Falkirk FC 100 Club - Andrew Burt

Andrew came to prominence in the Slamannan Rovers side which was trying to switch from junior to senior football. But was coming up against the same problems they had in the junior game [lack of structured competition, lack of easily accessable opponents, population too small to sustain a consistently competitive side] and any gems the Rovers did unearth were quickly picked off in the newborn era of professional football.

It may have helped that alongside him in that Slamannan Rovers side was his elder brother, Adam, who had had a spell as Centre-Half with Falkirk FC, but the Bairns were themselves in need of replenishing their side due to even bigger clubs cherrypicking their better players.

Starting off as a Centre-Forward, Andrew soon found his place at the club at Inside-Left and scored consistently for the next five years. And this was a period when Falkirk had several consistent scorers in their ranks.

I am not sure why he was never tempted to move to a larger club who might have offered him league football and probably better pay. Perhaps he had a very good job in Slamannan, or maybe no other clubs wanted him, but he stayed with Falkirk for the rest of his career.

It is a true shame that his last proper season at the club was the club's first in the Scottish League as he was, according to match reports, slightly past his best, so his record of ten league matches with one goal looks very poor in comparison with those that came later, and of course is very deceptive as to his importance to the history of Falkirk FC.

He was brought back in an emergency in 1905 to make up the numbers in a Stirlingshire Cup match v Falkirk Amateurs, but he was well 'out of the game' according to the local papers [even though Falkirk strolled the game winning 9-0 he never got on the scoresheet] this slight blemish again is a bit of a shame.

In the club picture at the beginning of the 1902/03 season Andrew is pictured front & centre with the ball between his legs, in club pictures of the time this normally signifies that the player was captain. Since I have no record of the captain for this season it may be so, but it may also have been honorary due to his service and longevity, either way.

Again, nowadays people may question the inclusion of friendlies in his career figures, but one has to understand that the leagues of the time only allowed for at most twenty-two games a season and due to the fickle nature of cups, the season had to consist of a large number of 'ordinary' matches but these were in no way pre-season warm ups, they were proper fixtures usually arranged on a home and away basis.

b 30th April 1873, Slamannan, Stirlingshire

d June 1951, Glasgow

Andrew Burt's Falkirk FC Career

Debut – Saturday September 21 1895 v East Stirlingshire (A) Friendly

Positions – Inside-Left, Centre-Forward, Inside-Right

Representative Honours – Stirlingshire v Forfarshire 1896/97

Club Honours – Central Combination W 1899/00, RU 1900/01, Midland League RU 1895/96, Stirlingshire Cup W 1895/96, RU 1897/98, Falkirk Infirmary Shield W 1901/02, RU 1895/96, 1897/98, 1900/01, Stirlingshire Consolation Cup W 1901/02, RU 1900/01

Scottish League Matches/Goals [10/1]

Scottish Cup Matches/Goals [6/2]

Scottish Qualifying Cup Matches/Goals [24/15]

Minor League Matches/Goals [110/54]

Minor Cup Matches/Goals [43/24]

Other Matches/Goals [78/44]

Total Matches/Goals [271/140]

Hat-Tricks – 8 [Scottish Qualifying Cup [2] Central Combination [1] Stirlingshire Cup [2] Other [3]]

Known Club Career – Slamannan Swifts, Slamannan Rovers [1892/93-1894/95], Falkirk [1895/96-1902/03, 1905/06]

Notes