Graham Burke


Graham Dylan Burke is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Shamrock Rovers on loan from Preston North End. Burke has represented the Republic of Ireland at senior level.

Club career

Aston Villa

Burke was born in Dublin. He was first called up to a first-team matchday squad for Aston Villa's 2–0 home defeat against Bolton Wanderers in the third round of the League Cup on 20 September 2011, remaining an unused substitute. On 18 December he was included in the squad for the first time in the Premier League, again unused in a loss by the same score to Liverpool at Villa Park.
He made his senior debut as a 76th-minute substitute for Chris Herd in Villa's 3–0 home win over Tranmere Rovers in the second round of the League Cup on 28 August 2012. Burke was the joint top scorer in the 2012–13 NextGen Series under-19 club tournament, scoring both of Aston Villa's goals in the final which they won.

Loans to Shrewsbury Town and Notts County

Burke joined League One club Shrewsbury Town on a half-season loan on 8 August 2013, and made his Shrewsbury debut in a 3–0 defeat at Leyton Orient two days later. He scored his first senior goal in a 4–1 defeat to Oldham Athletic in the Football League Trophy, however Shrewsbury elected to end his loan spell early in October 2013.
Burke joined Notts County of the same league on an emergency loan on 26 March 2015 until the end of the season. Despite not scoring in his first six matches for the club Burke did make two assists in an important 2–1 win against Doncaster Rovers in the penultimate match of the season on 25 April, keeping County just above the relegation zone. Eight days later in the final game of the season, he scored his first league goal, opening the scoring away to Gillingham, but three late goals by the hosts relegated County to League Two.

Shamrock Rovers

On 15 February 2017, Burke signed for his hometown club Shamrock Rovers, being described by manager Stephen Bradley as an "exciting talent". He made his debut for the club in a 2–1 defeat to Dundalk on 24 February 2017, scoring his side's only goal before being sent off two minutes later after receiving a straight red card following a foul on Dundalk player Jamie McGrath.
During the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League Burke scored three times .
In March 2018, Burke scored four goals in one game against Derry City to become the first Rovers player in over 25 years to achieve such a feat and was later named SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers' Association of Ireland Player of the month for March.

Preston North End

Burke signed for Championship club Preston North End on 13 June 2018 on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee. Burke joined Aston Villa academy peers Callum Robinson and Daniel Johnson at the club.

Loan to Gillingham

On 31 January 2019, he joined Gillingham on loan.

International career

Burke has represented the Republic of Ireland from under-17 to under-21 level. In May 2018, Burke received his first call-up to the senior team for a trio of friendlies during May/June 2018. He made a substitute appearance for a Republic of Ireland XI against Celtic in Scott Brown's testimonial match on 20 May 2018. On 28 May 2018, Burke made his full senior international debut for the Republic of Ireland national team in a friendly game against France at the Stade De France when he came on in the 70th minute as a substitute.
Burke scored his first international goal for the Republic of Ireland on 2 June 2018 as Ireland beat the United States 2–1 in Dublin. In doing so, he became the first home-based Irish international goalscorer since April 1978 when Ray Treacy, also of Shamrock Rovers, scored for the Republic of Ireland against Turkey.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

No.DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition
12 June 2018Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland21–12–1Friendly