Paul Birch (footballer)

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

Personal information
Paul Birch
Full name	Paul Birch
Date of birth	November 20, 1962 (1962-11-20) (age 45)
Place of birth	West Bromwich, England
Height	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth clubs
	Aston Villa
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1980–1991 1991–1996 1996 1996–1997 1997–1998	Aston Villa Wolverhampton Wanderers → Preston North End (loan) Doncaster Rovers Exeter City	173 (16) 142 (14) 011 0(2) 027 0(2) 037 0(5)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Paul Birch (born November 20, 1962 in West Bromwich) is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder.

1 Career
2 Honours
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Career

Birch began his career in the Aston Villa youth system, becoming a regular first-team player in 1983/84 season after making his league debut on 29 August 1983 in a 1-0 win at home to Sunderland. 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 Holte End favourite.

However, when Jozef Vengloš became Villa manager in 1990, Birch found himself out of the team and was sold to second flight Wolverhampton Wanderers in early 1991 for £400,000 where he joined up with former manager Graham Turner. 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 Wolves for five years as the club (unsuccessfully) tried to break into the Premier League. He was almost an ever-present under Turner, but found regular appearances harder to come by after Wolves appointed another former manager of his, Graham Taylor.

He was finally released by Wolves in Summer 1996, whereupon he finished his career with a season at both Doncaster Rovers and Exeter City before retiring from professional football.

In May 2008, it was revealed he is suffering from bone cancer.^[1]