Ben Burgess

Burgess began his career with spells as a youth at Oldham Athletic, Stoke City, Everton and joined Blackburn Rovers at age 16,[1] where he stayed until 2002, but made just two league appearances for the club.[2] On 3 October 2000 he went on loan to North Sydney based Northern Spirit in Australia.[2] He scored 16 goals in 27 appearances for the club.[3] In the 2001–02 season he went on loan to Brentford, before moving to Stockport County on 16 July 2002.[2] He had a two-month loan spell at Oldham Athletic from January to March 2003, before signing for Hull City on 27 March.[2]

He became the first Hull City player to score a hat-trick at the KC Stadium on 26 April 2003, in a match against Kidderminster Harriers. He was City's top scorer in their 2003–04 promotion campaign, scoring 18 goals and forming a partnership with Danny Allsopp. However, he suffered a serious cruciate ligament injury late in the season in a match against Huddersfield Town and did not appear in Hull's 2004–05 League One campaign until promotion had already been secured, showing sportsmanship by declining to accept any promotion award.[4]

He soon returned to scoring despite playing two levels higher in the Championship, scoring one of two goals in the Tigers' first win of the 2005–06 season at home against Brighton & Hove Albion.[5]

Burgess joined Blackpool on 31 August 2006, for an initial fee of £25,000, with a further £75,000 paid after he had played 30 games. On 31 October 2006, he scored his first goals for Blackpool when he bagged a brace in a 4–4 draw with Accrington Stanley in the League Trophy.[6] On 27 May 2007, Burgess was an unused substitute in Blackpool's League One play-off final victory over Yeovil Town at Wembley.[7] On 14 August 2007, Burgess, on as a second-half substitute, scored the only goal of the game as Blackpool beat Huddersfield Town in the first round of the League Cup.[8] On 7 May 2008 Blackpool activated an option to extend his contract with the club by one year.[9] On 27 March 2009 Burgess signed a new twelve-month contract with the Seasiders with an option for a further year.[10]

Burgess started the 2009–10 season by scoring in the Seasiders opening day 1–1 draw with Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road on 8 August 2009.[11] His 100th league appearance for the club was as a 61st-minute substitute in a goalless draw with Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium on 24 October. He gained his fourth promotion and second with Blackpool in the Championship play-off Final at Wembley on 22 May 2010.[11]

On 2 August 2010 Notts County confirmed the signing of Burgess from Blackpool on a free transfer. In May 2012 he was released by Notts County, along with 12 other players.[12]

On 22 March 2012 it was confirmed that Burgess would join Cheltenham Town on loan until the end of the season, scoring the second goal of Cheltenham's play-off semi-final first leg at Whaddon Road against Torquay United with a header from "a full 18 yards".[13]

On 1 June 2012 it was confirmed that Burgess had joined League One outfit Tranmere Rovers on a two-year deal after turning down a contract offer from Cheltenham Town due to the club having failed to gain promotion from League Two.[14] After just under two months at Tranmere, Burgess decided to leave the club and retire from professional football. He stated that he felt he could no longer give 100% consistently and felt retirement was appropriate at that time. He went on to thank Tranmere for their continued support.

Blackpool

• League One play-off final winner: 2006–07[6]
• Championship play-off final winner: 2009–10[11]

• National Soccer League U21 Player of the Year: 2000-01[27]