Darlington Born in
Blyth, Northumberland, Burn grew up supporting
Newcastle United and idolised
Alan Shearer. Initially a
goalkeeper, Burn was released by Newcastle United at age 11 and then played youth football for local teams New Hartley,
Blyth Town and
Blyth Spartans. At age 16, Burn stayed on at school to study sports science and had a part-time job at his local
Asda supermarket. While playing for Blyth Spartans, he was scouted by
Darlington and joined that club's
YTS scheme in July 2009. Due to the club's financial problems and lack of available players, Burn was promoted to the first team for the first time and appeared as an unused substitute, in a 3–1 loss against
Hereford United on 31 October 2009. Burn then made his away league debut coming on as a 19th-minute substitute for injured defender
Mark Bower against
Torquay United on 12 December 2009, which resulted in a 5–0 loss. Burn then made his first start in another encounter against Torquay United on 6 March 2010, which Darlington lost 3–1. He made four appearances in the 2009–10 season as Darlington were relegated to the Conference. After this, Burn returned to the academy to further his development before being recalled to the first team by manager
Mark Cooper, where he made his first appearance of the 2010–11 season, in a 3–1 win against
Barrow on 3 January 2011. He went on to make 15 appearances in the 2010–11 season Burn finished second behind
Jamie Chandler for the club's Young Player of the Year award. Burn attracted interest from
Premier League clubs including Fulham. Darlington gave him a two-and-a-half-year contract on improved terms, but Cooper admitted they were unlikely to be able to keep him, claiming that "If I were a Premier League manager I would sign him straight away, whatever the cost".
Fulham On 14 April 2011, a deal was agreed for Burn to join
Premier League club
Fulham at the end of the 2010–11 season for a fee thought to be around £350,000. After signing for Fulham, Burn was sent to the club's reserve team to develop and learn under the club's reserve manager
Billy McKinlay.
Loan to Yeovil Town On 25 September 2012, Burn joined
League One club
Yeovil Town on a youth
loan deal for an initial month. Four days later, he made his debut against
Preston North End. Burn scored an own goal for Preston in the 86th minute but then went on to score his first senior goal a minute later. Yeovil lost the match 3–2. Burn managed to establish himself in the first team at Yeovil Town and had his loan extended twice: On 23 October, Fulham confirmed that Burn's loan deal with Yeovil had been extended until 20 November 2012 and then extended again until the end of the season. Burn then scored his second goal for Yeovil Town on 2 February 2013, in a 3–0 win over
Brentford. Having previously been suspended after being booked five times this season, Burn received a red card after a second bookable offence, in a 2–0 win over
Stevenage on 13 April 2013 and missed the last three matches. After serving three matches, Burn returned to the first team, playing in
the first leg of the play-off, in a 1–0 loss against
Sheffield United. Burn then helped the club overcome the deficit in the second leg, in a 2–1 win. Burn scored at
Wembley Stadium for Yeovil during the
2013 League One play-off final gaining Yeovil Town promotion to the
Championship for the first time in their history. Burn returned to Fulham having made 41 appearances for Yeovil and scored three goals.
Loan to Birmingham City in 2013 Ahead of the 2013–14 season, Burn stated he was keen on returning to Yeovil Town. However, on 3 July 2013, Burn signed a new contract with Fulham, keeping him at the club until at least 2015, while also moving on a season-long loan to Championship side
Birmingham City. He made his debut in a 1–0 defeat at home to
Watford on 3 August 2013, and remained a regular member of the starting eleven.
Return to Fulham Burn was recalled by Fulham on 2 January 2014. After being recalled, Burn made his first-team debut for Fulham on 4 January 2014, in the
FA Cup third round against
Norwich City at
Carrow Road. Following the Norwich game, Fulham manager
René Meulensteen said that he expected Burn would re-join Birmingham City on loan for the second time, but the move never happened. Burn then went on to make his Premier League debut in a 2–0 loss against
Arsenal on 18 January 2014. After the match, Burn's performance was praised by Meulensteen. Burn was given a handful of first team appearances until he suffered a muscle injury. After being sidelined for weeks, Burn returned to the first team on 3 May 2014, playing 58 minutes, in a 4–1 loss against
Stoke City, which relegated the club to the Championship next season. , 2014 In the 2014–15 season, Burn made his first appearance of the season, in a 1–1 draw against
Cardiff City on 30 August 2014. He scored his first goal for Fulham in a League Cup tie against
Doncaster Rovers on 23 September 2014. On 21 October 2014, Burn captained Fulham for the first time and scored his first league goal of the season, in a 3–3 draw against
Rotherham United. However, Burn struggled to regain his first team, where he spent most of the season on the substitute bench. On 27 January 2015, Burn signed a contract extension with the club, keeping him until 2016. Burn later finished the 2014–15 season, making 22 appearances and scoring once in all competitions. In the 2015–16 season, Burn provided
assist for
Cauley Woodrow to equalise the last minute goal, in a 1–1 draw against
Huddersfield Town on 22 August 2015. After the match, Burn was named the Man of the Match by fans. In a 0–0 draw against
Middlesbrough on 17 October 2015, Burn formed a partnership with
Richard Stearman and the pair kept a 0–0 and Burn was named Man of the Match ahead of Stearman. Having become a first team regular under Jokanović, the club had started a contract talk with Burn. Burn helped the club retain their Championship status next season when they finished 20th place and made thirty–five appearances in all competitions. At the end of the 2015–16 season, Burn was released by the club after his contract came to an end.
