WAYNE BIGGINS 

Date and Place of Birth 20th November 1961 - Sheffield   Transfers to and from Burnley from Matlock Town - 4th February 1984 (£4,500) to Norwich City - 17th October 1985 (£40,000)   First and Last Burnley Games Brentford (h) - 11th February 1984   Swindon Town (h) - 12th October 1985   Other Clubs Lincoln City ---------------------------------------- Norwich City, Manchester City, Stoke City, Barnsley, Celtic, Stoke City, Luton Town (loan), Oxford United, Wigan Athletic

Burnley Career Stats

Profile by Andy Ashworth

You'd like to think that Burnley FC holds a special place in the heart of Wayne Biggins. He didn't come through the ranks with us but we were the club that really launched his league career and gave him a platform upon which he could display his abilities.

Beginning as an apprentice at Lincoln City he made only a handful of appearances before being released, deemed, one would imagine, as not good enough. He dropped into non-league and had a short spell at King's Lynn and a slightly longer one at Matlock Town, supplementing his income with work as a hod-carrier. His two years with Matlock obviously showed that he was playing way below the level he was able to and he was picked up by John Bond for a fee of £7,500.

He stayed with us for about 20 months and had a decent goal-scoring record of approximately 1 every three games. His form hadn't gone unnoticed and he was snapped up by Ken Brown at Norwich City, with the £40k deal offering us a tidy profit. He formed a prolific partnership with Kevin Drinkell and guided the Canaries to the 2^nd division championship and top flight football.

He continued to attract attention and offers and Norwich opted to sell him to Manchester City for £150k, though his time at Maine Road was brief and he soon moved on to Lou Macari's Stoke City for a further mark-up on his price which had now seen his career total transfer costs approach the £500k mark. He became a favourite with the fans in the Potteries during his three years at the club hitting 22 goals in one season which had surpassed his previous best of 18 which he had hit with the Clarets.

A £200k transfer to Barnsley followed and he was a virtual ever present at Oakwell but was used as a part of the deal to bring Andy Payton back from Celtic, along with an extra £100k. Good business on the part of The Tykes. The Celtic fans hated Biggins. He is synonymous in many of their eyes with one of the bleakest periods of their history, as debts spiralled and the club cowered in the shadow of the dominant blue half of Glasgow. He made 5 starts and was sold after 4 months, allowing him to return to Stoke City.

His one and a half years back at the Potteries was not as memorable as his first spell, although he was around 33 by this time. He was loaned to Luton for a spell before moving to Oxford on a free transfer. Four months at the Manor was enough and he was again on the move signing on at Wigan, where his goals contributed to the 3^rd division championship of 96-97.

He was then released and fell out of the league, joining Leek Town. His next club was Stocksbridge Park Steels, where he took the next step, moving into the assistant managers position in 2001. By the end of the 2002 season he had been promoted to manager following the resignation of the previous incumbent. His first management experience was hit and miss and he left the position in the Autumn of 2003.

In early 2004 he was signed as player coach of Buxton Town and when the managers position became vacant and his application was unsuccessful he left the club.