John Pickering’s search for more attacking options took him to Queens Park Rangers in August 1985, with 24-year-old Steve Burke arriving at Lincoln City on a month’s loan.
Burke travelled to Lincoln on the morning of 19 August and trained with the first-team squad, immediately putting himself in contention for City’s Milk Cup first-round, first-leg tie at York City the following evening. He was hardly an unknown quantity either, having cost QPR £125,000 when they signed him from Nottingham Forest in 1979.
Pickering was not prepared to rush him straight into the side, though.
“We shall be having a good look at him before we think about putting him straight into the side.”
There had also been no discussion over what Burke might cost permanently if the loan went well. Pickering said he did not expect any eventual figure to be anything like the £125,000 Rangers had paid for him, but at that stage the arrangement was very much about assessing what he could add to the squad.
Although the newspaper report referred to Burke as a striker, Pickering saw him slightly differently.
“He is really a left winger but has been playing a striking role with great success in the reserves.”
“He hit 20 goals two years ago and another 30 in as many matches last season.”
Burke had come through the ranks at Nottingham Forest and made a solitary first-team appearance there before moving to QPR. He had played regularly during the earlier part of his time at Loftus Road and appeared as a substitute in the 1982 FA Cup Final replay defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. By the time City took him on loan, he had already spent temporary spells with Millwall and Notts County.
The timing of his arrival came with Pickering also trying to temper the mood after an impressive victory over Gillingham. City had played well, but the manager wanted the same standard again at York rather than allowing one good result to become a distraction.
“We were very pleased with the way all of them played but we have to be prepared to do it all over again tomorrow night.”
“We did everything right apart from in front of goal and there is no reason why we cannot play this way time and time again.”
Burke’s spell with the Imps would ultimately be brief. He made five league appearances without scoring before returning to QPR, then later spent time on loan with Brentford before leaving Rangers at the end of the 1985/86 season.
He subsequently joined Doncaster Rovers, where he made 57 league appearances and scored eight goals, before a loan spell with Stockport County and later moved into non-league football with Shepshed Charterhouse and Grantham Town.
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