Alan John Birchenall, (born 22 August 1945) is an English former

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 during the 1960s and 1970s 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 ...

. Born in

East Ham East Ham is a district of the London Borough of Newham, England, 8 miles (12.8 km) east of Charing Cross. East Ham is identified in the London Plan as a Major Centre. The population is 76,186. It was originally part of the Becontree Hun ...

he made his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

debut with

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

and went on to have a varied career, spending time at

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

and

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

as well as playing in the NASL and representing England at Under-23 level.

Club career

Sheffield United

Birchenall's parents had moved from

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

when he was four, and he played in the local junior leagues for Thorneywood Boys where he was spotted by

. Signed by then manager John Harris, Birchenall was a skilful attacking midfielder who initially played in the Blades youth and reserve team where he became a prolific goal scorer. He made his league debut a year after he was signed playing against

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

in September 1964. Nicknamed ''The Birch'', Birchenall soon cemented himself in the Blades first team, endearing himself to the fans by scoring both goals against local rivals

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

in a 2–0 victory at Hillsborough in only his second game. Netting nine goals in his first twelve First Division games, he soon formed a formidable partnership with fellow striker Mick Jones whom he had played with as a Nottinghamshire schoolboy. In 1967 however, with United seeking to raise funds, both Birchenall and Jones were sold in quick succession with Birchenall being transferred to

. He left

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramal ...

having played over 120 games for the club, scoring 37 goals and having the 'distinction' of being the first Blades player ever to be substituted in a League game (against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

in September 1965).

Chelsea and Crystal Palace

Birchenall was among the first players to command a £100,000 price tag when he moved from Sheffield United to

in November 1967. He missed Chelsea's win in the

1970 FA Cup Final The 1970 FA Cup Final was contested by Chelsea and Leeds United. The match took place on 11 April 1970 at Wembley Stadium and ended 2–2, making it the first FA Cup final to require a replay since 1912. The replay was staged at Old Trafford an ...

due to injury. After three years at Chelsea, he joined

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

, in June 1970, in another £100,000 deal and was the team's top scorer in his first season at

Selhurst Park Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst in the London Borough of Croydon which is the home ground of Premier League side Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted international footba ...

, with 10 goals from 36 appearances.

Leicester City and the NASL

paid £80,000 for him in September 1971, and he remained with them until signing for

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

in 1977. He later played for NASL sides the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

and the

Memphis Rogues The Memphis Rogues were a professional soccer team in the former North American Soccer League. They operated in the 1978, 1979, and 1980 seasons and played their home games in Memphis' Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. They also played indoor s ...

Return to England

He also spent brief spells with

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...

and Trowbridge Town where he was player manager.

International career

Birchenall was capped four times for the England Under-23's with his appearances being spread between his time at

and

Personal life and post playing career

Birchenall is currently club ambassador, which includes the role of pre-match and half-time host, at

. He also ran a footwear company and The Griffin Inn in

Swithland Swithland is a linear village in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. The civil parish population was put at 230 in 2004 and 217 in the 2011 census. It is in the old Charnwood Forest, between Cropston, Woodhouse and Woodhouse ...

in Charnwood, Leicestershire following his retirement from playing. Birchenall is a patron of PROSTaid, a

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

charity.

Awards

In 2002 Birchenall was awarded an

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

for his charity work.

Leicester City Council Leicester City Council is a unitary authority responsible for local government in the city of Leicester, England. It consists of 54 councillors, representing 22 wards in the city, overseen by a directly elected mayor. It is currently control ...

announced in February 2009 that he was to be given the Honorary Freedom of Leicester alongside singer Engelbert Humperdinck and author

Sue Townsend Susan Lillian Townsend, FRSL (née Johnstone, 2 April 194610 April 2014), was an English writer and humorist whose work encompasses novels, plays and works of journalism. She was best known for creating the character Adrian Mole. After writing ...

. Two years later in July 2011 he received an honorary Doctor of Law Degree from the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_labe ...

References

External links

NASL Stats
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Birchenall, Alan 1945 births Living people Footballers from East Ham Members of the Order of the British Empire English footballers England under-23 international footballers Association football forwards English Football League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Sheffield United F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988) players Memphis Rogues players Luton Town F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Trowbridge Town F.C. players People from Swithland English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States English expatriate footballers