‘We speak to everyone in Spanish’: Oli McBurnie and Scott McKenna on embracing life at Las Palmas | Las Palmas
Soh what first attracted you to the island of Gran Canaria with its 235 km of coastline, beautiful beaches, magnificent golf courses, a climate where it is 25C today, not zero like Nottingham or Sheffield, and a football team where you can get the best of Kylian Mbappé and beat Barcelona? “Oli was here,” says Scott McKenna. There is a chuckle and then the man sitting next to him starts laughing.
On July 25, Union Deportiva Las Palmas announced they had signed Oliver Robert McBurney, the first Scottish footballer in their history and only the second Briton after Vinnie Samwaysan icon on the island. Two weeks later they had another one, McKenna joining his old friend. Now here they are in the sunlight at the Barranco Seco training facility: the original odd couple. One defender, one striker. One quiet, that first line delivered delightfully deadpan, the other perpetually falling. “Me and Scott are so different, opposites,” says McBurney. “He’s so calm. He’s like a grumpy old man in the best possible way. I’m yelling at him mi abuelomy grandfather.”
“Me i think that’s a compliment,” McKenna says.
They are some kind of couple, living life. “Coming here was an opportunity for us: a different league and a top one,” says McKenna. “Unless you play for a Champions League team, you’ll probably never get the chance to play in Madrid or Barcelona. My grandparents are in Tenerife six months of the year, not far away. And signing Ollie first made it easier.
Maybe even made it possible. McBurney was involved in McKenna’s transfer. “Yeah, I tried to talk them out of signing him,” says the former Sheffield United striker, laughing. “When I joined Louis [Helguera, the sporting director] called me over and asked me about Scott. We’ve been playing together for years. His contract was expiring, like me, and he could choose. It’s strange that many of the clubs that made us offers were the same. They definitely seemed interested in a different style, something ‘British’. Especially with Scott. Las Palmas said: we need a defender who is strong, physical, wins duels.
“Even more simply,” McKenna says, “they just needed some height.”
“Oh, definitely,” McBurney replies, laughing and raising his hand high. “The first thing everyone said to us was,Grande! spectacular!I think the scouting department saw them struggling with set pieces. That was good for us. It was one where I thought if I didn’t take the opportunity I would regret it. I had been at Sheffield for five years and it was time for a change.
“I had another Spanish club but Las Palmas made a presentation saying what they need, how they play, where I fit in, everything about the island and the culture. They had footage of me from years ago, had done research and made me feel really wanted. And I know they did the same with Scott. He flew out to look around before he signed, we went to dinner and talked about it. I have to ask about my commission.
Within three weeks of completing Agent McBurney’s job, both started as Las Palmas held Real Madrid to a draw. only conducted isn’t the word: Madrid needed a penalty, the islanders disappointed not to win. And while McKenna admits it may not have been a glamorous game for visitors traveling more than 1,000 miles, McBurney says it was Atlético who impressed him the most, something grabbed them that night and it shows in training, a matter of culture as much as quality.
“That game with Madrid was when I fully realized that playing in Spain is different,” says McBurney. “You know when you’re at Sheffield United or Forest and you play Manchester City away and you put 19 men behind the ball and you try to score 0-0? It wasn’t like that. I was surprised by the quality after only a few days of training: the ability in small spaces to take the ball everywhere. We had the ball tonight, played really good things, created chances. That was the most enjoyable part of it…for me anyway. I think Scott would prefer 19 men behind the ball!’
It was different for the defender. There were fewer titles – “much fewer” – and only one booking to begin with. “But there are a few teams that have been more direct than I expected in the last few weeks [since Las Palmas changed coach and appointed Diego Martínez] we did that more, too,” McKenna says. “It depends on what league you’re in and the situation you’re in. At Forest we always wanted to play we tried. But they reveal in the Premier League. We switched to sitting and playing on the counter and we were much better.
“There are gaps that [teammates here] it may not seem like a risk, but they seem like a bigger risk to me. In England it might be: “Don’t play inside where all the bodies are.” But here the central midfielders can combine, however much they press them.”
