Ken Birch

Everton

Birch was born in Birkenhead and played as a junior for Bebington Hawks and Birkenhead Boys. As a schoolboy he played at centre-forward before joining Everton as a trainee in August 1951. His football career was interrupted during his National Service, when he joined the Royal Tank Corps and represented the Army at football. He made his Everton first-team debut in a 1–1 draw at Sheffield United on 2 April 1956. He made a further three appearances that season and was a regular at right-back in 1956–57 but fell out of favour the following year.

Southampton

In March 1958, he was signed by Ted Bates of Southampton for a fee of £6,000 and went straight into the first team, making his "Saints" debut in a 3–1 victory at Northampton Town on 15 March 1958 as a replacement for Bryn Elliott. With Birch retaining his place for the last ten matches of the season, of which seven were victories, Southampton finished in sixth place in the Third Division South, thus enabling the team to qualify for the newly formed Third Division proper. In the next season, Birch played the first 20 league matches, but struggled to maintain his form and lost his place, first to Terry Simpson and then to Brian Clifton. Birch was released in the summer of 1959 and joined Chelmsford City of the Southern League for a season before joining Bangor City in August 1960.

Bangor City

At this time, Bangor were playing in the Cheshire League and regularly finished mid-table, but in…

Birch left Bangor in January 1963, to take up the post of player-manager to Benoni in Johannesburg, South Africa. In May 2007, Birch was a guest of honour at Farrar Road for the Bangor City Legends Reunion & Challenge Match.

Bangor City

Welsh Cup winners: 1962 Welsh Cup finalists: 1961