Alfred Burden (born 14 December 1976) is an English professional snooker player from London. He first turned professional in 1994 and reached his highest world ranking of 38th in the 2001–02 and 2002–03 seasons. He has won one ranking event, the 2025 Snooker Shoot Out; with this win he became the oldest first time winner of a ranking tournament at the age of 48 years and 364 days old. He has made one maximum break in professional competition.
Burden was the winner of the 2025 World Seniors Championship, beating Aaron Canavan 8–4 in the final. He had previously lost 3–5 to Jimmy White in the 2023 final.
Career Burden originally had his eyes set on making a career as a professional footballer, but a broken leg curtailed this ambition. He spent a couple of seasons at Arsenal F.C. as a schoolboy apprentice, but was with Swindon Town F.C. at the time of the injury. Burden qualified for the World Championship in 1998. He was defeated by world number 11 Tony Drago by 8–10.
In the 2006–07 season, Burden qualified for the China Open. He defeated Shokat Ali, Rod Lawler and former top-16 player David Gray to qualify for the tournament but lost in the wild-card round to Chinese player Mei Xiwen, 2–5. He dropped off the main tour after the 2007/08 season.
On 25 November 2009 he won the IBSF World Snooker Championship in Hyderabad, India, beating Brazilian Igor Figueiredo 10–8 in the final. With this he earned a place on the 2010/2011 professional main tour and did well enough over that and the following season to end 2011/12 ranked world number 60, inside the top 64 who retained their places for the 2012–13 season.
In the 2012/2013 season, he competed in several minor-ranking Players Tour Championship events. In the Second Event he beat Andrew Higginson, James Wattana, Barry Hawkins, Robert Milkins and Ryan Day to reach the semi-finals. There, he was defeated 1–4 by Martin Gould. In the European Tour Event 3 played in Antwerp, Belgium, Burden beat Gareth Allen, Joe Swail and Mark King, before losing 3–4 to Neil Robertson in the last 16. These results, together with three other last 32 defeats, helped Burden to 23rd place on the PTC Order of Merit, just inside the top 26 who qualified for the Finals. In the Finals, Burden beat world number one Judd Trump 4–3, clinching the match with a 116 break to reach the last 16, the joint furthest he has ever been in a ranking event and the first since 2000. Burden subsequently lost 2–4 to Xiao Guodong in the last 16. He then reached the final round of World Championship Qualifying with wins over Paul Davison and Dave Harold, but lost 5–10 to Dominic Dale to end the season ranked world number 53.
Burden qualified for the first round of the 2013 Wuxi Classic to begin the 2013–14 season, but lost 5–2 to Ali Carter in the opening round. He saw off three players to reach the first round of the Australian Goldfields Open and then beat Michael Holt 5–2 to match his best ever performance in a ranking event. In the last 16 he lost 5–3 against Mark Davis. At the European Tour event, the Gdynia Open, Burden won four matches but was then defeated 4–3 by Sam Baird in the quarter-finals. He finished 34th on the Order of Merit, nine places outside of qualifying for the Finals. Burden got through to the second round of the China Open courtesy of Tony Drago's withdrawal and then lost 5–3 to Jimmy White.
Burden won just two matches in his first eight events of the 2014–15 season but then won four matches to advance to the quarter-finals of the Xuzhou Open, where he lost 4–2 to Tom Ford. He beat David Grace 5–3 and Sam Baird 5–4 in qualifying for the German Masters. Burden defeated Michael Georgiou 5–3 in the first round, closing the match with a 112 break, but fell short of reaching the first ranking event quarter-final of his career as Ryan Day knocked him out 5–2. He ended the season 67th in the world rankings which would have relegated him from the tour, but his Asian Tour performances earned him a new two-year card.
Burden reached the first ranking event quarter-final of his career in the 2016 China Open courtesy of victories over Robbie Williams, Joe Perry, Rhys Clark and Rory McLeod, where he lost 5–1 to Stephen Maguire. He held a 9–5 advantage over Ryan Day in the second round of World Championship qualifying, before being defeated 10–9.
