IT’S BACK TO BUSINESS
Rovers ace Burke relishing return to Aviva with memories of THAT goal
FAI CUP FINAL DUNDALK v SHAMROCK ROVERS
Wind the clock back 16 months and the Shamrock Rovers forward (left) scored his first and only goal for the Republic of Ireland on his first start for his country. It followed a 20-minute role off the bench in a friendly defeat to eventual World Cup winners France in Paris the week before. Burke – the former Aston Villa youth – landed a move to Championship side Preston North End on the back of it all. And the Dubliner had legitimate claims to think that international football would become a regular thing in his life. But not for the first time, Burke quickly discovered that
England is not the be all and end all for every Irish footballer.
“Football is only good when you’re playing and everything around you fits into place,” he told Mirror Sport ahead of today’s FAI Cup final.
“I enjoyed it at Preston because of the level. I felt I belonged there. I was playing and the first couple of months were going well.
“But then I wasn’t playing and I wasn’t doing anything outside of football apart from going home and just sitting around.
“You get yourself into the cycle and I’d been in that boat before and that experience helped me because I knew it wasn’t good for me.
“It felt like a repeat of the situation a good few years ago where I sat myself down and said “I won’t do this again” and there I was, doing it again.
“I went to Gillingham on loan which was different again. My girlfriend was with me at Preston but not there.
“She was at home and I was living with a lad in an apartment. The whole situation with the lower leagues is not what people think.
“They think ‘League One, sure that’s great’. But they don’t see where you’re training and that. I wasn’t enjoying it.
“I was playing 90 minutes but I wasn’t feeling happy. I didn’t feel right and I always thought if Rovers won the league and I wasn’t there, it would hurt me.”
Burke knew then that he would come back to Rovers. He is on loan until June but a permanent switch back to the Hoops cannot be ruled out.
You know when your face doesn’t fit,” he said of Preston. “It feels like I never left Rovers and some part of me thinks I shouldn’t have gone.
“But if I didn’t, it would always be nagging at me to at least try it. I’ve no regrets as its rare you get the chance to go, come back and then go again.
“I’m back home and I’m loving it, but I can’t say I’ve thought too much about the long-term decision.”
Everything is on hold today as Burke looks to win his first trophy with Rovers having initially signed from Notts County in 2017.