Adam Stephen Birchall (born 2 December 1984) is a retired

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

and currently serves as Head Coach for the Arsenal U17 side as well as the assistant manager of the under-18s squad. 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 Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, Birchall began his career at

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, but never made it to the first-team. In the 2004–05 season, Birchall had a successful loan spell at

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

, scoring four goals in twelve league games. He was released by Arsenal at the end of that season, and joined

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

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 The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

victory against

Grays Athletic Grays Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Grays, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Parkside in nearby Aveley. History The club was established as Grays Juniors in 1890, before merging with former S ...

on his 21st birthday. On 23 November 2006, Birchall was loaned to divisional rivals

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

, 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 Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

can question referees' decisions, to reduce dissent and the yellow cards that follow. 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. 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 The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

side

Dover Athletic Dover Athletic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 198 ...

in July 2009. Birchall made his league debut for Dover in the first game of the season against

Maidenhead United Maidenhead United Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. They are currently members of and have played at York Road since 1871, making it the 'oldest senior football ground continuously ...

, before scoring his first league goal for the club in the following fixture against

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated po ...

. Birchall scored both goals against Aldershot Town to take Dover to the

FA Cup 3rd Round The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word '' ...

for the first time in their history. Birchall became the club's goalscoring record holder, and the

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 The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

sides Swindon Town, newcomers

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...

, and local rivals Gillingham, for whom he signed a three-year deal on 12 July 2011. He was seriously injured during a pre-season

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

, 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 Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

in the League Cup. He scored his first goal for the Gills in their 4–0

win over

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

on 3 November, but after playing only 21 games in 2 seasons he was released by the club at the end of the 2013–14 season. Soon after, Birchall signed for

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

. He scored his first competitive goal for the club in a 5–1 win over

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxbrid ...

in the

. His first league goal for the club was a 90th-minute winner against

on 9 December.

Coaching career

In July 2016 Birchall returned to his former club Arsenal as a youth coach. In July 2022, Birchall became under-17s head coach having previously been with the age-group below, as well as becoming assistant head coach for the under-18s to newly appointed Jack Wilshere.

Personal life

In July 2011 Birchall became engaged to Lianne, and the couple's first child was due to be born in October that same year.

Career statistics

Honours

Gillingham *

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Birchall, Adam 1984 births Living people Footballers from Maidstone English men's footballers Welsh men's footballers Wales men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football forwards Arsenal F.C. players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Dover Athletic F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Dartford F.C. players Bromley F.C. players Maidstone United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Arsenal F.C. non-playing staff