Burns, Tommy

▪ 2009

Thomas Burns 

      Scottish association football (soccer) player and manager

born Dec. 16, 1956, Glasgow, Scot.

died May 15, 2008, Glasgow

spent most of his career with Glasgow's Celtic, as a junior trainee (1973–75), player (1975–89), manager (1994–97), and coach (2000–08). During his 14-years as a player, Burns scored 52 goals in 352 league games and helped the team win six league titles (1977, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1988), three Scottish Cups (1980, 1985, 1988), and one Scottish League Cup (1982). He moved to second-division team Kilmarnock in 1989, and he guided that team to promotion to the Premier League in 1992–93 as a player-manager. When Celtic induced him to return as manager in 1994, the team was ordered to pay a £100,000 (about $150,000) fine for poaching him from Kilmarnock. He was dropped after three years, but after a short spell managing Reading (1998–99), he returned to Celtic. Burns failed to score in eight appearances for Scotland, but he was later recalled as the international side's assistant manager (2002–07).

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▪ Canadian boxer

byname of  Noah Brusso  

born June 17, 1881, Hanover, Ontario, Canada

died May 10, 1955, Vancouver, British Columbia

 Canadian world heavyweight boxing champion from February 23, 1906, when he won a 20-round decision over Marvin Hart (Hart, Marvin) in Los Angeles, until December 26, 1908, when he lost to Jack Johnson (Johnson, Jack) in 14 rounds in Sydney, Australia. This victory made Johnson the first black fighter to hold the heavyweight championship, a development that outraged some fans and even led to rioting in the United States. Burns had successfully defended his title 11 times before the fight with Johnson.

      From 1900 to 1920 Burns had 60 bouts, winning 46, 36 by knockout. Near the end of his boxing career, Burns joined the Canadian army and taught boxing to military recruits. He was also involved in various business ventures, including a clothing store and a speakeasy. Late in his life Burns underwent a religious conversion, and in 1948 he became an ordained minister. Despite the large sums he had made during his career, Burns died impoverished. He was inducted into Ring magazine's Boxing Hall of Fame in 1960.

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