Wes Burns

Wesley James Burns (born 23 November 1994) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a winger for club Ipswich Town and the Wales national team.

He signed his first professional contract on 18 December 2012 on a two-and-a-half-year deal, and made his professional debut coming on as a substitute against Leeds United on 19 January 2013.

After his loan spell at Forest Green Rovers came to an end, Burns went on to feature straight away in Bristol City's 1–0 defeat to Birmingham City which confirmed their relegation.

Born in Cardiff, Burns started his career at Bristol City, progressing through the club's academy to make his debut in January 2013.

Burns represented the Wales U21 national team between 2013 and 2016.

Burns then spent the first half of the 2013–14 season on the bench and made his first appearance in the first round against Dagenham & Redbridge, assisting a goal for Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, who scored his second, in a 2–0 win.

Burns went on to make twenty appearances, most of which were on the bench, and at the end of the 2013–14 season, Burns was rewarded with a contract extension.

On 12 March 2013 he joined Conference side Forest Green Rovers on loan.

He scored the winning goal for Forest Green on his debut later that evening against Southport, finding the back of the net in dramatic style in second half stoppage time.

He was recalled by Bristol City on 16 April 2013 and was forced to cut his loan short.

On 3 January 2013, Burns scored his first Oxford United goal, in a 2–1 loss against Cheltenham Town on 3 January 2015.

Burns began to appear in the first team under the management of Steve Cotterill and scored his first Bristol City goal on 4 February 2014, in a 2–1 loss against Coventry City.

The 2014–15 season saw Burns struggled in the first team, as he was demoted to the substitute bench.

Burns scored his first Bristol City goal on 8 October 2014, in a second round of Football League Cup, in a 3–1 win over Cheltenham Town and three days later, Burns scored a winning goal against Chesterfield, which resulted a 3–2 win for Bristol City.

After the match, Burns describe this as his best moment of his career.

However, Burns suffered ankle injury in mid-November.

Just one day after playing for Cheltenham Town in the last game of the season, Burns made his return to Bristol City in the last game of the season, in an 8–2 win over Walsall.

On 27 November 2014, Burns was loaned to League Two club Oxford United until the end of the 2014–15 season.

It wasn't until on 13 December 2014 for Burns made his Oxford United debut, playing 90 minutes, and set up one of the goals in a 2–1 win over Bury.

Having previously been called up to the senior Wales squad in 2015 and 2016, he made his international debut for Wales against Poland in the Nations League in June 2022.

Burns started his youth career at Cardiff City, but failed to earn an under-16 contract.

He was swiftly picked up by Bristol City, which kick-started a rapid rise through their youth team.

Ahead of the 2015–16 season, Burns expressed determination in hopes of regaining his first team place at Bristol City, with Manager Cotterill was keen to use him in the first team and has no plan of loaning out Burns.

However, Burns struggled to regain his first team place, as well as, his struggle to score goals.

After his loan ended prematurely on 2 February 2015 By the time he left Oxford United, Burns made nine appearances (three as a substitute) and scored once.

Shortly after leaving Oxford United, Burns was reported to be joining Cheltenham Town on loan until the end of the season.

Burns then scored on his debut on 7 February 2015, in a 3–1 loss against Burton Albion and scored his second goal two weeks against Accrington Stanley.

Burns then scored two goals in two matches between 7 March 2015 and 13 March 2015 against Mansfield Town and Newport County.

Despite suffering ankle injury that kept him out for two matches, Burns played the last two matches for the club, but was unable to help the club, as they were relegated to the National League and returned to his parent club.

Nevertheless, Burns scored his first goal of the season on 16 January 2016, in a 1–0 win over Middlesbrough, ending three games without a point.

By the time he went out on loan, Burns made fourteen appearances and scoring once.

On 13 April 2016, Burns signed a contract extension with the club, keeping him until 2017.

Three months later, Burns signed a further contract extension with the club, keeping him for two years.

On 16 February 2016, Burns joined League One side Fleetwood Town on loan for the remainder of the 2015–16 campaign.

New Bristol City Manager Lee Johnson explained his decision to loan out Burns as beneficial on long-term plan.

During his time at Bristol City he spent time out on loan at Forest Green Rovers, Oxford United, Cheltenham Town, Fleetwood Town and Aberdeen, before joining Fleetwood Town permanently in January 2017.

He spent five years at Fleetwood Town, making over one hundred and fifty appearances.

He joined Ipswich Town in June 2021.

In his first season with the Tractor Boys, Burns earned him a spot in the EFL League One Team of the Season with 12 goals and 6 assists.

Burns helped Ipswich to promotion in 2022–23, with 8 goals and 11 assists for the season.