Newcastle United’s Geordie dancer Dan Burn eyes Wembley after Carabao Cup heroics

After securing a £13million move from Brighton & Hove Albion last January, Burn admitted Newcastle was the only club that could have pulled him away from the South Coast. “I don’t think anybody that aren't Newcastle fans or Geordies understands how much it means to the city,” said the Blyth-born defender upon signing a two-and-a-half year deal at St James's Park.

Burn ‘gets it’, as they say, and since then he has formed a crucial part of Eddie Howe's side without truly taking centre stage. But Tuesday’s Carabao Cup quarter-final match against Leicester City at St James’s Park was most certainly Burn’s night.

And it was Newcastle's night too as they progressed to the semi-final of the competition for only the second time in the club's history.

Burn's first Newcastle goal

After a dominant but frustrating opening hour for the hosts, the 30-year-old defender burst into the box and slid the ball past Danny Ward with his weaker right foot to break the deadlock with his first goal for the club in front of the Gallowgate End.

"I can't really remember it to be honest,” he admitted. “I like to get forward and stuff, I took a good touch, took a swing at it and it's gone in, but it's just a bit of a blur.

"After that I was just sprinting and I was running out of pitch so I had to do something, so I just did a knee slide. All of my family sit in that box [in the Gallowgate West Corner] as well so for it to be on that side was good.

“I get quite a lot of stick for not scoring enough goals and I missed a sitter with a header and stuff as well but no one can take that away from me now. It's what you dream of when you're a kid as a Newcastle fan, scoring in front of the Gallowgate, so to do that in a pretty important game is amazing.

“I would have wanted to do the 'Shearer' [celebration] but I picked up that much pace I couldn't slow myself down! Chances are there might not be another [goal] but if there is I'll try and do a 'Shearer'!”

Dressing room dancing

‘Doing a Shearer’ may be one thing but Newcastle fans could be ‘doing a Burn’ for years to come given his already iconic dressing room celebrations after the 2-0 win. Head coach Eddie Howe asked the defender to give a speech to his team-mates in front of the Sky Sports cameras, but Burn proceeded to dance instead.

“Jacob Murphy does it all the time so I took inspiration from him,” he explained. “To be fair, the gaffer told me to get up but I didn't realise he wanted me to do a speech and someone shouted 'dance', so I just did a dance!”

Making history at Newcastle United

It’s the first time Newcastle have reached a League Cup semi-final since 1976 and the first time they’ve reached any major semi-final since 2005. Burn – who was only 12 when Newcastle were beaten 4-1 in the FA Cup by Manchester United 18 years ago – barely remembers the match as a boyhood Magpies fan.

“It was 2005 wasn't it? I can't really remember it to be fair but we've made a big thing this season that we want to win something and give back to the fans a little bit,” he added. “Whoever we get in the semi-final is going to be tough over two legs but we're absolutely buzzing with it.

“I remember good times in the Champions League and stuff but this is just a testament to the fans that we've had the support like we've had when we've not won a trophy for that many years.

"It shows what sort of club and fan base we are. We feel like we've got a real connection with the fans now which probably for however many years, there wasn't. We just want to keep building it.”

Looking to end the cup drought

It’s fitting that Newcastle's best cup run in a generation has a Geordie at its core – a player who knows exactly what the club and its supporters are all about. Newcastle haven’t won a domestic trophy since 1955 or any major honour since 1969.

Even if it’s not to be this season, there’s a feeling times are changing. Newcastle have beaten three Premier League sides to reach the semi-final, where they will face another top-flight side over two legs for a chance of playing at Wembley in the final.

"You can dream and it's a cliche to say you take it one game at a time,” Burn continued. “At this stage, if you want to win you've got to beat the best teams anyway.

"If we're at this stage, our goal has to be to win it. It's probably been accepted in the past that just getting through the rounds has been enough but I think now we've got to this stage we'll be disappointed if we don't go on and get to the final.”

Family ties and a Wembley visit

It was a night to remember for Burn and his family in particular, though maybe not so much for his dad, David.

“My family are buzzing, my dad has got his love back for Newcastle after he probably lost it for a long time and he'd come and watch me play wherever I was [instead],” he added. “It's just nice to see everyone happy and it's a good place to be.

“[Dad] will be gutted because he's not here tonight, he's on holiday! He'll not be very happy [he missed the match] I don't think, but he'll be buzzing and I've kept my shirt for him so hopefully that will soften the blow.”

As Burn dreams of helping Newcastle get to Wembley, he was there on the club’s previous cup visit back in 2000 – a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea in the FA Cup.

“I went to the semi-final, I think Rob Lee scored at the old Wembley,” Burn recalled. “I was about eight, I just remember being on my dad's shoulders walking down Wembley Way and I just remember how disgusting the old Wembley was!

"Walking up [to my seat] I had my brand new trainers on and there was just wee coming down the steps and when we scored there was a lady in front of me who kissed me - I remember that!

“But I don't really remember the disappointment, I was at that age. But growing up I got to see a good bit of our history, all those Champions League games I got to see helped me fall in love with Newcastle and the game even more.”

A career highlight

While Newcastle are yet to play a cup match at the ‘new’ Wembley, Burn has fond memories of the iconic stadium having scored the winner in a 2-1 League One play-off final victory for Yeovil Town against Brentford in 2013.

That was arguably the highlight of the defender’s career, until Tuesday night.

"This is top like," Burn said when reflecting on his first Newcastle goal. “Definitely, just to score at the Gallowgate in the quarter-final of a cup for Newcastle is what I've dreamt of since I was a kid. It hasn't really sunk in and I don't think it will for a while.”

Proving the doubters wrong at Newcastle

Burn’s career has seen him progress from non-league football right to the top of the Premier League. It has been a career of proving people wrong and he has helped almost epitomise exactly what Newcastle have been about over the past year or so.

When Burn arrived at the club, Newcastle sat 18th in the Premier League table and were staring relegation in the face. The 6ft 6in defender was viewed by many as a short-term fix, a cheap Sven Botman alternative to shore-up one of the division’s worst defences.

Yet a year on, Burn has flourished at both centre-back and left-back as he lines up alongside Botman to form the best defence in the Premier League so far. Burn has been at the heart of a stunning transformation that sees Newcastle chasing European football and a first major trophy in 54 years.

And he’s keen to keep proving any doubters wrong.

“That does give me motivation that people don't think I'll stick around and during my whole career players have been brought in in my position and I've managed to fight the majority of them off,” he continued. “I like the challenge, I like that people underestimate me and I'm sure that'll still happen here.

"We're at a stage now where we've got the resources where people are going to want to come and play for Newcastle so I'm sure I'm going to continue to have those battles.”

The Geordie connection

While Newcastle now boast a side including international stars like Kieran Trippier and Bruno Guimaraes, Burn’s presence has been crucial in maintaining that strong local connection with the fan base despite millions of pounds being spent on new additions.

And the versatile defender feels the added responsibility and pressure that comes with it.

“You feel more responsibility when you know what it means to your family, you have that added pressure knowing they're all Newcastle fans, my mates are Newcastle fans and you know that every fan in their seat wants to be doing what you're doing," Burn admitted.

"You've got that added responsibility and sometimes I let that get the better of me, like after the Chelsea game, emotionally I need to be able to control myself a little bit better which I need to work on. But for the last year, I've been playing at a higher level than I have ever been.

"I try not to think about [how much my life has changed] too much because you can get caught up in it a little bit. It's something I look back on when I finish playing but it's been surreal, not even 12 months yet, but it couldn't have been any better.”