User:Eccy89/Ron Burns (soccer)

Ron Burns is a former Australian soccer player.

Raised in Wollongong, Burns was most notable for being a part of the very successful Corrimal Rangers side of the mid-1950's which culminated in playing for the Socceroos. Unfortunately, this was the only occasion he earned a full A international cap and thus he is on the list of single cap Socceroos. Burns competed at the highest level of soccer in Australia with the Corrimal Rangers in the NSW Soccer Football Association State Championship and with Canterbury-Marrickville and Corrimal United in the NSW Soccer Federation premiership.

In 1955, Burns represented his country, earning cap number 143 in his only full A-international match. However he also played further 6 matches in non-A internationals for Australia, scoring twice. He was the first player to represent Australia at junior and senior level.

Learmonth was a two time golden boot winner, ending the 1954 NSWSFA season with 34 goals and the 1958 NSWSF season with 25 league goals.

Unfortunately, Learmonth would suffer a career-ending injury during the 1960 season, retiring aged 27.

Early career
Burns captained the New South Wales Under-15 side in a tour of Victoria.

Corrimal Rangers
Burns was a part of an extremely successful Corrimal Rangers side throughout the 1950's prior to the creation of NSW Federation of Soccer Clubs in 1957.

The 1954 season was an extremely successful one for Corrimal, winning the State Premiership, State Cup and Sydney Cup. Burns played in 17 of 30 matches across all competitions.

Learmonth helped his team win the league double in 1955, securing the State Premiership and the Grand Challenge Final with an 11–3 win over Cessnock. Corrimal also won a third trophy, the Sydney Cup, with a 3–1 win over Auburn. Learmonth ended the season with 20 goals from 24 appearances. Team-mate Ron Burns was the top scorer across all competitions with 37 goals.

The 1957 Corrimal Rangers side was a very strong team, that did not quite fill its potential for the season. Learmonth scored 17 goals from 26 appearances in a forward line also consisting of Ron Burns (22 goals), Ted Drain (19 goals), Phil Peters (18 goals) and Warren Kerr (14 goals). The side was State Premiers but only managed runners-up in the Grand Challenge Final that year. Disappointingly, Learmonth could not help the side progress beyond Round 3 in the State Cup and Round 2 in the Sydney Cup.

Corrimal United
In 1958, Learmonth was among the group of players and committeemen from Corrimal Rangers that decided to compete in the breakaway league run by the NSW Federation of Soccer Clubs, forming the new club Corrimal United. This season was highly successful for the fledging club, winning the minor premiership at its first attempt. Learmonth was the league's top scorer with 25 goals. Unfortunately, Learmonth was unable to help his side win the Grand Final as the side lost both the major semi-final and the preliminary final to Canterbury-Marrickville and Auburn SFC respectively.

1959 was again another strong season for Learmonth and the Corrimal United club. After 26 regular season rounds, Corrimal finished in third place and Learmonth was the club's leading scorer with 19 goals. However an end of season form dip from the club continued into the finals series and they bowed out in the semi-finals, losing 2–4 to Sydney Hakoah. Learmonth played in every game except the Round 2 loss to Canterbury-Marrickville.

Learmonth played the first 19 rounds of the 1960 season, scoring 9 goals. However he was unable to complete the season after suffering ill health, attributed to a kidney issue which required removal. Upon medical advice after surgery, Learmonth retired from the game, aged 27.

Australia
Burns played in his one and only national team match in 1955 against South Africa. He made his debut on the 24 September 1955 at Sydney Cricket Ground with three fellow Corrimal Rangers players, Bob Bignall, Ted Drain (who was making his second national team appearance after an almost eight year absence) and Phil Peters was was also on debut.

Other representative matches
Other than his national representation, Burns also played representative matches for his region. He represented South Coast against New Zealand in 1954 and against Metropolitan in 1955 and 1956. In 1958 he represented the Illawarra against the touring Hearts of Midlothian.

Club

 * Notes

Player
Corrimal Rangers
 * NSWSFA State Premiership: 1954, 1955, 1957
 * NSWSFA State Premiership Grand Challenge Final: 1955
 * NSWSFA State Cup: 1954
 * NSWSFA Sydney Cup: 1954, 1955

Corrimal United
 * NSW First Division minor premiership: 1958

Individual
 * NSWSFA State Premiership golden boot: 1954
 * NSWSF First Division golden boot: 1958