Ryan Darren Burke (born 23 November 2000) is an Irish 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 plays as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for

League of Ireland First Division The League of Ireland First Division, also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. The division w ...

club

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

. He joined English club

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

from

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club, commonly known as Pat's or The Athletic, is a professional List of association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland, Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the League ...

as a 16-year-old and made his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

debut in July 2020. He spent time

on loan In sports, a loan involves a particular player being able to temporarily play for a club other than the one to which they are currently contracted. Loan deals may last from a few weeks to a full season, sometimes persisting for multiple seasons ...

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

club

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil, a town in Somerset, England, with a council named Yeovil Town * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town W.F.C., an English women's football team affiliated with Yeovil T ...

, before being released by Birmingham in 2021. He signed a one-year contract with League Two club

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

in 2021, and played on loan at

National League North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National League (English footb ...

club

AFC Telford United AFC Telford United is a football club based in Telford, Shropshire, England. The club was formed in 2004 after the original Telford United F.C., founded in 1872, folded due to financial problems. They are currently members of the and play at ...

in 2022 before his release from Mansfield and return to Ireland. Burke has represented Ireland at under-15 and under-16 level.

Club career

Early life and career

Burke was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and attended

Drimnagh Castle Secondary School Drimnagh Castle Secondary School () is a Christian Brothers secondary school located on the Long Mile Road in the suburb of Drimnagh, Dublin, Ireland. The school buildings are situated directly beside the old Norman castle, Drimnagh Castle, fr ...

. He played at youth level for Crumlin United and spent four years with St Joseph's Boys before joining

. He started every match as St Pat's under-17 team won the 2016

League of Ireland U17 Division The League of Ireland U17 Division is the under-17 division of the League of Ireland. Like the Premier Division, the First Division and the National U19 League the National U17 League is currently sponsored by SSE Airtricity and as a result it ...

title, and remained a regular in the side until taking up a scholarship with Birmingham City F.C.'s Academy in 2017. According to his Birmingham City profile, his strengths at youth level were "his technical ability, aggression and tackling". He was a member of their under-18 team that reached the semifinal of the 2017–18 FA Youth Cup, made his debut for their under-23 side the day after his 17th birthday, and became a regular at that level the following season. He signed his first professional contract, of two years, in June 2019.

Birmingham City

When head coach

Pep Clotet Josep "Pep" Clotet Ruiz (born 28 April 1977) is a Spanish Association football, football coach. As well as working as assistant at several clubs, he managed UE Cornellà, Cornellà, UE Figueres, Figueres, RCD Espanyol B, Espanyol B, Halmstads B ...

fielded an inexperienced team for the visit to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

in the 2019–20 EFL Cup first round, in which several youngsters made their senior debuts, Burke was an unused substitute. After the

2019–20 EFL Championship The 2019–20 EFL Championship (referred to as the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the 4th season of the EFL Championship under its current title and the 28th season under its current league division format. Leeds United won th ...

season resumed following its suspension because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, he was named on the bench for Birmingham's first match under the temporary rules. He remained unused, but was given his senior debut by

caretaker Caretaker may refer to: Occupations * Janitor (chiefly in the United States), a person who cleans and maintains buildings such as hospitals and schools * Property caretaker, a person who cares for a property * Caregiver or carer (UK), a person wh ...

head coaches Steve Spooner and

Craig Gardner Craig Gardner (born 25 November 1986) is an English professional football coach and former player who made 260 appearances in the Premier League and a further 67 in the Championship. He joined the coaching staff at Birmingham City in January 20 ...

on 12 July away to

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

, replacing Nico Gordon after 72 minutes of the 2–0 defeat. Burke joined

club

on 22 September 2020,

until January 2021. He made six appearances before returning to his parent club, but had no further involvement with the first-team matchday squad, and was released when his contract expired at the end of the season. His last appearance was for Birmingham's U23 team as they beat Sheffield United U23 in the national final of the 2020–21

Professional Development League The Professional Development League is a system of Football in England, English youth association football, football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Th ...

Mansfield Town

Burke signed a one-year contract with

EFL League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English ...

club

on 2 July 2021. He made his debut in the starting eleven for the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

first-round tie against

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

, replacing

James Perch James Robert Perch (born 28 September 1985) is an English former professional footballer. Perch was versatile and has covered many positions in both defence and across midfield. However, he is usually deployed at right back. Career Nottingham F ...

in defence; Preston won 3–0. Although a regular in the matchday squad for the first half of the season as backup for Stephen McLaughlin, Burke made only seven appearances, mostly as a substitute. In January 2022, manager

Nigel Clough Nigel Howard Clough (born 19 March 1966) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Mansfield Town. Playing predominantly as a forward, but later in his career used as a midfielder, Clough was capped by ...

said he had not seen enough of the player to decide whether he should remain as part of the Mansfield squad or go out on loan. Having dropped out of first-team contention at Mansfield, Burke joined

club

on 26 February 2022 on a month's loan. He made seven appearances in his first month, and the loan was extended to the end of the season. On 2 April, he scored his first goal at senior club level, an 86th-minute winner against Gloucester City, when he "drilled a low, left-footed shot on the run past he goalkeeper'sdive and into the far side of the goal." Burke played every minute of the last 15 games of Telford's season as they finished just above the relegation zone. He was one of six young professionals released by Mansfield when their contracts expired at the end of the season.

Bohemians

Burke returned home to Dublin as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

and signed for

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Men's Premier Division (), also known as the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Republic of Ireland and the highest level of the Republic of I ...

club

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a f ...

on a multi-year contract in June 2022. He made his debut as a stoppage-time substitute in Bohs' 3–1 win away to UCD on 7 July.

Waterford

On 13 February 2023, it was announced that Burke had signed for

side

on a permanent basis.

International career

Burke has represented Ireland at under-15 and under-16 levels.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Ryan 2000 births Living people Association footballers from Dublin (city) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Men's association football defenders Crumlin United F.C. players St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players AFC Telford United players Bohemian F.C. players Waterford F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players League of Ireland players 21st-century Irish sportsmen