Good news, I received a quick reply so here it's the response :
Mark Burke didn't play for Omiya in the JFL. He joined the club in mid-1999, half way through the club's first season in the J-League (and obviously the first season that J2 existed). He was the fourth foreigner to turn out for the Squirrels that year - although by the time Burke arrived, of the trio of Jan Veenhof, Jeroen Boere and Edwin Ifeanyi, only the 30-year-old Dutch central defender Veenhof remained.
Ifeanyi was a midfielder from Cameroon who had in 1998 come to Japan to play for Verdy Kawasaki. He made ten appearances for Omiya in the early part of 1999 - indeed Mark Burke was his replacement - before moving on to Oita Trinita and subsequently to Montedio Yamagata. But star striker Boere in May 1999 had his career ended in tragic circumstances.
The veteran from Holland, who had been brought to Omiya by coach Pim Verbeek and had already in the first few months of the '99 season scored nine goals in eleven games, was stabbed during an evening out in Tokyo. He lost an eye in the incident and never played professional football again.*
The J2 season in 1999 underwent a break in the schedule from the end of May to the end of June. Mark Burke made his Omiya debut in the second match after the re-start, a 1-0 win over Yamagata on 3rd July. He scored his first Squirrels goal on 8th August against Ventforet Kofu. His contract was renewed for the following season, when along with Jan Veenhof and incoming Brazilian forward Jorginho, he was a key member of the team under new coach Toshiya Miura. After leaving Omiya, Mark spent some time training with his previous club in Holland, Fortuna Sittard, and then became the first English player to play in the Romanian league when he signed a short-term contract with Rapid Bucharest.
MARK BURKE OMIYA ARDIJA STATS:
1999 -
J2: 20 games, 5 goals
Emperor's Cup: n/a
Nabisco Cup: n/a
2000 -
J2: 31 games, 4 goals
Emperor's Cup: 2 games, 2 goals
Nabisco Cup: 2 games, 0 goals
* Jeroen Boere - who before signing for Omiya had played for Excelsior Rotterdam in Holland and English clubs West Ham United, Portsmouth, West Bromwich Albion, Crystal Palace and Southend United - died in an unspecified "domestic accident" at his home in Spain in August last year. He was 39.
This should do it
