From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Marc Bircham

Marc Stephen John Bircham (born 11 May 1978) is a former soccer player. Born in England, he represented Canada at international level. He was recently assistant coach at Serie A club Como, but left in 2023

Personal information
Marc Stephen John Bircham
(1978-05-11) 11 May 1978
Wembley, England
.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist li{margin:0;display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ul{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist .mw-empty-li{display:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dt::after{content:": "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li::after{content:"\a0 · ";font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li:last-child::after{content:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:first-child::before{content:" (";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:last-child::after{content:")";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol{counter-reset:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li{counter-increment:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li::before{content:" "counter(listitem)"\a0 "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li ol>li:first-child::before{content:" ("counter(listitem)"\a0 "}Defenderdefensive midfielder
Team	Apps	(Gls)
Millwall	104	(3)
Queens Park Rangers	152	(7)
Yeovil Town	16	(0)
	272	(10)
Canada	17	(1)
Queens Park Rangers (caretaker)
Waterford
	Winner	2000 United States

Winner	2000 United States
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Marc Stephen John Bircham (born 11 May 1978) is a former soccer player. Born in England, he represented Canada at international level. He was recently assistant coach at Serie A club Como, but left in 2023

London-born Bircham started his professional career at Millwall and after 6 seasons joined Queens Park Rangers where he became a crowd favorite. Bircham used to be known for his unusual hairstyle – a dyed blue and white streak down the centre of his hair from when he played for QPR and a red and white streak while playing for Canada. QPR fans sang a song to the tune of "I Love You, Baby": "We love you, Bircham/ because you got blue hair/ We love you, Bircham/ because you're everywhere/ We love you, Bircham/ because you're Rangers through and through."

In 2007, he moved to Yeovil Town. He scored his first and what turned out to be only goal for Yeovil against Brentford in the Football League Trophy. After a series of ankle injuries in the 2008–09 season it was revealed that Bircham had quit football and is going to set up a youth coaching camp in Cyprus.

Bircham was eligible to play for Canada because one of his grandfathers was born in Winnipeg. He made his debut for Canada in an April 1999 friendly match against Northern Ireland in Belfast. He is the only player to have played for a country without actually visiting it when his first cap – as well as his first and only goal – came. He scored that goal only 8 minutes after coming on as a substitute for another player making his debut, Davide Xausa.

Bircham earned 17 caps for his adopted country, representing Canada in two FIFA World Cup qualification matches. His final international was a June 2004 World Cup qualification match against Belize.

After becoming a QPR youth coach at the start of the 2009–10 season, he was put in temporary charge with fellow Youth Coach Steve Gallen due to manager Jim Magilton's suspension on 9 December 2009. The duo took charge of a 2–2 draw away to West Bromwich Albion on 14 December 2009.

On 12 May 2021, Bircham was named manager of League of Ireland Premier Division side Waterford until the end of the season. With Waterford bottom of the table when Bircham took over, he led his side to 6 wins and a draw from his first 12 league games in charge, taking the club out of the relegation zone and earning a new .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);clip-path:polygon(0px 0px,0px 0px,0px 0px);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}2+1⁄2-year contract which was announced in August 2021. On 23 November 2021, Bircham was sacked by Waterford, having learned of the news on Twitter without being contacted by the club following a text exchange between himself and owner Richard Forrest the previous night in which Forrest suspended Bircham for a week, preventing him from taking charge of the club's crucial Promotion/relegation play-off final against UCD.

In the summer of 2022, he was appointed as first team coach of Italian Serie B side Como under manager Giacomo Gattuso, but left in 2023.

Bircham has 3 children from a previous marriage. 1 boy, Frankie and 2 girls, Layla & Dolly.

He currently regularly appears on Talksport.

His brother, Lee, is manager of Bedford Town.

Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	27 April 1999	Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Northern Ireland	1–0	1–1	Friendly match

As of 23 November 2021.

Canada

CONCACAF Gold Cup: 2000
Marc Bircham at Soccerbase
Marc Bircham at Canada Soccer (archive)
Marc Bircham at National-Football-Teams.com

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Marc Bircham — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report