| Mark Birch | |
| Fullname: | Mark Birch |
| Birth Date: | 5 January 1977 |
| Birth Place: | Stoke-on-Trent, England |
| Position: | Defender |
| Youthyears1: | 1994–1995 |
| Youthclubs1: | Stoke City |
| Years1: | 1996–1998 |
| Clubs1: | Stoke City |
| Caps1: | 0 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Years2: | 1996–1998 |
| Clubs2: | → Leek Town (loan) |
| Years3: | 1998–2000 |
| Clubs3: | Northwich Victoria |
| Caps3: | 73 |
| Goals3: | 1 |
| Years4: | 2000–2003 |
| Clubs4: | Carlisle United |
| Caps4: | 112 |
| Goals4: | 1 |
| Years5: | 2003–2008 |
| Clubs5: | Gretna |
| Caps5: | 85 |
| Goals5: | 11 |
| Years6: | 2007 |
| Clubs6: | → Southport (loan) |
| Caps6: | 19 |
| Goals6: | 1 |
| Years7: | 2007 |
| Clubs7: | → Northwich Victoria (loan) |
| Caps7: | 9 |
| Goals7: | 0 |
| Years8: | 2008 |
| Clubs8: | → Newcastle Blue Star (loan) |
| Years9: | 2008 |
| Clubs9: | Northwich Victoria |
| Caps9: | 1 |
| Goals9: | 0 |
| Totalcaps: | 299 |
| Totalgoals: | 18 |
| Manageryears1: | 2016 |
| Managerclubs1: | Penrith[1] |
Mark Birch (born 5 January 1977) is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League for Carlisle United.
Birch was born in Stoke-on-Trent and began his career with Stoke City. He failed to break into the first team at Stoke and joined Football Conference side Northwich Victoria in 1998 where he spent two seasons. He joined Third Division side Carlisle United in June 2000 for a fee of £10,000. Birch played 129 times for Carlisle scoring once in a 1–0 win against Macclesfield Town in March 2003.[2] He left Carlisle in August 2003 to join ambitious Scottish Third Division side Gretna. At Gretna he helped them win promotion to the Scottish First Division and reach the 2006 Scottish Cup Final where they lost on penalties to Heart of Midlothian.[3] He returned to England in 2007 playing for Southport and a return to Northwich Victoria.
Birch was appointed Professional Development Phase coach at Carlisle United in June 2019.[4]
Source:
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Stoke City | 1995–96 | Second Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Northwich Victoria | 1999–2000 | Football Conference | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 0 | |
| Carlisle United | 2000–01 | Third Division | 44 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 50 | 0 | |
| 2001–02 | Third Division | 42 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 47 | 0 | ||
| 2002–03 | Third Division | 24 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 30 | 1 | ||
| 2003–04 | Third Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Total | 112 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 129 | 1 | |||
| Gretna | 2003–04 | Scottish Third Division | 23 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 3 | |
| 2004–05 | Scottish Third Division | 30 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 36 | 8 | ||
| 2005–06 | Scottish Second Division | 27 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 1 | ||
| 2006–07 | Scottish First Division | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | ||
| Total | 85 | 11 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 104 | 12 | |||
| Southport (loan) | 2006–07 | Football Conference | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 1 | |
| Northwich Victoria (loan) | 2007–08 | Football Conference | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | |
| Northwich Victoria | 2008–09 | Football Conference | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Career total | 263 | 13 | 20 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 300 | 14 | |||