The divorce hit our Ollie hard. But football was his great escape and he was determined he’d make it to the top
PROUD DAD REVEALS HOW SPORTS-DAFT SON BECAME SCOTLAND’S MOST EXPENSIVE PLAYER
The dad of £13million Scotland star Oliver Burke has told how his son used football as his refuge when his parents divorced.
Jasen Burke divorced gymnast Sally Rabbit-Dalby when wonderkid Ollie was just six.
The Kirkcaldy-born youngster moved to Leicestershire with his mum and elder brother Neil before signing for Nottingham Forest as a child.
After a stunning start at Forest, Premier League big guns were on the 19-year-old’s trail before he made a surprise move to the German Bundesliga new guns RB Leipzig – becoming the game’s most expensive Scot.
And days later, the lad tipped to be our nation’s answer to Real Madrid and Wales superstar Gareth Bale made his first start for Scotland against Malta.
The events of the last fortnight have left Jasen, 46, reeling. And he told how the family have stuck together to give his son the support to make it to the top.
Dad-of-three Jasen, who has six-year-old son Jack with his new partner in Manchester, said: “Our divorce was a difficult time for Ollie. He was quite young but I can imagine footbal l was a great escape mechanism for him.
“It didn’t work out between me and my ex. These things happen but we always kept it on a proper level playing field and we’ve been perfectly decent to each other.
“Right from the start, we agreed that the kids were priority No1 and there was no animosity.
“The support network from his family has been fantastic. I was determined to be part of Ollie’s life as much as I could be.
“Everything was fine. She’s re married and got a good husband and, to be honest, he’s been fantastic with Ollie, taking him here and there and all over the place.
“It’s tough for any parent if your family moves away but the most important thing is the kids’ happiness.
“We get on very well, as it happens, and the kids have benefited from that.”
Jasen acknowledged the hard hours Sally put in to help their boy get to the top of the game.
He added: “His mum made great sacrifices as well because she’s had to take him back and forth, here, there and everywhere. It puts a lot of pressure and strain on families to do that.
“There’s been loads behind the scenes that’s been hard going but the dividends are there now and as long as he continues to enjoy it, that’s the main thing. His happiness is the most important thing in my mind.
“Me and the ex, we get on very well. We can laugh and joke about it but no parent would believe how things would transpire.”
Ollie turned down several attempts to tempt him to play for England, with their new national boss Sam Allardyce trying to persuade him. Jasen said: “I don’t see any other decision he could have made.
“Of course I’ve got an input but he’s his own man and he’ll make his own mind up. I’m exceptionally patriotic so he knew where I stood – there’s no doubt about that.
“I couldn’t see him playing for England – there was no danger of that. I obviously had an influence but he was brought up a Scot. He made up his own mind.
“I can’t comment on how hard England tried. When he comes to writing his memoirs, I’m sure there’ll be plenty to be said about it.”
Jasen said Ollie was always destined for the top. He added: “I used to pick the boys up and bring them back home to Scotland and I remember Ollie and his brother Neil arguing about football as kids do.
“Neil would say, ‘Well, what are you going to do if you don’t make it at football?’ Ollie
would say, ‘There’s nothing in the world that’s going to stop me from being a footballer’.
“Without any shadow of a doubt he knew what he wanted and there was nothing going to derail him. We know the work that’s gone in to get to where he is.
“He’s missed out on lots of things because he had to go to football. There’s been a great sacrifice from him.
“It’s down to hard work. You’ve obviously got to have ability but you have to put in a lot of hard work.” Jasen was a talented
footballer himself and had trials with clubs including St Mirren and Morton, while Sally almost competed at the Olympics.
He said: “All Ollie’s family are very athletic. His mum was going to be an Olympic gymnast but she had a bad back injury. To be in training for an Olympic squad shows she was at a good standard.
“I had trials and played all over the place but I didn’t make it.
“I think Scotland’s still in the wilderness in terms of youth development whereas England can spot things early. My boy was seven when he first got spotted and was in ata the sports centre at Loughborough University from eight.”
Jasen says Ollie’s journey to football stardom has not been all plain sailing and told how at one point medics had the teenager under orders not to play.
He explained: “Ollie had a situation where he was told not to touch a football for a few weeks because of his growing pains and some achilles problems.
“So he spent a bit of time in the gym and that really helped to build and bulk himself up. We used to wrestle and dummy fight but we can’t do that any more. There’d only be one winner and it wouldn’t be me.
“But you just don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. God forbid, he could get an injury or anything. “Look at Darren Fletcher at Manchester United. He had a stomach problem and it just stalled his career.” Ol li e ’ s new team RB Leipzig have had a rapid rise to Germany’s top flight. In 2009, they were a struggling fifth division club cal led SSV Markranstadt before being taken over and bankrolled by soft drinks firm Red Bull. Jasen said Ollie is settling in well. He said: “He’s fully embracing it and loving every minute of it. The facilities are out of this world.
“He’s already fitting in German lessons three times a week and he’l l hopefully pick up enough to get by.” He added: “I think a lot of the other clubs interested were leaving it until D- day but they left it too late. “I think when he went over and saw the facilities and heard them talk about where the club are going, I don’t think it was a hard sell. They’re the Manchester Ci t y of Germany. They’re a club who are going places.” Jasen says that down-to- earth Ollie and his family will not get carried away by his early success. He said: “I’ve got all the relatives and everybody in the world saying ‘ fantastic’ and I’m trying to curtail their expectations because this is the first day of the rest of his life. He’s not won anything yet. “The bottom line is that this is his first move and hopefully he’ll have plenty of other moves and everything will be on an upward curve. “I’d love him to be the next this or that but what will be will be. “I just want Ollie to enjoy it and where he goes in his career nobody knows. I’ve never and I won’t put any expectation on him. “As long as he’s living the dream and getting a living out of what he’s doing, I can’t ask for anything better.”
I’d love him to be the next this or that but what will be will be. I just want him to enjoy it