Paul Birch (footballer, born 1962)

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For other people named Paul Birch, see Paul Birch (disambiguation).

Paul Birch
Personal information
Full name Paul Birch[1]
Date of birth (1962-11-06)6 November 1962[1]
Place of birth West Bromwich,[1] England
Date of death 2 February 2009(2009-02-02) (aged 46)[1]
Place of death Sutton Coldfield,[1] England
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Aston Villa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1980–1991 Aston Villa 173 (16)
1991–1996 Wolverhampton Wanderers 142 (14)
1996 → Preston North End (loan) 11 (2)
1996–1997 Doncaster Rovers 27 (2)
1997–1998 Exeter City 37 (5)
1998–2000 Halesowen Town[3] 63 (?)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Paul Birch (6 November 1962 – 2 February 2009) was an English footballer who played as a midfielder, making nearly 400 appearances in the Football League – more than 300 of which were for Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers – during the 1980s and 1990s.

Career

Birch began his career in the

European Cup winning side of 1982.[4]

During Villa's decline he was the mainstay of their midfield – able to play on the right or in the centre – and through his tenacious performances became a

Graham Taylor a year later. He came close to winning a league title medal in 1990, but Villa were beaten into second place by Liverpool
.

However, when

1990–91, Birch found himself out of the team and was sold to second flight team Wolverhampton Wanderers in January 1991 for £400,000 where he joined up with former manager Graham Turner (who had been at Villa Park from 1984 to 1986).[4] He had served Aston Villa
for over 10 years and was awarded a testimonial by the club (against his new side) in August 1991.

Birch stayed at

Graham Taylor
.

He was finally released by Wolves in May 1996, whereupon he finished his career with a season at both Doncaster Rovers and Exeter City before retiring from professional football and joining Halesowen Town in the Southern Premier League.

He had a spell as a postman[4] before joining the coaching staff at Forest Green Rovers in 2001, working under his former Villa teammate Nigel Spink and remained with the club after Spink was sacked.[5] He left Rovers in August 2003 to take up a role coaching the youth teams at Birmingham City, where Spink by now was goalkeeper coach.[5]

Illness and death

In May 2008, it was revealed he was suffering from

bone cancer.[6] He died on 2 February 2009 at the Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield.[7]

Birch, who was 46 when he died, was married and had a daughter named Olivia who was born on 18 October 1997.[8] His older brother Alan was also a professional footballer.[9]

Honours

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Paul Birch". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  2. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5
    .
  3. ^ "The Paul Birch Trust". Bright Golden Haze. Archived from the original on 6 February 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  4. ^ a b c "Glory, glory nights in Europe might seem a long way off for Villa, but they did happen – as Paul Birch recalls". The Professional Footballers Association. 8 October 2003. Archived from the original on 6 February 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  5. ^ a b "Forest Green lose Birch to Blues". NonLeagueDaily. 7 September 2003. Archived from the original on 6 February 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  6. ^ Former Aston Villa and Wolves ace Paul Birch has cancer, The Birmingham Post
  7. ^ "Paul Birch | Latest News | Aston Villa". Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2009.
  8. ^ Tributes pour in for former Aston Villa and Wolves midfielder Paul Birch, Birmingham Mail
  9. ^ "Sky is Blue - The Chesterfield FC history resource". Sky is Blue - The Chesterfield FC history resource.

External links

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