Craig William Burley (born 24 September 1971] in Ayr) is a Scottish former international association football player, who played for clubs including Chelsea, Celtic and Derby County. He is also the nephew of former Scotland manager George Burley.^[1]

[edit] Career

A midfielder, Burley started his career with Chelsea. He was a bit-part player in his early days at Stamford Bridge but he started to become a key player for Player-Manager Glenn Hoddle and later Ruud Gullit. Burley won his first medal in 1997, as part of the Chelsea team that beat Middlesbrough 2–0 in the 1997 FA Cup Final.

During the summer of 1997, he signed for Celtic, becoming one of Wim Jansen's first signings at the club. He scored 13 goals and was part of the Celtic team that ended Rangers' run of consecutive league titles in the 1997–98 season. Burley was voted as Player of the Year by the Scottish Football Writers' Association.

Burley signed for Derby County in 1999, but he suffered a serious injury in a match against Newcastle in 2001 that kept him out of action for a year.^[2] He was released by Derby in the summer of 2003.

Burley then joined Scottish Premier League team Dundee, although his spell was short-lived as he was released when the club went into administration.^[3] Burley went on to have spells with Preston North End and Walsall before retiring.

[edit] International career

Burley played for Scotland in the 1998 World Cup in France and scored in the 1–1 draw with Norway in the second match of the tournament.^[4] He was then sent off in the final group game against Morocco as Scotland were eliminated.^[5]

Burley continued to be a significant player under Craig Brown until the end of the unsuccessful 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign,^[6] captaining the side in what proved to be his penultimate appearance. After suffering injury problems, Burley won a Scotland recall against Austria in 2003 under new manager Berti Vogts but then announced his international retirement.^[6]

[edit] After football

Burley worked as a pundit and commentator for Setanta Sports and currently ESPN.^[7] He also owned a restaurant, Sanctuary, which was closed in January 2008 owing nearly £300,000.^[8]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Profile at Scottish Football Association
• Profile at UK A–Z Transfers
• Official Setanta blog

v • d • e Scotland squad – UEFA Euro 1996 1 Leighton • 2 McKimmie • 3 Boyd • 4 Calderwood • 5 Hendry • 6 Whyte • 7 Spencer • 8 McCall • 9 McCoist • 10 McAllister • 11 Collins • 12 Goram • 13 T. McKinlay • 14 Durie • 15 Jess • 16 Burley • 17 B. McKinlay • 18 Gallacher • 19 Jackson • 20 Booth • 21 Gemmill • 22 Walker • Coach: Brown

v • d • e Scotland squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup 1 Leighton • 2 McNamara • 3 Boyd • 4 Calderwood • 5 Hendry • 6 T. McKinlay • 7 Gallacher • 8 Burley • 9 Durie • 10 Jackson • 11 Collins • 12 Sullivan • 13 Donnelly • 14 Lambert • 15 Gemmill • 16 Weir • 17 B. McKinlay • 18 Elliott • 19 Whyte • 20 Booth • 21 Gould • 22 Dailly • Coach: Brown