AFC Bournemouth are saddened to learn of the passing of former player Mike Burgess.
Born in Montreal, Canada, Burgess was raised in Bradford and turned out for Frickley Colliery during national service in the RAF, before signing professional terms with Bradford Park Avenue.
A versatile centre-forward, he had spells with Leyton Orient and Newport County before joining AFC Bournemouth for £1,000 in June 1957.
He led the club’s scoring charts for the 1958/59 season under manager Don Welsh with 25 goals in 45 appearances.
Forming a formidable partnership with Dickie Dowsett in attack, he scored 34 goals in 109 league outings before joining Halifax Town in July 1961.
Burgess, who was given the nickname ‘the Cowboy’, notably scored a brace in a 2-1 win against Southampton in front of 18,000 supporters at Dean Court in October 1958.
After football, Burgess worked on making integrated systems for Elliotts in Rochester before working on flight simulators at Crawley and Heathrow.
Returning to Broadstone, he spent 18 years as an electronics technician on defence projects for Plessey at Poole and Christchurch.
He returned to the stadium as recently as 2016 when he met then-assistant manager Jason Tindall and he enjoyed telling stories of his time at the Cherries to his loving family.
Everyone associated with AFC Bournemouth sends its condolences to Mike’s family and friends at this sad time.
PHOTO CREDIT: Lead picture provided by Richard Crease.
