Trevor Birch

Infobox Football biography
playername = Trevor Birch


fullname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1958|2|16|df=y
cityofbirth = Liverpool
countryofbirth = England
height = height|ft=5|in=11
nickname =
position = Midfield
currentclub =
clubnumber =
youthyears = 1974–79
youthclubs = Liverpool
years = 1979–80
1980–81
1981–82
1982–83
1987–88
c.1988
clubs = Shrewsbury Town
Chester City
Marine
Runcorn
Northwich Victoria
Skelmersdale United
caps(goals) = 25 (4)
31 (0)
31 (2)
06 (0)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
pcupdate =
ntupdate =

Trevor Birch (born 16 February 1958) is an English football executive and former football player. He has principally been involved with clubs undergoing financial difficulties, and was most recently the chief executive of Derby County.

Birch started out as a footballer and was on the books of Liverpool - he was the last player signed by Bill Shankly [cite news | date=2002-02-21 | url=http://www.soccernet.com/england/news/2002/0221/20020221cfcbirch.html | title=New Blues chief has 'unfinished business' | publisher=ESPN Soccernet | accessdate=2007-02-25 | author=] - but only played for the reserves and by 1979 had left the club altogether. He also had brief spells with Shrewsbury Town and Chester City, after which he retired from playing professionally and became a chartered accountant, playing non-league football with clubs including Marine [cite book | author=Chas Sumner | title=On the Borderline: The Official History of Chester City 1885-1997 | year=1997| pages= p.135 |id=ISBN 1-874427-52-6] , Runcorn [cite book | author=John Hardman | title=Alliance to Conference 1979-2004: The First 25 Years| year=2005| pages= p.536 & 545 |id=ISBN 1-869833-52-X] , Northwich Victoria [cite book | author=John Hardman | title=Alliance to Conference 1979-2004: The First 25 Years| year=2005| pages= p.485 |id=ISBN 1-869833-52-X] and Skelmersdale United. Birch failed to score a league goal in his season with Chester but did find the net in the FA Cup against Barnsley [cite book | author=Chas Sumner | title=On the Borderline: The Official History of Chester City 1885-1997 | year=1997| pages= stats section |id=ISBN 1-874427-52-6] .

Specialising in insolvency, Birch became chief executive of Chelsea, a club with a debt burden of around £80m, in February 2002, and attempted to restructure their finances. He also helped put together the £140m Roman Abramovich takeover during June and July 2003. [cite book | author=Glanvill, Rick | title=Chelsea FC: The Official Biography - The Definitive Story of the First 100 Years| publisher=Headline Book Publishing Ltd| year=2006| id=ISBN 0-7553-1466-2, pp. 158-164] The takeover wiped out most of the club's debts, making Birch's role no longer necessary, and he was replaced by Peter Kenyon. Birch was offered another role, but instead resigned. [cite news | date=2003-09-13 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/3105748.stm | title=Birch quits Chelsea | publisher=BBC | accessdate=2007-02-25 | author=]

In October 2003, Birch was appointed chief executive of Leeds United, another club with high debts, and was briefly chairman following Professor John McKenzie's resignation. He helped the club avoid administration, and oversaw the takeover of Leeds by Gerald Krasner's consortium, before moving on to Everton in June 2004 to become their chief executive. Birch was given the task of overhauling the Merseyside club's finances, but resigned just six weeks later. [cite news | date=2004-07-16 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/e/everton/3901225.stm | title=Everton chief Birch resigns | publisher=BBC | accessdate=2007-02-25 | author=Phil McNulty]

In June 2007 he became Chief Executive Officer of Derby County, replacing Mike Horton's previous role as managing director. Horton remained on the board as vice chairman. [cite news | date=2007-06-12 |. url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/derby_county/6747039.stm | title=Derby appoint new chief executive | publisher=BBC | accessdate=2007-07-02 | author=]

In October 2007 Birch left Derby County. He was lined up to be the new Southampton Chairman heading the new regime if the proposed takeover from Daniel Williams had materialised.

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