Reece Frederick James Burke (born 2 September 1996) is an English 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 ...

who plays as a defender for club

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1 ...

. A product of the

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium ...

youth system, Burke has also played for

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. ...

, where he was the player of the season for the 2015–16 season, and

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pik ...

. Internationally he has played for the England Under-18 team, England Under-19 team and England Under-20 team. Burke mainly plays

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, he can also play

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Career

West Ham United

Burke joined the West Ham junior team age nine and played youth team football. He made his official debut on 5 January 2014 for West Ham against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

The City Ground The City Ground is a football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest Football Club since 1898 and has a capacity of 30,445. The stadium was a venue when E ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

. Forest won the game 5–0. Burke's first goal for the club came in a pre-season friendly at the

Boleyn Ground The Boleyn Ground, often referred to as Upton Park, was a football stadium located in Upton Park, east London. It was the home of West Ham United from 1904 to 2016, and was briefly used by Charlton Athletic in the early 1990s during their year ...

against

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s ...

. He scored the winning goal in the 90th minute following a cross from fellow youth graduate

Elliot Lee Elliot Robert Lee (born 16 December 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Wrexham. Lee started his career at West Ham United, where he was loaned to Colchester United, Southend United, Blackpool and cu ...

's cross. Burke then played the full 120 minutes against

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games a ...

in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

second round, with West Ham being eliminated in a penalty shootout. Burke made his

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

debut on 25 April 2015 in a 0–0 away draw against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus ...

Loan to Bradford City

On 20 August 2015, Burke signed for

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

on a one-month loan. On 5 September, Burke scored his first Bradford City and first senior goal in a 2–1 away win against

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

. His loan was extended on 18 September for a further month and for a further month in October. In November he returned briefly to West Ham for treatment on a knee injury but returned to Bradford where his loan was extended until 2 January 2016. On 26 April 2016, Burke won a total of seven awards at Bradford City's end of season awards, including the Player of the Year award.

Loan to Wigan Athletic

Having already appeared for West Ham in their short-lived

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

campaign at the beginning of the 2016–17 season, on 30 August 2016, Burke signed on loan for

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

team,

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 193 ...

for the remainder of the season. He scored his first goal for Wigan in a 2–1 win over

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. ...

on 28 November 2016.

Loan to Bolton Wanderers

On 1 August 2017, Burke, along with West Ham teammate

Josh Cullen Joshua Jon Cullen (born 7 April 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Burnley and the Republic of Ireland national team. Early life Cullen was born in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex. His grandparents on his father's side ...

, joined

on loan until the following January.

Return to West Ham

Burke returned to West Ham in January 2018 and was immediately included in the squad for the

3rd round tie at

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mov ...

which finished 0–0. He also started the replay at

London Stadium London Stadium (formerly and also known as Olympic Stadium and the Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park) is a multi-purpose outdoor stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the Stratford district of London. It is located in the Lower Lea ...

on 16 January scoring the only goal of the game in extra time – his first senior goal for the club.

Return to Bolton Wanderers

On 31 January 2018, Burke returned to Bolton on loan.

Hull City

In July 2018, Burke joined

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's ...

for an undisclosed fee, believed to be £1.5 million. He signed a three-year contract with the Yorkshire club. He made his debut in the first match of the 2018–19 season on 6 August 2018 at home to

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa P ...

in a 1–3 defeat. Burke scored his first goal for Hull in the

first round match on 7 November 2020 against

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed ...

helping them to a 2–0 win.

Luton Town

On 2 June 2021, Burke signed a contract with Luton Town to join the club at the end of the month. He signed on a free transfer.

Career statistics

Honours

Hull City * EFL League One Champions 2020–21 Individual *

Young Player of the Year: 2014–15 *

Player of the Year: 2015–2016

References

External links

*
England profile
at The FA {{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Reece 1996 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Newham English footballers England youth international footballers Association football defenders West Ham United F.C. players Premier League players Bradford City A.F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players English Football League players