

In July Burns left the

for

J1 League The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...

club

FC Tokyo , commonly known as , is a Japanese professional football club based in Chōfu, Tokyo. The club plays in the J1 League, the top tier of football in the country. From 2025, FC Tokyo is one of the few J.League clubs to be simply called ''Footb ...

Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Following speculation of Burns returning to the

following the end of his contract at

, he stayed in Japan, joining

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Sanfrecce Hiroshima () is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Hiroshima. The club competes in the J1 League, top flight of the Japanese football league system. Sanfrecce is one of the most successful clubs in Ja ...

on 13 July 2017.

Return to Wellington Phoenix

On 30 December 2017 it was announced that Nathan Burns would be returning to

on a two-year contract. Burns was not offered a contract renewal and was released by the club following the conclusion of the

2018–19 A-League The 2018–19 A-League was the 42nd season of national level soccer in Australia, and the 14th since the establishment of the A-League in 2004. The regular season commenced on 19 October 2018 and concluded on 28 April 2019. The play-offs began ...

season.

International career

Youth

He competed for the Joeys at

2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship The 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship, the eleventh edition of the tournament, was held in the cities of Lima, Trujillo, Chiclayo, Piura and Iquitos in Peru from 16 September to 2 October 2005. Players born after 1 January 1988 could participate i ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. He scored his first goal for the

Young Socceroos The Australia national under-20 soccer team, known colloquially as the Young Socceroos, represents Australia in international under-20 Association football, soccer. The team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football ...

in the AFC Youth Cup in a 3–1 win over Thailand.

Senior

He made his debut for the Socceroos with a brief appearance in the 3–0 win over

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

on 30 June 2007. Burns came on as a substitute in the opening game in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

of the

2015 AFC Asian Cup The 2015 AFC Asian Cup was the 16th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in Australia from 9 to 31 January 201 ...

against

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

, and was twice denied a goal, the first when his shot hit the crossbar, and the second when the goalkeeper made a brilliant save. On 17 January 2015, Burns made his first start for the Socceroos since 2011, when he lined up for the final group game of the

for Australia against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. On 3 September 2015, Burns scored his first goal for Australia, eight years after his senior debut, scoring in a 5–0 defeat of

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier.

Career statistics

Club

International

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! colspan=3 , Australia national team , - !Year!!Apps!!Goals , - , 2007 , 1 , 0 , - , 2008 , 1 , 0 , - , 2010 , 2 , 0 , - , 2011 , 3 , 0 , - , 2012 , 1 , 0 , - , 2015 , 10 , 1 , - , 2016 , 6 , 2 , - ! Total ! 24 ! 3

International Goals

:''Scores and results list Australia's goal tally first.'' {, class="wikitable" style="font-size:100%;" ! No. !! Date !! Venue !! Opponent !! Score !! Result !! Competition , - , 1. , , 3 September 2015 , ,

Perth Oval Perth Rectangular Stadium (also known as HBF Park under naming rights) is a sports stadium in Perth, the capital of the Australian state of Western Australia. Located close to Perth's central business district, the stadium currently has a m ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, , , , align=center, 4–0 , , align=center, 5–0 , ,

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA FIFA#Structure, confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia national football team, Rus ...

, - , 2. , , rowspan=2, 24 March 2016 , , rowspan=2,

Adelaide Oval The Adelaide Oval is a stadium in Adelaide in the state of South Australia. It is located in the Adelaide Parklands, parklands. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby league, ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, Australia , , rowspan=2, , , align=center, 4–0 , , align=center rowspan=2, 7–0 , , rowspan=2, 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification , - , 3. , , align=center, 7–0

Honours

Player

AEK Athens *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Australia *

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second-oldest c ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

; runner-up

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Individual

* Rising Star Award: 2006-07 *

Player of the Year: 2014–15 *

Johnny Warren Medal The Johnny Warren Medal is awarded to the best player of the Australian national soccer club competition. It was first awarded in the National Soccer League in 1990, and upon the NSL's demise in November 2004, was carried forward into the new na ...

: 2014–15 * A-League PFA Team of the Season: 2014–15

References

External links

*
OzFootball profile
* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, Nathan 1988 births Living people Australian men's soccer players Australia men's international soccer players Australian expatriate men's soccer players Australian Institute of Sport soccer players AEK Athens F.C. players Adelaide United FC players Men's association football forwards A-League Men players Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Super League Greece players A.O. Kerkyra players Parramatta FC players Incheon United FC players K League 1 players Expatriate men's footballers in South Korea Australian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea 2011 AFC Asian Cup players 2015 AFC Asian Cup players New South Wales Institute of Sport alumni Newcastle Jets FC players Australia men's under-20 international soccer players Wellington Phoenix FC players J1 League players J3 League players FC Tokyo players FC Tokyo U-23 players Sanfrecce Hiroshima players AFC Asian Cup–winning players Sportspeople from Orange, New South Wales Sportsmen from New South Wales Soccer players from New South Wales 21st-century Australian sportsmen