Christopher Birchall

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Christopher Birchall
Personal information
Full name	Christopher Birchall
Date of birth	5 May 1984
Place of birth	Stafford, England
Height	175cm
Position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Coventry City
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
2001-2006 2006-	Port Vale Coventry City	78 (7) 7 (1)
National team**
2005-	Trinidad and Tobago	23 (4)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10 September 2006. ** National team caps and goals correct as of 7 October 2006.

Christopher Birchall (born May 5, 1984) is a football (soccer) player, currently playing in midfield for English club side Coventry City. He was voted young player of the year in 2005 at Port Vale after having a good season at the club he had been associated with since the age of nine.

Although born in Stafford, England, Birchall has represented Trinidad and Tobago at international level. He is eligible for that country because his mother was born in Port of Spain. When asked by the press in Trinidad and Tobago why he qualified to play for them he replied ‘Me mum’. This memorable response gave rise to his Soca Warrior nickname ‘Me Mum’.

Birchall's agent was spreading word around that he could in fact play for his mother's homeland. He was first made aware of the interest in him by current T&T and Swansea City central defender Dennis Lawrence, who walked over to him during a Port Vale - Wrexham (Lawrence's club at the time) league match to enquire if was indeed eligible to play for the Soca Warriors by asking "Have you got any Trini blood in you?". Lawrence then passed Chris' contact details onto the T&T FA, and Birchall was called up to the full Trinidad & Tobago squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Panama and Mexico. After making his debut for the national side, Birchall became the first white player to represent the country in 60 years.

Undoubtedly his most important contribution to the Soca Warriors came on November 12, 2005, in their home (first) leg of their 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying playoff against Bahrain. Bahrain's Salman Ghuloom had scored in the 72nd minute and were poised to take a 1-0 lead back home for the second leg, but five minutes later, Birchall fired in a stunning goal from well outside the penalty area to equalise. The Soca Warriors went on to win the return leg of the playoff in Bahrain 1-0 (on a goal from Lawrence) and advance to their first World Cup finals ever.

He has scored 4 goals in 23 international matches, as of October 2006. Following their return from the 2006 World Cup, each member of the Trinidad and Tobago national team was awarded the country's second highest honour, the Chaconia Medal in gold, plus TT$1,000,000 (about £87,500 (one quarter in cash, the rest in unit trusts)). He is therefore entitled to suffix his name "C.M." if he wishes.

In August 2006 Birchall was sold to Coventry City for a fee of £325,000 plus a sell-on clause. He tends to play in central midfield for his country, and on the right for his club.

Chris Birchall scored his first Sky Blues goal v Norwich with a 25 yard low drive stunner.

Birchall is also famous as he is the cousin of Warwickshire and England cricketer Ashley Giles. The "King of Spin" was also credited for helping the T&T FA hear about Birchall after Giles made a comment about having some West Indian blood in his family. ^{[citation needed]}

[edit] External links

• Official Coventry City profile
• Interview on selection for Trinidad and Tobago

	Trinidad and Tobago squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup
1 Hislop | 2 Cox | 3 A. John | 4 Andrews | 5 Sancho | 6 Lawrence | 7 Birchall | 8 Gray | 9 Whitley | 10 Latapy | 11 Edwards | 12 Samuel | 13 Glen | 14 S. John | 15 Jones | 16 Wise | 17 Charles | 18 Theobald | 19 Yorke | 20 Scotland | 21 Jack | 22 Ince | 23 Wolfe | Coach: Beenhakker

Coventry City F.C. - Current Squad
2 Whing | 3 Hall | 4 Page | 5 Ward | 6 Hughes | 7 Andrews | 8 Doyle | 9 Adebola | 10 Kyle | 11 Birchall | 13 Robles | 14 John | 15 McKenzie | 16 Osbourne | 18 McNamee | 19 Giddings | 20 Bischoff | 21 Tabb | 22 Hutchison | 23 Cameron | 25 Virgo | 26 Clarke | 29 Thornton | 33 Marshall | Manager: Adams

Persondata
NAME	Birchall, Christopher
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Trinidad and Tobago professional footballer
DATE OF BIRTH	5 May [1984]]
PLACE OF BIRTH	Stafford, [England]]
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH