Early days Burnside was born in
Kingswood, near
Bristol and attended
Kingswood School and represented Bristol & District Schools, before joining
Bristol City as a trainee in July 1955. His father was so keen to see David develop his football skills that he installed floodlights in his back garden to enable his son to practice in the evenings.
West Bromwich Albion His potential was quickly spotted by
First Division West Bromwich Albion to whom he moved in December 1955, signing professional papers in February 1957. He soon acquired nationwide fame for his incredible ball-juggling abilities when, in October 1957, during the half-time in a televised friendly match against Russian team
CDSA Moscow he performed his tricks to entertain the crowd. In 1960, he entered a heading competition organised by the
Sunday Dispatch newspaper. He managed 495 clean headers without a break and although this was far from a record it amply demonstrated his ball skills. During his time at
The Hawthorns, West Bromwich were relatively successful, generally ending the season in the upper half of the First Division table, including reaching fourth spot in
1959–60. Burnside made 135 appearances for West Bromwich and represented
England at Youth level as well as winning two under-23 caps.
Southampton In September 1962,
Ted Bates signed him for
Second Division Southampton for a fee of £18,000, making him Bates's third signing in 10 days (along with
George Kirby and
Stuart Williams). Burnside immediately became a fixture in the Saints side, alongside
Terry Paine and
John Sydenham on the wings and Kirby and
George O'Brien in attack. He was adept at finding space with well-timed runs, and his passing skills were terrific. In the
1962–63 season Saints fielded the same line-up in 28 matches including all seven
FA Cup matches as Saints progressed to the semi-final, going out 1–0 at
Villa Park to eventual winners
Manchester United, after an epic three match battle to get past
Nottingham Forest in the previous round. In the first quarter-final replay against Forest, Burnside scored an 89th-minute equaliser as Saints came back from a three-goal deficit. In the second replay, at
White Hart Lane he scored twice, including a rocket shot for the third goal as Saints finally defeated Forest 5–0. The cup run was not matched in the league, however, as Saints finished the
1962–63 season in eleventh place, although Burnside was the second highest scorer (behind O'Brien) with 14 goals. Despite a 6–1 victory over
Charlton Athletic in the opening game of the
1963–64 season, Saints had dropped to the lower half of the table by mid-September. In the second victory of the season (2–0 over
Newcastle United on 18 September) Burnside injured his knee and was out until mid-January, losing his place to
John McGuigan. Although Burnside returned for a run of six games from mid-January to mid-February, including scoring in the 7–2 victory over
Scunthorpe United on 29 January 1964, he was forced to sit out the remainder of the season, until the postponed final game of the season at home to
Rotherham United in which he returned to score in a 6–1 victory (thereby helping Saints notch up 100 league goals for the season), with Saints finishing in fifth place. The following season, Burnside regained his place until he was surprisingly sold to
Crystal Palace in December 1964 for £12,000. The proceeds went to partly fund the purchase of
Jimmy Melia, who was to lead the Saints to the
First Division a year and a half later. In his two years at
The Dell Burnside made a total of 70 appearances, scoring 26 goals.
Crystal Palace and Wolves Burnside signed for
Crystal Palace, then in their first season after promotion to Division Two, on 24 December 1964. He spent one and a half seasons with Palace in Division Two, (58 appearances, 8 goals) before joining
Wolverhampton Wanderers on 7 September 1966, helping them to promotion to Division One (as runners-up) at the end of the
1966–67 season. He remained with Wolves until March 1968, when he moved back to Division Two with
Plymouth Argyle. Whilst at Wolverhampton Wanderers, Burnside also made appearances, as a guest, for
Los Angeles Wolves, essentially the Wolverhampton club, playing in the short-lived
United Soccer Association league.
Plymouth Argyle In March 1968, a fee of £7,000 took the experienced 28-year-old to
Home Park as one of new manager
Billy Bingham's first purchases for the Pilgrims. Neither Bingham nor Burnside, who made his debut in a 2–0 Second Division win at
Hull City, arrived in time to save Argyle from relegation to the Third Division at the end of the
1967–68 season. Burnside played in the last 12 games of the campaign. The following term, however, saw Burnside prove his worth as a player. After excelling as both inside-forward and deep-lying centre-forward, he was voted "Player of the Year" by Home Park fans in the
1968–69 campaign, in which he scored nine goals in 42 Third Division games. With
Ellis Stuttard replacing Bingham in the manager's office, Burnside was used more sparingly in the
1969–70 season (15 League games, one goal) but he was a regular once more in
1970–71, mostly as a midfielder. He managed five goals in his 36 Third Division appearances. Burnside was an important member of the Argyle squad as the Pilgrims drifted along in the middle of the Third Division, but it is probable that he would have been even more effective if he did not have to cope with a daily commute from his Bristol home. Burnside's last senior game for the Pilgrims was in May 1971 at
Millmoor, where he scored in a 1–1 Third Division draw with
Rotherham United. The following season, he found himself stuck in the reserves, however, and in December 1971 he was transferred to his home-town club
Bristol City. His final Argyle tally was 105 League games and 15 goals. ==Later career==