The AFL has awarded Collingwood stalwart Keith Burns the Jack Titus Award for his services to the game.

Burns has been recognised for his tremendous service, which has taken place over the course of 50 years at club and community level.

He started his football affiliation as a player, recruited to Collingwood from the Preston Wanderers in 1957.

He kicked 32 goals in a five-year stint, before joining Sandringham in the VFA.

It was at the Zebras where he experienced his most success as a player. He won the Liston Trophy in 1962 and is a member of Sandringham’s Team of the Century.

“I went to Collingwood and said, ‘I had a great year in ’60, but not a good year in ‘61’. I said ‘is there any chance of getting a run elsewhere?’ and they said yes,” Burns told Collingwood Media in 2012.

“So I finished up down at Sandringham where they made me a good offer.”

COLLINGWOOD FOREVER: Learn more about the playing career of Keith Burns.

A wingman and onballer in his playing days, Burns continued to have a profound impact on football when his playing career ended.

17 years after his last game in the Black and White, Burns returned to Victoria Park to coach the Magpies Under 19s side.

He impacted a generation of young footballers, including a group of 1986 U19 Premiership players who would go on to form a large section of the Collingwood 1990 Premiership side.

“Gavin Brown was like a 15-year-old skinny rake,” Burns recalled in 2012.

“Damian Monkhorst was a big man. The rest of the boys from the 1986 under-19s premiership team were only youngsters, like Gavin Crosisca, but even then he was more a man than half of them. It was a terrific group, and we never looked like losing that game.”

Burns’ coaching philosophy was simple; seamless communication.

“No matter the quality of a player, you always talk to them, and that was one of my philosophies when I was coaching,” Burns said.

“I always spoke to every player at some time through the first night.”

At 70-years-old, Burns became a Collingwood Life Member in 2000. His other duties include being President of the Past Players Committee (2005 – 2010) and President of the AFL Past Players and Officials Association (2010 – 2014).

The Collingwood Football Club would like to congratulate Keith Burns on being awarded the Jack Titus Award and once again thank him for his dedication and services to the club and the wider football community.