Frederick Burch was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as an

outside forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bei ...

. He appeared in the Southern League for

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

and

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. Born in

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

, Burch was the top goalscorer in the Southern League during the 1912–13 season.

Playing career

who could also play in other forward positions, Burch played for St Budeaux and Essa – two local clubs in the

area – before joining Southern League club

in 1904. He made his first team debut in a 3–1 win against

Wellingborough Wellingborough ( ) is a market town in the North Northamptonshire, Unitary Authority area, England, from London and from Northampton, north of the River Nene. Originally named "Wendelingburgh" (the stronghold of Wændel's people), the Anglo ...

in February 1905, but had to wait 18 months for his next appearance. He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 win against

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

in October 1906 and established himself in the team towards the end of the 1906–07 campaign. His 30 goals in 37 league matches during the 1912–13 season helped Argyle become Southern League champions for the first time, and he finished the season as the top goalscorer in the league. Among them was a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

against Merthyr Town and four in one game against Southampton. Described as being "always a trier" in one of the club's handbooks, Burch is seventh on Plymouth Argyle's all-time list of goalscorers – he managed 91 goals in 240 appearances in all competitions.

Honours

;Plymouth Argyle * Southern League winner: 1912–13

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burch, Freddie 1886 births Footballers from Plymouth, Devon English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Reading F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Southern Football League players Year of death missing Torquay Town F.C. players