As we’re up against Morecambe this weekend, and there are no matches in between, I thought I’d pull an article together on a player that played for both teams – current Boston striker Jordan Burrow.
Burrow began his career at Chesterfield, coming through their academy and signing pro in 2011. He played regularly for their reserves in the year we went down, netting 26 times, which led to a six-month deal. His first senior football was down the road at Boston, where Jason Lee signed him on loan. He scored on his Pilgrims debut as they beat Droylsden, but returned to the Spireites after eight games and was released at the end of his short-term deal.
He then moved to our opponents on Saturday, Morecambe, impressing on trial and earning a one-and-a-half-year deal. He made his Football League debut at Bristol Rovers, getting his first start on Valentine’s Day 2012 against Macclesfield. He netted the winner against Southend on February 26th and made 19 appearances in total, scoring three more goals. The following season, he appeared 35 times for the Shrimps but bagged just once. He was still seen as a promising prospect and was offered a new deal, albeit on reduced terms. He turned down that deal and moved into League One with Stevenage.
He netted on his Stevenage debut as they shocked Championship side Ipswich in the League Cup but found himself struggling for matches. His only other goals came in a 2-2 draw at Vale Park in December 2013, and he was released in the summer. That’s when Gary Simpson came calling. At the time, Burrow was rated as a good prospect and a pretty big signing. Given that we were in the National League, and he’d turned in 20 outings in League One, hopes were high that we’d bagged ourselves a player who could go on and score enough goals to put us into promotion contention.
It was a good summer on paper for us – Jon Nolan, Ben Tomlinson, and Sean Newton were all a year deep into their contracts, whilst Hamza Bencherif, Karl Ledsham and Jake Caprice arrived- it was a team that felt like it had promotion potential.
Burrow had a great start for us – after starting our opening day draw with Kidderminster, he netted in 2-1 wins at Altrincham and Barnet. By September 13th, he had five, including the opener in our dramatic 3-2 win against Grimsby. That earned him a call-up to an England C training camp, but things started to go awry a couple of weeks later. The Imps beat Macclesfield 2-0 on 27th September, both goals coming in the opening fifteen minutes and both involving Burrow. His flick-ons caused havoc for Tom Miller and Ben Tomlinson to score, but he caused more havoc on 38 minutes when he was sent off for a foul on Adie Moke.
A three-game ban followed, and by November 1st, he’d started just two more matches. Burrow received an England C call-up in October but had to drive from Telford to Sincil Bank to get his boots before linking up with the squad. He was a second-half sub for the Three Lions, replacing Lewis Moult in a 2-0 defeat in Istanbul.
Back home, he was back in the Imps squad, and was an eighth-minute sub in our trip to Forest Green, a game labelled the world’s first all-vegan football match. Burrow netted our third on 62 minutes to give us a seemingly unassailable 3-0 lead with 28 minutes to go. However, the home side fought back to draw 3-3, and Gary Simpson was dismissed. With him went Burrow’s Lincoln form, but he was again named in England’s C squad, along with Jon Nolan. He won his second cap against Estonia’s Under 23 side, coming on for Omar Bogle in the second half. He earned his third cap on February 17th, playing the whole game against Cyrpus Under 21s.
Sadly, his run of goals dried up for the Imps. He scored in just two more matches for City; he netted twice as we beat Nuneaton at the Bank and another double in a 3-1 win at Braintree. His final appearance came in the final day 0-0 draw with Dartford. Burrow was one of two players who were under contract but made available for transfer; the other was Tony Diagne. He waited in the squad whilst we signed Liam Hearn and Matt Rhead and was eventually released from his deal with us on June 24th, allowing him to join Halifax Town.
Of course, he was a success at Halifax, hitting 13 goals before a door on the advent calendar was open. However, as was the case at City, he disappeared after that, scoring once in the final six months of the season as Halifax were relegated. He later played for Gateshead, for whom he turned out against us in that Easter win, and York City, where he spent two seasons netting 34 goals.
He’s currently with Boston United in the National League North.
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