Career
He represented England Amateurs at international level and holds the record for Football League appearances by an amateur (263). Burns joined Division Three South side Queens Park Rangers in 1927, making 117 league appearances and scoring 29 goals in a four-year spell. The Division Two title and the London Senior Cup followed in the 1934/35 season, sending the into the top-flight for the first time in the club"s history.
In the 1935/36 season in Division One, scored their highest ever league placing of fifth.
Burns left the club in December 1935, having made 152 appearances and scored 116 goals during his four years with the Bees. He joined Athenian League side Leyton, spending two years with the club and reaching the final of the 1937 FA Amateur Cup.
He also appeared for Isthmian League side London Caledonians. Burns made his first appearances for the touring side Middlesex Wanderers in 1929, appearing in matches against Stade Français Paris and a Paris XI. He returned to Paris in 1931 to take part in matches against Racing and Athletic de Paris.
Burns appeared on two tours of the Netherlands with Wanderers in 1932, beating Vitesse Arnhem and PSV Eindhoven along the way.
He also represented Corinthian. Burns was schooled at the London Oratory School in Chelsea, London and trained as a teacher at Street Mary"s College, Twickenham from 1926 to 1928. After qualifying, he returned to teach at the London Oratory School.
A former pupil described Burns as "a kind and generous man and an excellent teacher of mathematics".
Burns was also an amateur boxer. As a player.