Highly rated youth prospect Mark Burchill made his first team debut just a few weeks shy of his 18th birthday in a shock League Cup defeat at Airdrie, back in August 1998…

However the young striker soon showed his potential a few weeks later when he scored what would prove to be the winning goal not long after coming on as a substitute in a league clash with Dundee United at Celtic Park.

That would kickstarted a decent run for the boyhood Celtic supporter, despite being utilised mainly from the bench, he popped up with a goal now and then, including the 5th in a memorable 5-1 over Rangers in November 1998.

This form led to Mark being dubbed as the Scottish ‘Michael Owen’ due to his terrific burst of pace and decent finishing in front of goal, with it even being widely reported that a host of top English sides were looking to lure the teenager down south.

Realistically, Mark wasn’t ready for that level of football, as he wasn’t even a regular at Celtic, not helped by having the likes of Henrik Larsson and Mark Viduka, ahead of him in the pecking order.

However that didn’t stop him earning a call up to the full Scotland squad, earning the first of six caps when he appeared as a substitute for the national side in a European championship qualifier against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Mark Burchill was also prone to injury, and that combined with the quality competition in front of him, meant that he struggled to string a run of games together to fully prove his worth to the Celtic team.

It was difficult for the youngster to be fair, it was a huge ask expecting him to dislodge either Henrik Larsson or Mark Viduka from the Celtic team. Those two were players that any other forward in the country would struggle to dislodge.

Even when Henrik suffered his horrendous injury in Lyon, John Barnes brought in the former Arsenal veteran Ian Wright, which was yet another obstacle in the Broxburn born striker’s way.

The arrival of Martin O’Neill signalled a fresh start for Mark Burchill, but with the signing of Chris Sutton for a fee of £6 million, it would be a mammoth task to dislodge the Englishman and the fit again Henrik Larsson. So despite a quick fire record breaking hat trick in a UEFA cup tie against Jeunesse Esch of Luxembourg, mark was sent out on various loan spells with Birmingham City and Ipswich Town his destinations during the 2000/2001 campaign.

Mark would leave the club permanently in the summer of 2001 after making 63 appearances and scoring 24 goals, as he joined Portsmouth for a fee of £600,000.

Burchill’s Pompey career started brightly as he was among the goals, and forged a decent partnership with Peter Crouch, but a knee injury just a few months into his time on the south coast disrupted his time at Portsmouth, and he would then spend several spells out on loan, including a short spell with Dundee in 2003, before he left Pompey in 2005.

Mark, who’s daughter Tiree played for the Celtic FC Women side and is currently playing for Hibs, would become something of a career journeyman, playing for the likes of Hearts, Dunfermline, and Kilmarnock before ending his career with hometown club Livingston in back in 2015.

Mark Burchill was another one of those young players coming through at Celtic who had high expectations but ultimately failed to establish himself in the Hoops.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy

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