Early career Born in
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, Burge spent a year at
West Bromwich Albion, before playing alongside
Daniel Sturridge at
Cadbury Athletic. He also had a spell with
Coventry City.
Birmingham City After being tracked by both Manchester United and
Manchester City, he began his professional career at
Birmingham City, where he signed a three-year
contract at the age of 17. Following the departure of
manager Steve Bruce, Burge was released by Birmingham in March 2008. but the deal collapsed after Downing was replaced as the Cheltenham manager by
Martin Allen. He instead joined up with League Two side
Barnet. He debuted for Barnet in the 4–0 home defeat by
Notts County on 15 November 2008. This was the only appearance he made before his time there was disrupted by appendicitis, which ruled him out for four weeks.
Searching for a new club In February 2009, Burge travelled to Japan, the birthplace of his step-mother, in the hope of securing a contract with a
J-League club. He spent a week trialling with
Division Two side
Avispa Fukuoka, followed by a trial period at Division One club
Oita Trinita. Top-flight sides
F.C. Tokyo and
Sagan Tosu also expressed an interest in Burge, as he was tested at
Kokushikan University against players such as
Hidetoshi Nakata. Burge scored the quickest goal in the academy's history, netting against Spanish side San Fernando after just 12 seconds. In March 2010, Burge played once for
Conference South club
Worcester City, by arrangement with the academy. In the 2010–11 season, Burge played for
Jerez Industrial, the Spanish
Tercera División club connected with the Glenn Hoddle Academy. He became established in central midfield after he recovered from numerous injury problems.
Doncaster Rovers Burge moved to
Championship club
Doncaster Rovers on a short-term deal on
transfer deadline day, 31 January 2011. He made his Doncaster debut as a 69th
minute substitute in a 6–0 home defeat to
Ipswich Town on 15 February 2011. That was to be his only appearance for the club. On 17 March 2011, Burge joined League Two team
Oxford United on
loan for the rest of the season, after impressing in a
reserve game against
Colchester United which Oxford won 2–0. He went straight into the starting line-up for the match against
Crewe Alexandra two days later, and provided the
assist for
James Constable's winning goal. His first performance at Oxford received praise in the local media. A week later,
Steve MacLean opened the scoring against
Burton Albion. Burge reportedly claimed the goal after the ball took a deflection off his
heel on its way into the net for what would have been his first Football League goal. In mid-April 2011 Doncaster recalled him, and a few weeks later they offered him a new deal.
Hyde to Port Vale In June 2011 he signed a two-year deal with
Micky Adams'
Port Vale. The League Two club had to pay
Hyde a small undisclosed fee, as the
Conference North side secured his contract from their partnership with the Glenn Hoddle Academy. He missed the start of the
2011–12 season with a knee injury, and in November 2011 it was revealed that he would have to undergo surgery to correct the problem. He did not feature in matchday squads for the rest of the season, and was transfer listed in May 2012. The door to the first-team remained open though, after Burge had an encouraging and injury-free pre-season. He came off the bench on 14 August 2012 – his first competitive game for twelve months – and "pulled the strings to help Vale control the second half" in a
League Cup defeat to Championship side
Burnley. He made his long-awaited league debut at
Vale Park four days later, replacing
Chris Shuker 79 minutes into a 3–0 win over Barnet. Despite some impressive cameo appearances from the bench, a streak of wins kept Burge out of the
first XI until 29 September 2012, when he made his first league start for the club at
Valley Parade, in a 1–0 win over
Bradford City. He scored his first goal for the club in the
Football League Trophy at the
Bescot Stadium; his left-footed strike helped Vale to battle to a 2–2 draw with
Walsall, though he missed his
penalty in the
shoot-out victory. He opened the scoring in a 2–2 home draw with
York City on 17 November 2012, and was selected on the League Two Team of the Week for his performance. He established himself in central midfield over the New Year with "a string of impressive performances". However, on 12 March 2013 he missed a pre-match team meal, but claimed he made his own way for the match against
Bristol Rovers, only to be informed that he was not in the matchday squad when he was just five minutes away from
Bristol. He took to Twitter to put his side of the story across, and an angry Micky Adams responded by saying Burge's tweets were "absolute nonsense and he's going to be disciplined". Burge was suspended for two weeks for breaking the club's "social media guidelines" after club management claimed he refused to apologise for the incident. On 12 April 2013, with three games left of the season, Burge left the club by mutual consent having missed every fixture since the Bristol Rovers incident . Club chairman Paul Wildes stated that "this has been a difficult decision for both parties". Vale secured promotion into League One at the end of the
2012–13 season.
Newport County Burge was linked with a move to
Peterborough United in May 2013, though also stated that "I am confident I could do a job at Championship level". He also had a trial spell with Burnley. He eventually signed a contract with League Two side
Newport County on 30 August 2013. Illness and injuries limited his contribution at the beginning of the
2013–14 season. He impressed in central midfield during the second half of the campaign and manager
Justin Edinburgh was reported to have opened talks to extend Burge's stay at
Rodney Parade beyond the summer. Despite these reports, Burge left the club in May 2014. In June 2014, he was reported to have agreed terms with South African side
Bidvest Wits of the
Premier Soccer League, but the move was never completed. He had a trial with Cheltenham Town in March 2015 and impressed in a reserve game against
Plymouth Argyle after being out injured for the season, but the club was unable to offer him a contract, even though his grandad was on the board.
Sutton United In February 2016, Burge signed with
National League South club
Sutton United on a contract running until summer 2017. He contributed three goals in five games as the U's won promotion into the
National League as champions of the Southern Division in
2015–16. He was forced to miss the rest of the season after his ankle ligaments were damaged from a heavy challenge he received during a 2–0 win at
Wealdstone on 22 March. Burge made his
National League debut in a 1–1 draw with
Forest Green Rovers at
The New Lawn on 9 August. On 9 December 2016, Burge was released by Sutton United as he looked to continue his career nearer to his Cheltenham home.
Eastleigh Burge signed with National League side
Eastleigh on 13 March 2017;
caretaker manager Richard Hill said that "he likes to
pass the ball and move well". He played five games for the "Spitfires" before being sidelined with an ankle injury. At the age of 28, Burge applied for the vacant managerial post at Port Vale following the dismissal of
Michael Brown in September 2017. ==Style of play==