Jim Duffy has completed the loan signing of Mark Burchill from Portsmouth until the end of the current season.
Portsmouth Against Derby |
Born 18/8/1980 in the Bellshill area of Glasgow, the 22 year old striker worked his way up through the ranks, signing for Celtic from Celtic Boys Club in June 1997. Always in the shadow of players like Larsson and others he found it difficult to claim a regular starting slot for the west coast giants, though he was always in the first team squad.
He scored the winner in his debut against none other than Dundee United at the age of 18. Despite spending so much time on the bench he scored some important goals. In 17 starts over 3 seasons he found the back of the net 20 times, though mostly he was used as a pool player and came on as a sub at important times in games.
With the competition for places so fierce at Celtic Park the flamboyant striker went out on loan to Birmingham who couldn’t agree personal terms for the player. Loaned to Portsmouth in 2001 the Pompeys eventually signed him. Capped 6 times for Scotland he was the youngest player to play for the full Scotland team since Paul McStay.
His time at Portsmouth was dogged by a knee injury that kept him out for 10 months. This was sad as he had formed a deadly partnership with Peter Grouch in the Pompey attack and was beginning to look the part.
His pace and scoring flair meant a blistering start to the current season, according to Portsmouth fans, but recently he found himself back on the bench and being put up for transfer in December, 2002.
Certainly no giant, he is 5’ 8" in height and weighs in at just under 12 stone. But he’s fast and is an instinctive striker with something to prove. He is a player on a mission to show that he hasn’t lost any of the talent he showed at such an early age, and let no one be fooled. This is no player taking time off to get some first team practice in at Dens Park.
Taking a huge cut in salary to get this chance proves the point. Any player who takes a loss in order to play for Dundee has obviously serious intentions. Good luck, Mark, welcome to Dens. Let’s see you go, my son.
Final word to a friendly Portsmouth fan who had this to say on Mark Burchill:- "If Lovell is doing fairly well up there, Burchill will look like Ronaldo."