Burden edged out Ryan Day 4–3 to qualify for the 2016 European Masters and then beat Yu Delu 4–1 and Ricky Walden 4–3 to play in his second career ranking event quarter-final, where he lost 4–0 to Mark Selby.
Four successive wins saw Burden reach the quarter-finals of the minor ranking 2017 Gibraltar Open, where he lost 4–2 to Michael White.
In December 2016 Burden scored his first 147 Maximum Break in competition, coming against Daniel Wells in the English Open. Burden went on to lose the match 4-3 but came away with £12,000 prize money on account of his high break.
In January 2017, Burden was found guilty of placing bets totalling £25,000 on snooker matches including those he had played in. He had bet on himself to win and over the 86 bets in 10 years he had lost £2,995. Burden was fined £5,000 and given a six-month ban, which would only have come into force if he had bet on snooker again before January 2018. His second quarter-final of the season came at the Gibraltar Open and he made breaks of 131 and 109 to force a deciding frame with Nigel Bond, but lost it.
Burden went into Qualifying for the 2018 World Championships in danger of losing his place on the Tour and in need of a good showing to retain his place. He achieved this, clinching the deciding frame in the second round of qualifying to beat higher-ranked player David Gilbert 10-9 and secure his place on the Tour for two more years, despite having finished the season outside the top 64, on account of his performances in the 2017/18 season. Burden lost out to Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 10–8 in the final round of qualifying and thus failed to emulate his achievement of 1998 in reaching the last 32 and a place at snooker's biggest stage, the Crucible Theatre.
In December 2018 Burden defeated former world champions Peter Ebdon and John Higgins on his way to reaching the quarter-finals of the Scottish Open. In rounds 2 and 3 he came back from 3–0 down to win 4–3 against Marco Fu and Zhang Yong, respectively. In the quarter-finals he suffered a 5–0 loss to the eventual tournament winner Mark Allen.
Burden announced his retirement from snooker on 2 September 2020. However, he returned to Q School in May 2021 and was successful in Event Two, winning a two-year Tour Card.
In December 2025, Burden, aged 48, won his first ever ranking event on the World Snooker Tour as an amateur top-up player. He defeated Stuart Bingham in the final of the Snooker Shoot Out. Afterwards, he said: "I've had a 30-year career and it has been mainly downs - I've underperformed - but tonight is a night for me." With the winnings from the Shoot Out, he secured another two seasons on the main tour through the one-year earnings list from the 2026-27 season.
Personal life Burden and fellow main tour player Hammad Miah currently co-own the Hertford Snooker Club, having acquired the club in 2024.
Performance and rankings timeline
Tournament 1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 1997/98 1998/99 1999/00 2000/01 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26 2026/27RankingIt shows the ranking at the beginning of the seasonNew players don't have a ranking26218612277615038385970706774He was an amateur57605350Players qualified through Asian Tour Order of Merit started the season without prize money ranking points6560Players qualified One Year Ranking List started the season without ranking points7789Players qualified through the Q School started the season without ranking points79Ranking tournamentsChampionship LeagueTournament Not HeldNon-Ranking EventWDRRRRRR2RRRChina OpenThe event was called the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)Not HeldNRLQLQLQLQNot HeldLQLQWRLQAALQLQLQ2R2RQF1RLQLQTournament Not HeldLQWuhan OpenTournament Not