Marc Bircham

Marc Stephen John Bircham (born 11 May 1978 in Wembley) is an English former-born Canadian footballer and coach.[2] He was most recently first-team coach at Queens Park Rangers, where he spent much of his playing career.

Marc Bircham
Personal information
Full name Marc Stephen John Bircham
Date of birth (1978-05-11) 11 May 1978
Place of birth Wembley, England[1]
Position(s) Defender / Defensive midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–2002 Millwall 104 (3)
2002–2007 Queens Park Rangers 152 (7)
2007–2009 Yeovil Town 16 (0)
Total 272 (10)
National team
1999–2004 Canada 17 (1)
Teams managed
2009 Queens Park Rangers (caretaker)
2009–2014 Queens Park Rangers (coach)
2014–2015 Millwall (assistant manager)
2015 Chicago Fire (assistant manager)
2016 Arizona United (assistant coach)
2016–2018 Queens Park Rangers (first-team coach)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

London-born Bircham started his professional career at Millwall and after 6 seasons joined Queens Park Rangers where he became a crowd favorite. Bircham used to be known for his unusual hairstyle – a dyed blue and white streak down the centre of his hair from when he played for QPR and a red and white streak while playing for Canada. QPR fans sang a song to the tune of "I Love You, Baby": "We love you, Bircham/ because you got blue hair/ We love you, Bircham/ because you're everywhere/ We love you, Bircham/ because you're Rangers through and through."

In 2007, he moved to Yeovil Town. He scored his first and what turned out to be only goal for Yeovil against Brentford in the Football League Trophy.[3] After a series of ankle injuries in the 2008–09 season it was revealed that Bircham had quit football and is going to set up a youth coaching camp in Cyprus.[4][5]

International career

Bircham was eligible to play for Canada because one of his grandfathers was born in Winnipeg. He made his debut for Canada in an April 1999 friendly match against Northern Ireland in Belfast. He is the only player to have played for a country without actually visiting it when his first cap – as well as his first and only goal – came. He scored that goal only 8 minutes after coming on as a substitute for another player making his debut, Davide Xausa.

Bircham earned 17 caps for his adopted country, representing Canada in two FIFA World Cup qualification matches.[6] His final international was a June 2004 World Cup qualification match against Belize.

International goals
Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first.
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
127 April 1999Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland Northern Ireland1–01–1Friendly match

Coaching career

After becoming a QPR youth coach at the start of the 2009–10 season, he was put in temporary charge with fellow Youth Coach Steve Gallen due to manager Jim Magilton's suspension on 9 December 2009.[7][8]

Personal life

Bircham's wife, Jadene, took part in the reality television series WAGs Boutique on ITV2. The couple have four children; boys Sonny and Frankie, and girls Layla-Rose and Dolly Lola-Belle. They are currently separated.

He currently appears on Talksport.

Managerial statistics
Team Nat From To Record
GWLDWin %
Queens Park Rangers
(caretaker manager,
with Steve Gallen)		 16 December 2009 17 December 2009 10010%
Total 10010%

References
  1. Hugman, Barry J. (ed) (2008). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2008–09. Mainstream. ISBN 978-1-84596-324-8.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  2. "Marc Bircham Added to Coaching Staff; Kelly Signed". Arizona United SC. 19 February 2016. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  3. "Brentford 2-2 Yeovil". BBC. 2 September 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  4. "Bircham Hangs Up His Boots". Ciderspace. 3 January 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2008.
  5. "Bircham forced to hang up boots". BBC Sport. 31 January 2008.
  6. Record at FIFA Tournaments – FIFA
  7. "Duo in caretaker charge". Queen's Park Rangers. 9 December 2009.
  8. "Manager Jim Magilton suspended by QPR". BBC News. 9 December 2009.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.