Ronald Stewart Burke (13 August 1921 – December 2003) was a

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

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

Career

Rotherham United made several attempts to sign Ronnie Burke during the World War II years, but

got his signature. He made his debut for United against Sunderland on the 26 October 1946. Despite a great goals per game ratio (34 appearances and 22 goals) he was called upon infrequently due to the consistently good form of Morris, Rowley and Pearson. Frustrated by lack of first team opportunities and following a number of transfer requests he was allowed to leave. He then moved to

, but suffered a serious knee injury, and lost his place in the Terriers team.

Rotherham

He made his debut for Rotherham in Division 2 (now Championship), scoring two goals in a 4–3 defeat at Nottingham Forest on Good Friday 1953, and was unlucky not to get a hat-trick in his first Millers appearance. In the next season he scored a hat-trick in the Millers 5–2 victory over Derby County on 5 December 1953, and repeated his achievement in a 7-0 thrashing of Oldham Athletic in March 1954. He finished the 1953/54 season with 33 goals, and was second highest goalscorer in Division 2. In the 1954/55 season he scored all four Millers goals in a 4–2 victory against Bury in September 1954, but his knee injury problems flared up again and he was made available for transfer in summer 1955.

Later clubs

He then moved to

. His career at Millmoor was very successful, but was cut short by injury. After this, he moved to

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

, first in 1957 with Tunbridge Wells United then on to Biggleswade Town.

References

* ''Millmoor personalities 1946-1986'', David Watson, Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (1986) 1921 births 2003 deaths Footballers from Redcar English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Manchester United F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Biggleswade Town F.C. players Tunbridge Wells F.C. players English Football League players 20th-century English sportsmen {{England-footy-forward-1920s-stub