Wigan Athletic , 2017 Burn signed a three-year contract with newly promoted Championship club
Wigan Athletic, to begin when his contract with Fulham expired at the end of the 2015–16 season. He was given squad number 33. Burn made his Wigan Athletic debut in the opening game of the season, starting in a 2–1 loss against
Bristol City. After a slow start to the season Burn became one of the stand out performers in the team and was recognised in winning the club's Player of the Year award. He scored his first goal for Wigan in a 1–0 win at former club Birmingham City on 7 March 2017.
Brighton & Hove Albion , 2019 Burn signed a four-year contract with Premier League club
Brighton & Hove Albion on 9 August 2018 for an undisclosed fee. He was loaned back to Wigan Athletic until January 2019. Burn returned to Brighton after his loan spell, and made his debut on 26 January in the
FA Cup third-round tie against
West Bromwich Albion; the match finished goalless, and Burn was named
man of the match. He made two more starts, both in the FA Cup, and finally made his league debut for the club on the opening day of the
2019–20 season away to
Watford, playing in a back three alongside
Lewis Dunk and
Shane Duffy; according to the
Telegraph report, he excelled as Albion won 3–0. He continued as a fixture in the starting eleven, and by the end of the year was the only Brighton player to play every minute of their Premier League campaign. On 1 January 2020, he
fractured his collarbone in collision with
Chelsea's
Reece James. The injury required surgery, and he was able to return to action on 8 February. Burn played in Brighton's 1–0 away victory over defending champions
Liverpool on 3 February claiming their first league win at
Anfield since 1982. On 18 May 2021, with fans returning to football, Burn scored his first goal for Brighton in a 3–2 home league win over champions
Manchester City, scoring the winner to seal the Seagulls' first top-flight win over City since 1981. In the absence of
Lewis Dunk,
Shane Duffy,
Pascal Groß and several others, Burn captained the Albion for the first time in the 1–0 home loss to Wolves on 15 December 2021. His second Albion goal, a back-post header away to
Everton on 2 January 2022, doubled their lead in a match that they won 3–2.
Newcastle United On 28 January 2022, Brighton rejected a £7 million bid for Burn from Newcastle United, the club he supported and played for as a youngster. and Burn signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Newcastle on 31 January. The fee was officially undisclosed. He made his debut on 13 February, partnering
Fabian Schär at centre back in a 1–0 victory at home to
Aston Villa, and was named as
Sky Sports' Man of the Match. According to
Gary Neville, "[Burn] was composed at the back and all of his work has been really good, particularly his headed clearances. I have not seen the Newcastle defence as organised as this for some time." On 10 March he assisted
Bruno Guimarães for the winning goal against
Southampton. Burn was an ever-present at centre-back, and in the 2022–23 season, continued to be so, while shifting onto the left-side, following the arrival of
Sven Botman. On 10 January 2023, Burn scored his first goal for Newcastle in a 2–0 win over
Leicester City to progress to the semi-final of the
EFL Cup. On 18 May, he scored his first Premier League goal for Newcastle, by netting the second goal in the club's 4–1 victory over Brighton. Later that year, on 4 October, he scored his first
Champions League goal in a 4–1 victory over
Paris Saint-Germain at
St James' Park. On 13 October, Burn signed a two-year contract extension with Newcastle. Burn recorded his first FA Cup goal for United on 27 January 2024, in a 2–0 victory against former team Fulham at
Craven Cottage. On 16 March 2025, Burn scored the opening goal with a towering header in the
EFL Cup final which ended in a 2–1 win against
Liverpool, contributing to his club's first domestic trophy since 1955. The goal was Newcastle's first at Wembley since the
1999–2000 FA Cup semi-final, and first goal in a final since their defeat in the
1976 Football League Cup final. After the game, Liverpool manager
Arne Slot said "I've never seen in my life a player from that far away heading a ball with so much force into the far corner. Ninety-nine out of 100 times that will not lead to a goal. Credit to him, he's one of the few players that can score a goal from that distance with his head." Two months later, on 24 May, he extended his contract with the club until 2027. == International career ==