William "Tosher" Burns was an Irish

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

 international footballer who played professionally in Ireland, England and the United States as a centre back

Defender (association football)

Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....

.

Career

Born in Newtownards

Newtownards

Newtownards is a large town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the most northern tip of Strangford Lough, 10 miles east of Belfast, on the Ards Peninsula. Newtownards is the largest town in the Borough of Ards. According to the 2001 Census, it has a population of 27,821 people in...

, Burns began his career in his native Ireland with the youth teams of Nortonville and Ulster

Ulster F.C.

Ulster Football Club is a former Irish football club based in Ballynafeigh, Belfast. It was initially founded in 1877 as a rugby club, but later switched codes to association football. It was subsequently a founding member of the Irish Football League in 1890...

. He began his senior career in November 1921 with Ards

Ards F.C.

Ards F.C. is an intermediate, Northern Irish football club playing in IFA Championship 1. The club, founded in 1900, is from Newtownards, but plays its home matches at Dixon Park in Ballyclare, which it shares with Ballyclare Comrades...

, and later played for Glentoran

Glentoran F.C.

Glentoran F.C. is a semi-professional, football club in Northern Ireland. The club was founded in 1882 and plays its home games at the Oval in east Belfast. Club colours are green, red, and black.Glentoran's biggest rivals are Linfield...

, Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.

Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...

, Shelbourne

Shelbourne F.C.

Shelbourne Football Club is an Irish professional football club based in the Drumcondra area of Dublin, currently playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division....

, Philadelphia Celtic

Philadelphia Field Club

Philadelphia Field Club is a name used by four soccer teams based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. All four versions of Philadelphia F.C. competed in the first American Soccer League, but none were in any way related to the other three teams which shared its name.-Philadelphia F.C.:The Philadelphia...

, J & P Coats

Pawtucket Rangers

J. & P. Coats was an American soccer club team of the J. & P. Coats Company based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island having been founded in 1900.The club played won the Rhode Island League in 1914 then was an inaugural member of the semi-pro Southern New England Soccer League...

, Workington

Workington A.F.C.

Workington A.F.C. is an English football club from Workington, Cumbria. They are in the Conference North, and play their home matches at Borough Park, which has a capacity of 3,101 . The club play in red, and are known locally as the Reds...

, Ards United and Belfast St. Peters.

Burns also earned one international cap for Ireland in 1924.