McBurney is involved. “It’s good that you can just give it to the midfielders – you’ve said that many times. For me, watching Scott, it’s the confidence they give him to trust them. Play that pass, it will stick. And if they lose it, it’s not your fault. In England, the manager often says, “Why are you playing that pass?” And if you have two minds, the mentality is to play long. Here it’s “play this pass, play this pass, play this pass.” During training, the midfielders have three men around them and are still shouting at Scott to pass.
It wasn’t just Madrid either, the two quickly became fan favourites. And although Las Palmas have struggled, losing five of their next six, they have bounced back under Martinez, who has tightened things up. They settled on something a little more like what the Scots had known before – “I think it was easier for us to come back than the Spaniards,” admits McKenna – and Las Palmas have won four out of six under him , including win in Barcelona last Saturdayfirst time there in 53 years.
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A local newspaper called McKenna the Banana Braveheart, having previously called him William Wallace. Three days later, McBurney, playing less since the switch despite Martinez impressing, scored twice in the Copa del Rey. Mind you, he thought it might be eight. However, “little by little, hermanohe says. Little by little, brother.
The Spaniards are coming, then? Football language is easy, but swearing comes early de puta madrea seemingly very bad phrase applied to the best things was confusing and the pair began to tell linguistic horror stories. They study separately, with different teachers and methods that reflect different characters, but everything comes together again, which seems appropriate. “We speak to everyone in Spanish,” says McBurney. “I understand one half, Scott understands the other and we go through. I think we are doing well, don’t you? We’re getting there.”
“We come in the morning, ‘What did you study last night?'” McKenna says. “The problem is that the players want to practice their English. My teacher wants me to speak properly, carefully. Ollie just goes on one. He gets there faster. When people respond with something that isn’t exactly in the book, it’s harder for me. I say: ‘No hablo mucho Español pero lo intento’ – I don’t speak much Spanish, but I try – and they appreciate the effort. The people were brilliant. It’s so different, so peaceful compared to home.”
Which was exactly what was needed, especially for McBurney. It’s been a tough year. The the death of his friend George Baldock it was devastating, his grandmother passed away and his brother Xander went through Hodgkin’s lymphoma, thankfully he has now beaten it. Coming to Las Palmas helped, a new start and a new way of life, a chance to leave behind the pressure, the intrusion. It’s good to be alone. “For me, yes, 100 percent,” says McBurney. “We’re completely different personalities, though,” adds McKenna.
“Scott is so cool that he never gets into any trouble, any trouble, anything: he’s just calm. And obviously I had my past and I sort of drew that side of it. I’m kind of complaining, but I can’t have it both ways.”He was found not guilty of assault after pitch invasion in May 2022. and a year earlier he had been warned after an altercation in the street when someone confronted him.
“He had actually gone for my wife,” says McBurney. “Call me all you want, but this is her. It just had to, like [left it]. I’m out in Leeds, it’s normal: I’ve had this since I was 16. But she’s new to this, she doesn’t understand this world, you know? She’s like: what’s going on? There are three boys. Of course it is [scary]. She is only five minutes from home, where she wants to feel safe, and three boys attack her. Again, I’m probably wrong, but I’m just a normal person, you know?
“He’s a football player, he’s paid a lot of money, so he should never react the way a normal person would.” I get it I totally get it. I understand that we are in a privileged position, but in the heat of the moment you are making errors in judgment. “People’s role model…” Don’t ever have me as a role model. Now I’m trying to be more like my abuela. Here, I don’t have that. I’ve also grown up a bit: I’m a father, I have to. I’d kind of forgotten about all that, but it’s nice not to be bullied. You feel no sorrow.’
Also, if anyone tries here, you might not understand anyway. “That doesn’t happen though,” McKenna replies, everything is pretty close to perfect on the island. “Even when we were losing, there was no negativity. It’s always positive, there’s always support.”
“We’ve both signed for three years and we intend to stay, right?” McBurney says to his friend. “Whatever happens, we’ll take Spanish. And a better complexion. My daughter is five months old and it’s a wonderful place to grow up. She will be fluent in English, Welsh and Spanish. It made me see what a great thing languages are; I was a bit naive before, you think you will never need a foreign language. But add Spanish and you have half the world. It’s beautiful to live here, the weather is perfect, it’s great for golf…and the football isn’t bad either.’
