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Marc Bircham

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Marc Bircham
Personal information
Full name Marc Stephen John Bircham
Date of birth (1978-05-11) 11 May 1978 (age 46)
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)
International career
1999–2004 Canada 17 (1)
Managerial career
2009 Queens Park Rangers (caretaker)
2021 Waterford
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Marc Stephen John Bircham (born 11 May 1978) is a former soccer player. Born in England, he represented Canada at international level. Brother to Lee Bircham, manager of Bedford Town Football Club.

Club career

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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[citation needed] 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."[citation needed]

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.[2] 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.[3][4]

International career

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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.[5] 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.

Managerial career

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QPR

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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] The duo took charge of a 2–2 draw away to West Bromwich Albion on 14 December 2009.[9]

Waterford

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On 12 May 2021, Bircham was named manager of League of Ireland Premier Division side Waterford until the end of the season.[10] With Waterford bottom of the table when Bircham took over, he led his side to 6 wins and a draw from his first 12 league games in charge, taking the club out of the relegation zone and earning a new 2+1⁄2-year contract which was announced in August 2021.[11] On 23 November 2021, Bircham was sacked by Waterford, having learned of the news on Twitter without being contacted by the club following a text exchange between himself and owner Richard Forrest the previous night in which Forrest suspended Bircham for a week, preventing him from taking charge of the club's crucial Promotion/relegation play-off final against UCD.[12]

Como

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In the summer of 2022, he was appointed as first team coach of Italian Serie B side Como under manager Giacomo Gattuso.[13]

Personal life

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Bircham has 3 children from a previous marriage. 1 boy, Frankie and 2 girls, Layla & Dolly.

He currently regularly appears on Talksport.

Career statistics

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International

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Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first.
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 27 April 1999 Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland  Northern Ireland 1–0 1–1 Friendly match

Managerial

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As of 23 November 2021.

Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
England Queens Park Rangers
(caretaker manager,
with Steve Gallen) 		9 December 2009 17 December 2009 1 0 1 0 2 2 +0 000.00
Republic of Ireland Waterford 12 May 2021 23 November 2021 29 13 6 10 42 40 +2 044.83
Total 30 13 7 10 44 42 +2 043.33

References

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  1. ^ Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2008). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2008–09. Mainstream. ISBN 978-1-84596-324-8.
  2. ^ "Brentford 2-2 Yeovil". BBC. 2 September 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  3. ^ "Bircham Hangs Up His Boots". Ciderspace. 3 January 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2008.
  4. ^ "Bircham forced to hang up boots". BBC Sport. 31 January 2008.
  5. ^ "Marc Bircham is a QPR cult hero who scored for Canada without setting foot in country, and bought 25ft snake as team mascot that 'attacked players in dressing room'". Talk Sport. 17 July 2022.
  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.
  9. ^ "West Brom 2-2 QPR". BBC News. 14 December 2009.
  10. ^ Fallon, John (12 May 2021). "Former QPR midfielder Marc Bircham appointed Waterford manager". Irish Examiner.
  11. ^ "Marc Bircham handed two-year deal as Waterford boss after turning season around". Irish Independent.
  12. ^ "Waterford boss Bircham learned of sacking via Twitter". 23 November 2021 – via rte.ie. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. ^ "Bircham explains Como move as he begins coaching ex-Chelsea and Arsenal star Fabregas". 2 August 2022.
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