There are not too many footballers who can say they scored within 90 seconds of their first-team debut and were then training with the Under-18s the following morning.

But Brentford B assistant coach Chris Burke can relate, with the Scotsman experiencing the ultimate high and immediate grounding as a youngster coming through the ranks at Rangers.

Speaking to Burke, it’s clear that strong values and good behaviours are important to him, which has held him in good standing across his football career.

He had a playing journey spanning 20 years - which saw him play in the Champions League, Old Firm derbies and play-off finals at Wembley Stadium - before going on to work as a coach at Kilmarnock, Scotland’s national youth set-up, and now Brentford.

But it all began when experiencing the ultimate high as an academy player.

“There’s nothing better than the story of an academy player going through the ranks to make his debut and having lots of appearances for the club that he supports… I was so fortunate that it happened to me,” said Burke.

“At Rangers, they taught really good values and the coaching set-up they had there was terrific. I was so fortunate that I had good people there; there were also top football players, who played at the highest level.

“I was also fortunate that I got to train with the first team a lot at a young age, which helped me develop as a football player really, really quickly.

“I made my debut and scored within 90 seconds, which probably helps... it’s so funny, because I was back down to earth the next day when I was training with the U18s again!

“That’s great grounding. You come on and score on a Wednesday night, and then you’re training with your U18s on a Thursday and playing a game on a Friday.

“After that, I kicked on a little bit… I played in unbelievable games: Champions League, winning a title with Rangers, winning cup competitions, playing against and with top players, which helped me.”

While Rangers are close to Burke’s heart, it was originally Celtic whose badge he donned in his early years.

As a youngster rising through the ranks, Burke played for the Glasgow club. He also trained with some of the biggest academies in England.

“At the age of eight or nine, I realised I probably had a little bit of a talent and I went and trialled at Celtic,” explained Burke.

“I ended up getting picked, being the captain but, back then, when you were in an academy system, you could go and train with other teams… so I was training at Rangers, and I was also going down south to train with Arsenal, Newcastle and Manchester United.

“I got a huge education in football from different cultures and environments and great coaches who helped me.”

Rangers became home, however, and Burke’s career blossomed in the Scottish Premiership, with the winger making 96 appearances and scoring 11 goals.

He played in the Old Firm derby, experiences that he struggles to put into words even now.

“There are no words that I could use to explain the games that I’ve played in or the pressures of the week leading up to it,” he said.

“There’s so much drama, everybody talks about it - it’s life day in and day out for the people that support Celtic and Rangers.

“The best way I can explain it is when you play in a game like that, you can't hear your team-mates on the pitch or even have a feeling for where they are. There’s so much noise coming from the stands, it can be disorientating.

“You have to scan well, you have to make sure you know where the next pass is, you have to cope with the pressure… it’s an intimidating atmosphere.”

After moving away from Rangers in search of regular playing opportunities, stops at Championship clubs Cardiff City and Birmingham City came next.

With them came over 100 appearances for each club, as did the highs of promotion pushes and the heartbreak of losing at Wembley.

“Going from a Glasgow boy to then the Championship in Cardiff was really good. Cardiff’s such a lovely place, I met really good people there and I did become that player that played 40 to 50 games a season,” said Burke.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t get to the Premier League - we tried and failed a few times. The most memorable one is Blackpool beat us 3-2 in the final at Wembley.

“I got a move to Birmingham City and had an unbelievable first season. It was strange because we played in the Championship but we were in Europe - the season before they got relegated but had won the League Cup.

“We were so unfortunate not to qualify for the knockout stages, because we ended up with 10 points, but we didn’t go through.

“That spurred us on as a group in the Championship, but we unfortunately got beaten by Blackpool in the play-offs.”

Short stints at Nottingham Forest and Rotherham came next, before Burke moved back to Scotland, eventually joining Premiership side Kilmarnock - the team he scored against in his Rangers debut.

“We had a really good manager, Steve Clarke, who’s now the Scotland national manager, and we finished third, which is an incredible achievement,” he explained.

“I had about five or six seasons at Kilmarnock, played a lot of games. We got relegated, which was disappointing. I had an opportunity to stay in the Premiership, but I felt as if I had a responsibility to try and get the club back to where it belongs.

“It worked first time, which was excellent, and I was again fortunate enough to have a really good manager [Derek McInnes], who’s now the Hearts manager, doing terrific things. I learnt a lot from him.

“I retired after that… I had a long career, a 20-year career, which is amazing; I had to pinch myself.

"I look at the teams I played against, the players I played with, and the titles that I won... but, ultimately, no matter what the silverware says or what you’ve done, it all comes down to how you are as a person.”

Since retiring at 39, Burke’s coaching journey has moved quickly, from heading up Kilmarnock U19s and being their head of development, to interim Kilmarnock first-team manager, to Scotland’s youth set-up and now Brentford.

Ever since a visit to Jersey Road during his UEFA Pro License, the Bees always interested Burke as a potential coaching destination.

“I remember at my Pro License we came here on a visit," he said. "Neil [MacFarlane], Lee Dykes and Ben Ryan presented, showed us how they do things, what their values are,

“I went home and I said to my wife, ‘If I ever get an opportunity to work for Brentford, I would love to do that’.

“Somebody sent me a link to the job advertisement for this role when I was at Kilmarnock and I thought. ‘I’m just going to go for it’ - and the rest is history!

“To this day, I still sit here and pinch myself. I retired at age 39 and now I’m 42, so my coaching journey is quite early on.”

Reflecting on his time so far in west London, it’s only been positive for Burke.

“The staff and players have been really good with me," he said. "I feel like we have hit it off and connected in an organic way.

“Sam Saunders is a terrific coach, the players learn so much from him on the grass, but also in other areas as he is a very good leader. I have already learned so much from him, as do the players.”

Burke and the Bees are next in action on Saturday as they host Colchester United at Gtech Community Stadium from 2pm. Get your tickets here.