A love letter to big Dan Burn

Dan Burn has only went and scored his first league goal for boyhood club Newcastle United. I almost spontaneously combusted in the stadium.

After two previous attempts in the first half, we could all see how desperate he was to score. I remember sitting and thinking, it’s coming. A Dan Burn goal is coming. And sure enough, it did.

It’s no surprise that he can’t remember what he did afterwards – and judging by one of the pictures of him with suspiciously red eyes, I think crying in the arms of his teammates was one of them. I may or may not have shed a tear on the rewatches – at the time I was too busy punching my brother in delight.

He’s not had a great time of late. And I don’t mean on the pitch – I mean from supporters.

There’s been a growing opinion that he’s not good enough and should be dropped. And from what I can gather, it’s based on his performance at Villa away. A game in which no NUFC player came away having given a good account of themselves, and the last time (one of very few) he was directly responsible for conceding a goal.

The thing we need to remember is that he’s not a left-back – but he’s made the position his own. People argue he’s not forward-thinking enough, but he probably spent a solid quarter of the game in Brighton’s box.

They argue he’s not quick enough – with the legs he’s got on him, really?

There’s arguments he can’t link up with whoever’s in front of him but we’ve seen time and time again how he dances on the wing to connect with Isak, Willock and others. How he plays little one-twos near the corner flag with them on the attack.

People laugh at his failed Cruyff turn at Villa away, but for such a big lad, he can turn lightning fast and pivot us onto the attack in a heartbeat.

When other defenders are pulled away, he duly fills their gap and prevents any exposed spots. And, of course, he loves a good, crunching tackle. What isn’t to love?

His two goals this season – better than his average, in his own words – have arguably been two of the biggest of the season too. One sent us to Wembley, and the other all but cemented our position in the Champions League. Not bad for a big lad.

You’ll often find me fawning over or ferociously defending Dan Burn on Twitter, and it’s for all of the reasons above and more. Non-NUFC supporters laughed that we signed him in January 2022, but I thought it was a cracking signing – a no-nonsense defender who was the rock of his team and a local lad. It’s exactly what we needed.

I feel especially attached to him because he’s living his and our dream on the pitch and you can tell how genuine his love for the club is – but he manages to remain professional consistently, too. I gobble up every interview he does because it warms my heart to see him speak so honestly and passionately.

This team isn’t short of passion – just look at how Bruno bleeds black and white. Look at Trippier leaving the Champions League behind and taking a pay cut to lead the revolution. But there’s no denying that it hits different when it’s a local lad, because we see ourselves in him.

I almost feel like I know him at this point. He speaks with passion and I love the daft videos that come out of NUFC TV and other platforms; I’ve watched Make Me Smile with him and Longstaff more times than I care to remember. As it happens, he’s got a canny little smile on him.

I love an underdog and that’s how I feel about Burn; but rather than him not being good, it’s that he’s not rated highly enough by a lot of his own supporters or those from outside the famous fishbowl.

Will he feature regularly in the league and Europe next season? I don’t know, but I hope so. We need to shore up a lot of positions over the summer and left-back is undoubtedly one of them. But for me, we need to sign competition in positions as well as looking at upgrades. He’s one of the best-performing left-backs in the league in one of the best defences in the league. Let’s give credit where credit is due.

The dancing defender. The big lad from Blyth. That’s my guy, Dan Burn.