Leonard Birks (6 October 1896 – 22 March 1975) 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 a defender. Born in

Fenton, Staffordshire Fenton is one of the six towns that amalgamated with Hanley, Tunstall, Burslem, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent to form the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent in 1910, later raised to city status in 1925. Fenton is often referred to as "the Forgot ...

, he started his career with

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

before spending seven years at

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

. After leaving

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramall ...

, he played 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 ...

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

and Yeovil & Petters United, as well as having a spell as first-team

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

at Bristol City.

Career

Birks joined

from Butt Lane Star in May 1920. He made his

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

debut in 1920–21, but remained a fringe player in 1921–22, despite lifting the North Staffordshire Infirmary Cup in 1922. However, he missed just one game of the 1922–23 campaign, and was an ever-present in 1923–24. He retained his first-team place in the highly successful 1924–25 season, but with dependable young left-back Jimmy Oakes waiting in the reserves to take his place,

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Joe Schofield Joseph Alfred Schofield (1 January 1871 – 29 September 1929) was an English footballer and football manager. A winger, he played for Stoke between 1891 and 1899, winning himself three England caps in the process. He was later appointed as S ...

decided to cash in on Birks. He was sold to

for 'a substantial sum' in October 1924 as the Blades sought a replacement for regular left-back

Ernest Milton Ernest Milton may refer to: * Ernest Milton (footballer) * Ernest Milton (actor) {{hndis, Milton, Ernest ...

. Birks initially failed to settle at

however, and missed out on a place in the

1925 FA Cup final The 1925 FA Cup final was an association football match contested by Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United and Cardiff City F.C., Cardiff City on 25 April 1925 at Wembley Stadium (1923), Wembley Stadium in London, England. The final was the s ...

with the ageing Milton being preferred. Never a fully established first-team player, Birks did give good service to the Blades during his time playing over 200 games in all competitions. After leaving United in February 1931, Birks joined with

. Competing with former

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

international Fred Titmuss for the left-back position, he made 49 league and cup appearances before departing

Home Park Home Park is a football stadium in the area of Milehouse, Plymouth, Devon, England. With a capacity of 17,900, the ground has been the home of Plymouth Argyle Football Club since 1903, and was also used between 1900 and 1903 by Argyle Athlet ...

for

in April 1933. He later played

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

for Yeovil & Petters United, before returning to Bristol to work as first-team

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birks, Len 1896 births 1975 deaths People from Fenton, Staffordshire People from Shirehampton Footballers from Stoke-on-Trent English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Port Vale F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players English football coaches 20th-century English sportsmen