Early career Born in
Reading, Berkshire, In 1997, former Portsmouth manager
Jim Smith signed Burton for
Premier League club
Derby County in a £1 million move.
Derby County, return to Portsmouth and loans Burton would again struggle to establish a starting role at Derby, playing intermittently there with
loans at other clubs including Stoke in February 2002, and a second spell at Portsmouth, which began in August 2002. He returned to Derby in September having broken a bone in his foot, but later signed for Portsmouth in December 2002 for a fee rising to £250,000 and Portsmouth were promoted at the end of the season. In July 2004 he signed for
Brentford, playing for them in the
2004–05 campaign and helping the club to the League One play-off semi-finals against Sheffield Wednesday as their top scorer.
Rotherham United In July 2005 he joined
Rotherham United on a
free transfer, signing a contract for two years. After scoring 14 goals in the first half of the season, including a
hat-trick in a 4–0 victory against
Blackpool, Burton put in a transfer request in December 2005.
Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday bought Burton from Rotherham United in January 2006 for a fee of £110,000, after he had failed to turn up at the Yorkshire derby between Rotherham and
Doncaster Rovers on New Year's Eve. He scored his first goal for Wednesday in March 2006 against
Queens Park Rangers. He went on to play a crucial part in Sheffield Wednesday's Championship survival and returned to play against his old club Derby County on the final day of the
2005–06 season, captaining the Wednesday side to a 2–0 victory with another former Ram,
Marcus Tudgay, scoring the first goal. His good form for Wednesday led to a recall to the international stage. Named as a standby for the friendlies against
Ghana and
England, he was eventually called up as a replacement for Watford striker
Marlon King who was sent home for a breach of discipline. Burton made a second-half appearance as substitute in the 6–0 defeat to
England. Despite only scoring one goal with four months of the
2006–07 campaign gone, Burton's second half of season form was excellent. He scored 12 more goals, making him the club's joint top scorer for the season, alongside
Steve MacLean. Burton reached a milestone 100 career goals at club level on 26 December 2007, scoring a penalty against Burnley at
Turf Moor. On the last day of the season against
Norwich, with Wednesday needing a win to guarantee survival, Burton cancelled out
Darren Huckerby's opening goal with a penalty, before scoring his second, and Wednesday's third, later in the game, which was won 4–1 by Wednesday. These two goals brought his tally for the season to nine goals in all competitions, again making him the club's top scorer for the
2007–08 season. Burton scored his first goal of the 2008–09 season on 25 November 2008, in Wednesday's 0–2 away win at
Blackpool.
Charlton Athletic Burton joined Championship side
Charlton Athletic on loan on 27 November 2008 with a view to a permanent move, Wednesday manager
Brian Laws citing Burton's poor start to the 2008–09 season for the move as well as not being able to give the player assurances over his long-term future at
Hillsborough. On 2 January 2009, Burton was named as a permanent Charlton player, joining the club on a free transfer.
Gabala In 2010, Burton joined
Azerbaijan Premier League outfit
Gabala under the management of
Tony Adams signing a two-year contract. After two years and 15 goals in the 50 league games, Burton left Gabala at the end of the 2011–12 season.
Gillingham On 7 August 2012, Burton signed a one-year deal at
League Two club
Gillingham, turning down the offer of a deal at an unnamed
League One side. He made his debut for Gillingham on 18 August 2012 in 3–1 win over
Bradford City. He scored his first goal for the club on 25 August in a 2–1 win away to
Dagenham & Redbridge. While with the Gills Burton scored 13 goals in all competitions and won the League Two title, but was not offered an extension to his contract and left the club.
Later career Burton signed for League Two club
Scunthorpe United on a one-year deal on 22 July 2013 after impressing on trial. He joined League Two team
York City, managed by his former Scunthorpe manager
Russ Wilcox, on a one-month loan on 30 October 2014. He made his debut two days later in a 1–0 away win over
Cheltenham Town, but after being ruled out for two to three months with a medial ligament injury sustained in his second appearance for the club, the loan came to an end on 12 November 2014. Burton was released from Scunthorpe in January 2015 and then joined
Eastleigh the following month. After a short spell at Eastleigh, Burton signed for
Brackley Town on 8 August 2015. He then moved on to
Worcester City in September 2015. He retired from football at the end of the
2015–16 season. Burton now runs a football training company called Deon Burton Training Academy. == Coaching career ==