Held1RLQALQBritish OpenLQLQLQLQ1R1RLQ1RLQLQLQTournament Not Held1RLQLQ1RALQEnglish OpenTournament Not Held1R1R1R2RLQLQLQLQAShenzhen OpenThe event was called the Xi'an Grand Prix (2024/2025–2025/2026)Tournament Not Held1RALQNorthern Ireland OpenTournament Not Held1R1R1R1R2RLQ1RLQAInternational ChampionshipTournament Not HeldLQLQLQLQLQLQ3RLQNot HeldLQLQAUK ChampionshipLQLQLQLQLQ1RLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQAALQLQLQ1R2R1R1R1R1R1R1RLQLQLQAShoot OutTournament Not HeldNon-Ranking Event3R1RWD1R1R2R2R2RWScottish OpenThe event was called the International Open (1994/1995–1996/1997) and the Players Championship (2003/2004)LQLQLQLQ1R2R1RLQ2RLQTournament Not HeldMRNot Held1R2RQF2RLQLQ1RLQAGerman MastersThe event was called the German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998)NHLQLQLQNRTournament Not HeldLQLQLQLQ2R1RLQLQLQLQLQLQLQ1RAWelsh OpenLQLQLQLQLQ1RLQ1RLQLQLQ2RLQLQAALQLQLQ2R2R2R2R1R1R2RLQLQLQLQAWorld Grand PrixTournament Not HeldNRDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQPlayers ChampionshipThe event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2010/2011–2015/2016)Tournament Not HeldDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQWorld OpenThe event was called the Grand Prix (1994/1995–2000/2001 and 2004/2005–2009/2010) and the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004)LQLQLQ3RLQLQ2R2RLQ2RLQLQLQLQAALQLQLQ1RNot Held1R1RLQ2RNot HeldLQ1RATour ChampionshipTournament Not HeldDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQWorld ChampionshipLQLQLQ1RLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQAALQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQNon-ranking tournamentsChampion of ChampionsTournament Not HeldAAAAAAAAAAA1RThe MastersLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQALQLQLQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAChampionship LeagueTournament Not HeldAAAAAAAAAAAARRAAAAAWorld Seniors ChampionshipTournament Not HeldAAAAAAAAAAAFAW2RFormer ranking tournamentsAsian ClassicThe event was called the Dubai Classic (1994/1995) and the Thailand Classic (1995/1996)LQLQLQTournament Not HeldMalta Grand PrixNon-Ranking Event2RNRTournament Not HeldThailand MastersThe event was called the Thailand Open (1994/1995–1996/1997)LQLQLQLQLQLQ1RLQNRNot HeldNRTournament Not HeldIrish MastersNon-Ranking EventLQLQLQNHNRTournament Not HeldNorthern Ireland TrophyTournament Not HeldNRLQLQATournament Not HeldWuxi ClassicThe event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)Tournament Not HeldNon-Ranking EventLQLQLQTournament Not HeldNon-RankingTournament Not HeldLQLQ2RLQLQTournament Not HeldShanghai MastersTournament Not HeldLQALQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQ1RNon-RankingNot HeldNon-Ranking EventPaul Hunter ClassicThe event was called the Grand Prix Fürth (2004/2005) and the Fürth German Open (2005/2006–2006/2007)Tournament Not HeldPro-am EventMinor-Ranking Event1R2R3RNRTournament Not HeldIndian OpenTournament Not HeldLQLQNH1R1RLQTournament Not HeldRiga MastersThe event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)Tournament Not HeldMinor-RankLQLQ1RLQTournament Not HeldChina ChampionshipTournament Not HeldNR1RLQLQTournament Not HeldTurkish MastersTournament Not HeldLQTournament Not HeldGibraltar OpenTournament Not HeldMRQF4R1R2R1RTournament Not HeldWST ClassicTournament Not Held1RTournament Not HeldEuropean MastersThe event was called the European Open (1994/1995-1996/1997 and 2001/2002-2003/2004), the Irish Open (1998/1999) and the Malta Cup (2004/2005–2007/2008)LQLQLQNHLQNot Held1RLQLQLQLQLQNRTournament Not HeldQF2R1R1R1RLQ1RNot HeldSaudi Arabia MastersTournament Not Held3RANHFormer non-ranking tournamentsFinnish MastersNHQFTournament Not HeldShoot OutTournament Not Held2R2R1R3R4RARanking Event