Ipswich Town defender and Perth RedStar product Cameron Burgess eager for English Premier League debut

Cameron Burgess has had to bide his time to become the eighth West Australian to step onto the pitch in an English Premier League game. With any luck, his wait to follow in the footsteps Andrew Petterson, Stan Lazaridis, Chris Coyne, Richard Garcia, Brad Jones, Chris Herd and Jordan Lyden will soon end. The towering centre-back was a vital part of Ipswich Town’s rise and subsequent return to the EPL after more than two decades away last season. After helping them secure back-to-back promotions from League One to the Championship and then onto the EPL, Burgess has watched on from the bench in all three of Ipswich’s first games. Unsurprisingly, the Scottish-born, Perth-raised defender is already feeling the itch. “It’s bittersweet. It would have been really nice to play in those games — but on the other side, that’s part and parcel of football, every player goes through that a little bit,” Burgess told The West Australian. “It was, on one hand, a crazy experience to share the stage with those guys and the caliber of player, the world class players, to see them up close is a bit of a pinch yourself moment. “On the other side, it’d be nice to have been playing.” But when he does finally get his chance, Burgess, who played a full 90 for the Socceroos against Indonesia mid-week, is determined to make the most of it. “It’d be a dream come true; that’s what we all dreamed of as kids, and hopefully when my chance comes, hopefully soon, I grab it with two hands and enjoy the experience,” he said. The 28 year-old’s’ eventual EPL debut will be rich reward for a man who has walked the less-traveled path; Burgess’ first serious foray into first-team football was eight years ago, in the National League with Cheltenham. Stops at Oldham, Bury and Scunthorpe followed, before a loan move to League Two outfit Salford City in 2019, then two seasons with Accrington Stanley, before Ipswich came calling when they were still in League One in 2021, and the rest, as they say, is history. Not that Burgess reflects on his somewhat unfashionable trek to the top — he is more obsessed with the future than reminiscing about the past. “I feel like when you’re in the moment in football, you always want that little bit more, you’re always looking for the next challenge,” he said. “I really do hope one day, when I’m finished playing, that I can sit back and reflect on it and look back on some really good memories, but at the moment, you don’t really have time to think about it.” Despite his lack of game time for the Tractor Boys this season — just the solitary League Cup start — Burgess has still had a sideline seat to the glitz and glamour of one of the world’s biggest sporting leagues. Ipswich’s first game of the season? At home to Liverpool at a frenzied, sold-out Portman Road, a stadium packed to the rafters with the fans on the touchline within reaching distance of the likes of Mo Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold. “It was electric. It is every game; the fans come in their numbers. You hear all the time how difficult it is to get a ticket these days, because everyone wants to be there,” Burgess said. “The atmosphere is amazing every single home game — it has been for the last few years, ever since I’ve been there. It’s a special place to play football. “The media attention that comes with the EPL is crazy; on game-day there’s media everywhere, you can’t move on the pitch warming up, especially on that first day against Liverpool.” After a 2-0 defeat to Liverpool, Ipswich’s next game was an even tough proposition — a Manchester City side seeking a fifth consecutive league title, who beat them 4-0 thanks to an Erling Haaland hat-trick at Etihad Stadium. “The whole team is stacked full of big players, and it was their first home game the season as well, so it was a bit of a showing for them and a real big experience for us to go there and play against those guys,” Burgess said. For an Ipswich side who lost just 10 times across 92 matches in the preceding two seasons as they rocketed up the English football pyramid, it may seem like a seismic blow to lose two of their first three games this season. But Burgess said the group as a whole were made of sterner stuff and there was no semblance of panic stations just yet. “We have a real humble group, so those challenges are something we’ll take head on,” he said. “It’s not a case of getting disheartened if you lose games; you are going to lose games, we spoke about it as a team, and that’s just the reality of the league you’re in. “We’ve stepped up a huge amount to this level. Even if there’s not as many games in a month, you could go a full calendar month without getting a result, and that’s a pretty normal thing for a team that gets promoted. “We’re under no illusions how difficult it’s going to be, but we’re definitely the right group of people to deal with that when it comes.”