Ralph James Evans Birkett (9 January 1913 – 8 July 2002) was an English professional

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 once for the England national team.

Playing career

Birkett was discovered by

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

while playing for

Dartmouth United Dartmouth Association Football Club is a football club based in Dartmouth, Devon, England. They are currently members of the and play at Long Cross. History Established in 1908 as Dartmouth United, the club began competing in the Torbay and ...

, moving to

Plainmoor Plainmoor is an association football stadium located in the Plainmoor suburb of Torquay, Devon, England. Since 1921, the stadium has been the home of Torquay United Football Club, who currently compete in the National League, the fifth tier of E ...

as an amateur in 1930. He made his league debut on the right wing on 8 March 1930, starring in a 7–0 win against Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic, Torquay's first win of the new year. He signed a professional contract with the

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...

club the same month. In 1933, after 95 league games in which he scored 19 times for Torquay, Birkett moved to

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 ...

for a fee of £1,588, joining the

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was situ ...

side during one of the most impressive periods in their history. His First Division debut came on 2 September 1933 against

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 ...

, at Hillsborough, and initially he established himself in the team, winning a League Championship medal in his first season at the club ( 1933-34) as well as the 1933 FA Charity Shield. The following season he struggled to make the first team, after an initially bright start; he scored twice in Arsenal's 1934 Charity Shield win, 3-0 over Everton. However, his first-team opportunities became limited, thanks to the good form of

Joe Hulme Joseph Harold Anthony Hulme (26 August 1904 – 27 September 1991) was an English footballer and cricketer. Football career Born in Stafford, Hulme usually played as a right-winger. Hulme played for Stafford YMCA before starting his car ...

(whom Birkett had been signed to replace) and new signing

Alf Kirchen Alfred John Kirchen (26 August 1913 – 18 August 1999) was an English footballer. Born in Shouldham, Norfolk, Kirchen played for local clubs, and for his county at youth level. He was signed by Tom Parker, the manager of Second Division Norw ...

. Birkett left for

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

in March 1935, after only 19 league appearances for Arsenal, in which he scored 7 goals. His Middlesbrough debut came on 16 March 1935 against

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

and later that year, on 19 October, Birkett made his only international appearance for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

; England won 3–1. He was selected to play a second game, but suffered an injury and withdrew. His replacement was a young

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while stil ...

, and that effectively saw the premature end of Birkett's England career. In July 1938, he moved to

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

, but the war intervened and cut short his career — he was only 26 when it began, but was 33 by the time league football resumed. He did play football during the war, including two appearances for

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

(one goal) in the 1942-43 wartime season, and appearances for Darlington and then Torquay in the 1945-46 wartime season.''Western Morning News'', 11 January 1946

Post career life

He later returned to

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, living in retirement in

Brixham Brixham is a coastal town and civil parish, the smallest and southernmost of the three main population centres (the others being Paignton and Torquay) on the coast of Torbay in the county of Devon, in the south-west of England. Commercial fish ...

, until his death in July 2002 at the age of 89.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birkett, Ralph 1913 births 2002 deaths English footballers England international footballers England wartime international footballers Torquay United F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players People from Dartmouth, Devon Dartmouth A.F.C. players English Football League players English Football League representative players Reading F.C. wartime guest players Association football forwards