Adam Birchall

Adam Birchall

Birchall with Gillingham in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Adam Stephen Birchall[1]
Date of birth	2 December 1984[1]
Place of birth	Maidstone, England
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[1]
Playing position	Striker / Attacking midfielder
Youth career
1994–2003	Arsenal
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2003–2005	Arsenal	0	(0)
2004	→ Wycombe Wanderers (loan)	12	(4)
2005–2007	Mansfield Town	36	(2)
2006–2007	→ Barnet (loan)	7	(2)
2007–2009	Barnet	97	(17)
2009–2011	Dover Athletic	76	(49)
2011–2014	Gillingham	17	(0)
2012	→ Dartford (loan)	6	(1)
2013	→ Dartford (loan)	23	(2)
2014–2016	Bromley	25	(1)
2015–2016	→ Maidstone United (loan)	15	(1)
National team
2002–2006	Wales U21	12	(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:26, 29 May 2016 (UTC).

Adam Stephen Birchall (born 2 December 1984) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. Despite being born in England he has several caps for the Welsh under-21 team, scoring on his debut against the Finland under 21s.

Career

Born in Maidstone, Kent,^[1] Birchall began his career at Arsenal, but never made it to the first-team. In the 2004–05 season, Birchall had a successful loan spell at Wycombe Wanderers, scoring four goals in twelve league games. He was released by Arsenal at the end of that season, and joined Mansfield Town in June 2005 on a two-year contract.

The move to Mansfield was something of a disappointment for Birchall. Big things were expected from the youngster, but despite occasional flashes of brilliance, he failed to live up to expectations, scoring only three goals and spending most of his time at Mansfield playing on the right of midfield. He did, however, score in Mansfield's nationally televised FA Cup victory against Grays Athletic on his 21st birthday.

On 23 November 2006, Birchall was loaned to divisional rivals Barnet, where he was a hit, scoring the first goal in their 4–1 thrashing of Northampton Town in the FA Cup. A move was made permanent on 4 January 2007. During his time at Barnet, Birchall is credited with the idea for a now widely used scheme whereby only the team captain can question referees' decisions, to reduce dissent and the yellow cards that follow.^[2][3] Since the beginning of the 2007–08 season, when the rule was introduced, the club's disciplinary record has significantly improved, and the club has earned praise throughout the game.^[4] After finishing as the top goalscorer for Barnet in the 2007–08 season with 15 goals, Birchall struggled for form in 2009 and was released in May after scoring only two league goals in the 2008–09 season.

Birchall signed for Conference South side Dover Athletic in July 2009.^[5] Birchall made his league debut for Dover in the first game of the season against Maidenhead United, before scoring his first league goal for the club in the following fixture against Bishop's Stortford. Birchall scored both goals against Aldershot Town to take Dover to the FA Cup 3rd Round for the first time in their history. Birchall became the club's goalscoring record holder, and the Conference South record holder, at the end of the 2010–11 season with a total of 45 goals in 49 appearances. He also was the top goal scorer in the FA Cup that year and went on to receive the award at Wembley. Birchall again attracted interest from clubs higher up the football pyramid and in July 2011 Dover Athletic received substantial undisclosed bids from League Two sides Swindon Town, newcomers AFC Wimbledon, and local rivals Gillingham,^[6] for whom he signed a three-year deal on 12 July 2011.^[7] He was seriously injured during a pre-season friendly, however, and missed the entire 2011–12 season.

Birchall finally made his competitive debut for Gillingham on 14 August 2012, coming on as a substitute in a 2–1 away win against Bristol City in the League Cup.^[8] He scored his first goal for the Gills in their 4–0 FA Cup win over Scunthorpe United on 3 November. He was released by the club at the end of the 2013–14 season.^[9]

Soon after, Birchall signed for Bromley. He scored his first competitive goal for the club in a 5–1 win over Uxbridge in the FA Cup. His first league goal for the club was a 90th-minute winner against Bishop's Stortford on 9 December.

Personal life

As of July 2011 Birchall was engaged to Lianne and the couple's first child was due to be born in October of the same year.^[10]

Career statistics

As of match played 25 April 2015.

Club statistics

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Wycombe Wanderers (loan)	2004–05[11]	League Two	12	4	0	0	1	0	2[lower-alpha 1]	1	15	5
Mansfield Town	2005–06[12]	League Two	31	2	3	1	2	0	1[lower-alpha 1]	0	37	3
	2006–07[13]	League Two	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
	Total		36	2	3	1	2	0	1	0	42	3
Barnet	2006–07[13]	League Two	23	6	3	1	—		—		26	7
	2007–08[14]	League Two	42	11	6	2	1	1	1[lower-alpha 1]	1	50	15
	2008–09[15]	League Two	39	2	2	0	1	0	1[lower-alpha 1]	2	43	4
	Total		104	19	11	3	2	1	2	3	119	26
Dover Athletic	2009–10[16]	Conference South	34	15	3	1	—		6[lower-alpha 2]	2	43	18
	2010–11[17]	Conference South	42	34	7	11	—		1[lower-alpha 3]	0	50	45
	Total		76	49	10	12	—		7	2	93	63
Gilingham	2012–13[18]	League Two	15	0	2	1	1	0	1[lower-alpha 1]	0	19	1
	2013–14[19]	League One	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
	Total		17	0	2	1	1	0	1	0	21	1
Dartford (loan)	2012–13[20]	Conference Premier	6	1	—		—		—		6	1
	2013–14[20]	Conference Premier	23	2	—		—		2[lower-alpha 3]	0	25	2
	Total		29	3	—		—		2	0	31	3
Bromley	2014–15[20]	Conference South	25	1	0	0	—		2[lower-alpha 3]	0	27	1
Career total			299	78	26	17	6	1	17	6	348	102

1. Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
2. Four appearances and two goals in FA Trophy, two appearances in Conference South play-offs
3. Appearance(s) in FA Trophy

Honours

Gillingham

• Football League Two: 2012–13^[20]

References

1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2009). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009–10. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 47. ISBN 978-1-84596-474-0.
2. "Respect the ref: Barnet make a quiet point". The Daily Mail. 14 October 2007. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
3. "Barnet lead the way in war on abusing referees". The Independent. 4 October 2007. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
4. "Sir Trevor Praises Bees". Barnet F.C. 29 January 2008. Archived from the original on 1 February 2008. Retrieved 30 January 2008.
5. "Birchall signs". Dover Athletic F.C. 13 July 2009. Retrieved 13 July 2009.
6. "Dover accept Birchall bids". Sky Sports. 10 July 2011.
7. "Dover Athletic's Adam Birchall joins Gillingham". BBC News. 12 July 2011. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
8. "Bristol City 1–2 Gillingham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
9. "Gillingham FC announce retained list". Gillingham F.C. 15 May 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
10. "I'm Forever in Debt to Dover", The Non-League Paper, p. 4, 17 July 2011
11. "Games played by Adam Birchall in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
12. "Games played by Adam Birchall in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
13. "Games played by Adam Birchall in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
14. "Games played by Adam Birchall in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
15. "Games played by Adam Birchall in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
16. "Fixtures and Results: 2009/2010". Dover Athletic F.C. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
17. "Fixtures and Results: 2010/2011". Dover Athletic F.C. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
18. "Games played by Adam Birchall in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
19. "Games played by Adam Birchall in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
20. "A. Birchall". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 June 2015.

External links

• Adam Birchall career statistics at Soccerbase