Jump to content

Mark Birch (footballer)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mark Birch
Personal information
Full name Mark Birch[1][2]
Date of birth (1977-01-05) 5 January 1977 (age 47)[2]
Place of birth Stoke-on-Trent, England[2]
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
1994–1995 Stoke City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–1998 Stoke City 0 (0)
1996–1998Leek Town (loan)
1998–2000 Northwich Victoria 73 (1)
2000–2003 Carlisle United 112 (1)
2003–2008 Gretna 85 (11)
2007Southport (loan) 19 (1)
2007Northwich Victoria (loan) 9 (0)
2008Newcastle Blue Star (loan)
2008 Northwich Victoria 1 (0)
Total 299 (18)
Managerial career
2016 Penrith[3]
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Mark Birch (born 5 January 1977) is an English former professional footballer who is the caretaker head coach of EFL League Two club Carlisle United.[2][4]

Career

[edit]

Birch was born in Stoke-on-Trent and began his career with Stoke City.[2] He failed to break into the first team at Stoke and joined Football Conference side Northwich Victoria in 1998 where he spent two seasons.[2] He joined Third Division side Carlisle United in June 2000 for a fee of £10,000. Birch played 129 times for Carlisle scoring once in a 1–0 win against Macclesfield Town in March 2003.[5] He left Carlisle in August 2003 to join ambitious Scottish Third Division side Gretna. At Gretna he helped them win promotion to the Scottish First Division and reach the 2006 Scottish Cup Final where they lost on penalties to Heart of Midlothian.[6] He returned to England in 2007 playing for Southport and a return to Northwich Victoria.

Coaching career

[edit]

Birch was appointed Professional Development Phase coach at Carlisle United in June 2019.[7]

Career statistics

[edit]

Source:[2]

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Stoke City 1995–96 Second Division 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Northwich Victoria 1999–2000 Football Conference 35 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 36 0
Carlisle United 2000–01 Third Division 44 0 3 0 2 0 1 0 50 0
2001–02 Third Division 42 0 3 0 1 0 1 0 47 0
2002–03 Third Division 24 1 2 0 1 0 3 0 30 1
2003–04 Third Division 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Total 112 1 8 0 4 0 5 0 129 1
Gretna 2003–04 Scottish Third Division 23 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 27 3
2004–05 Scottish Third Division 30 7 2 1 1 0 3 0 36 8
2005–06 Scottish Second Division 27 1 7 0 0 0 0 0 34 1
2006–07 Scottish First Division 5 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 7 0
Total 85 11 12 1 3 0 4 0 104 12
Southport (loan) 2006–07 Football Conference 19 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 19 1
Northwich Victoria (loan) 2007–08 Football Conference 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0
Northwich Victoria 2008–09 Football Conference 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Career total 263 13 20 1 7 0 10 0 300 14

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Mark Birch". Barry Hugman's Footballers.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Mark Birch at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  3. ^ "Birch steps down as Penrith boss". nonleaguedaily.com. Archived from the original on 7 September 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ^ Mark Birch at Soccerbase
  5. ^ "Carlisle 1–0 Macclesfield". BBC. 18 March 2003. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  6. ^ "Hearts 1-1 Gretna (4-2 on pens)". BBC Sport. 13 May 2006. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  7. ^ "INTERVIEW: I do feel ready for the step up". Carlisle United. Retrieved 10 June 2020.