Brian Birch, is a retired English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 footballer who played for the majority of his career at Bolton Wanderers

Bolton Wanderers F.C.

Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....

. He played mostly as a winger.

Birch made his debut for Bolton at the age of 16 in the autumn of 1954 but did not make the regular first team until the 1957-58 season

1957-58 in English football

The 1957–58 season was the 78th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:In this season, Sunderland was relegated for the first time in their history.This was the last season in which Division 3 was split, North and South...

. He was an ever present in Bolton's victorious FA Cup run. He remained a regular up to the 1961-62

1961-62 in English football

The 1961–62 season was the 82nd season of competitive Football in England.-Overview:The season was notable for the remarkable achievement of Ipswich Town winning the League Championship. Under the managership of Alf Ramsey, the club progressed from the old Third Division South to the First Division...

 season but was pushed out of the team by the arrival of Brian Pilkington. Staying on the fringes for three more years he finally made the short journey across Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

 to Rochdale

Rochdale A.F.C.

Rochdale Association Football Club is an English professional football club based in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. They play their home matches at Spotland Stadium. Formed in 1907, they were accepted into the Football League in 1921...

, where he remained for three more years before moving into non-league football.
He went into management and coached Galatasaray S.K.

Galatasaray S.K. (football team)

Galatasaray Anonim Şirketi is a Turkish football club, part of the Galatasaray S.K. multi-sport club of Istanbul. Galatasaray is a major sports club in Turkey, holding 17 Turkish Super League titles and the highest number of Turkish Cups....

 for two spells from 1970–1974, and from 1980-1982.

Birch's grandson, Will Johnson, is currently a player for Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake is an American professional soccer club based in Sandy, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City. The team competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. They currently play their home games at Rio Tinto Stadium. Real Salt Lake won...

 of Major League Soccer

Major League Soccer

Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...

.