Birch_F.C.

Birch F.C.

Birch F.C.

Defunct English football club

Birch F.C. was an English rugby and association football club from Rusholme, founded in around 1870 as a club playing originally just the association code.

Quick Facts Full name, Founded ...

By 1878, the club mostly played rugby only, but in April 1878 played a friendly against Queen's Park because "it has lately been practising the dribbling as well as the Rugby game",[1] due to a former Queen's Park player (James Strang) joining the club. The club entered the FA Cup the next season, but scratched when drawn at home to Darwen.[2]

In 1879 the association part of the club broke away to form Manchester Wanderers[3] In 1881 Birch was a founder member of the Lancashire County Rugby Football Union.[4]

The club ceased to exist in the 1890s.[5]

Notable players

Thomas Slaney, the first Stoke City manager, guested for the team against Queen's Park.

References

  1. [1]
    "Birch 0-6 Queen's Park". The Sportsman: 3. 8 April 1878.
  2. [2]
    "report". Bell's Life: 5. 23 November 1878.
  3. [3]
    James, Gary (2014). "The Emergence of an Association Football Culture in Manchester 1840–1884". Sport in History. 34: 49–74. doi:10.1080/17460263.2013.873075. S2CID 145361026.
  4. [4]
    Marshall, Francis (1892). Football: the Rugby Union Game.
  5. [5]
    Stewart, Ant. "Rusholme Ruffians".
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