How Dan Burn went from Asda shifts to England call – and proved everyone wrong | OneFootball

Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham spent Euro 2024 in Germany, in Blankenhain and Berlin, Dusseldorf and Dortmund, Frankfurt and Cologne. Dan Burn spent it in an Airbnb. It was another indication of the parallel lives of England’s resident superstars and the call-up with the most improbable back story in years, perhaps since Rickie Lambert or Chris Powell. Thomas Tuchel’s maiden selection was expected to contain men from Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. It also included a player whose CV features Darlington, Yeovil and Asda.

And so, when England were in just the third final of their history, Burn was in rented accommodation. “We were renovating a house up in Newcastle so I was in an Airbnb at the time,” he said. Come the 2026 World Cup final, he may be found in a deluxe hotel in New York or New Jersey, preparing for the biggest game on the planet. It still sounds unlikely but then Burn, the oversized everyman, is a reminder the implausible can come true.

England, famously, have not won anything since 1966. Tuchel’s opening address to his new players showed his ambition. “He said that the goal is to put another star on the jersey,” revealed Burn. It may be just as well that the leftfield choice in Tuchel’s maiden squad knows something about ending trophy droughts that date back to the 1960s.

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Burn can complete a journey from non-league to England international if he wins his first cap (The FA/Getty)

“I’ve definitely had worse weeks, I’d say,” Burn smiled. The most remarkable few days of a career that may have looked over before it began included a Thursday evening call from Tuchel, a sleepless night and then, on Sunday, a headed goal and man-of-the-match display as Newcastle won the Carabao Cup. It was their first silverware since 1969. “I said I see a lot of similarities between Newcastle and England in that respect,” said Burn.

There is another parallel. “I never thought I’d be able to play for Newcastle, I thought the opportunity had passed by,” he said. One ambition was realised at 29, another may be at 32. England, he thought, were never destined to call. “When you have been passed over for so many international breaks, you accept that your time has passed,” Burn added. And yet there was no false modesty about it: Burn had wondered if he might have made the 2022 World Cup squad when he was in fine form. Then he was excelling at left-back, now at centre-back. “I feel like I’ve got the ability to play at international level, and I’ve said it for a long time,” he said. “I think I have been overlooked but I understood it.”

Certainly, his lanky frame can make him an unfashionable figure. “Visually, on the pitch, if I do make a mistake, I feel it is probably magnified just by how it looks,” said Burn. Coming from a 6ft 7in man, there may have been a compliment for Tuchel. “I was surprised how tall the gaffer was,” Burn said.

Tuchel had extended Burn’s wait to get the good news. Tipped off last Tuesday that he was under consideration, he thought no news was bad news. “Then it got to six o’clock Thursday night and I’d not heard anything, so I said to my wife, ‘Nothing’s going to happen’. Then I got a text saying, ‘Are you still awake?’ at 10. I was like ‘Yes’ straight away,” Burn said. “He facetimed, told us the good news and I did struggle to sleep Thursday night, definitely.”

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‘I was surprised how tall the gaffer was’ (The FA/Getty)

It led to a frantic few days. Burn has taken the roundabout route to the England squad. It means plenty were pleased for him. “I’ve had the same phone number since I was 16 so I’ll probably have to change that at some point,” he said. “It was stressing me out not replying to everyone so I sat last night for about two hours just texting everyone back.”

Those texts may have come from many in the lower leagues, non-league and, perhaps, a supermarket, given Burn’s time pushing trolleys. “I’ve not had a straight-line trajectory through my career,” he said. “Not many people who watched me play at Darlington would think I’d be sat here doing a press conference with England.”

Because he has never represented his country at any level; as he readily admits, he has been omitted from many a lesser side. “I feel like I’ve had knockbacks really from when I was a kid being at Newcastle when I was young and being released from there and then not making county teams and not playing for local teams,” Burn said. “I think it’s probably made me very resilient. I feel like I just really had this chip on my shoulder that I want to prove people wrong.”

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Burn believes he is now in contention for a place at the 2026 World Cup (Getty)

Which, it is safe to say, he has. It is a reward for an admirable attitude. “The way that I was brought up by my parents, it was more that you get out of life what you put into it and I just really want to have no regrets in my career,” Burn explained.

That character was one reason Tuchel turned to him. England’s first German manager has studied teams who have gone far in tournaments, along with those who exited early, concluded some of the difference came in mentality, and emphasised communication. He has been influenced by sports featuring very tall men.

“And a lot of it was about interactions that he spoke about in the NBA so that the best teams historically in the NBA are normally the teams who are high-fiving each other picking each other up and have a lot of those interactions,” said Burn. If that may present a problem for teammates who are too short to high-five him, the newcomer believes he can help sides reach for the stars.

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‘I feel like I just really had this chip on my shoulder that I want to prove people wrong’ (Getty)

“I said exactly the same to Eddie Howe when I signed for Newcastle,” he said. “I thought I could offer just as much off the pitch as I do on. I feel like I’m a leader on and off the pitch.” And yet he is keen to stress he can offer much on the pitch. “I’m not just coming in to be a cheerleader,” he added. Burn may be a leader rather than a cheerleader, but he made Newcastle cheer this weekend.

Now to have the same impact for England. The 2026 World Cup final, after all, will be played at the home of the New York Giants. It could be a place for the Newcastle giant.