Ralph James Evans Birkett (9 January 1913 – 8 July 2002) was an English professional

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 once for the

England national team Team England usually refers to the name under which athletes representing Commonwealth Games England compete. England team or Team England may refer to: *Commonwealth Games England *England national football team *England cricket team *England nat ...

Playing career

Birkett was discovered by

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

while playing for Dartmouth United, moving to

Plainmoor Plainmoor is an association football stadium located in the Plainmoor suburb of Torquay, Devon, England. Since 1921, the stadium has been the home of Torquay United F.C., Torquay United Football Club, who currently compete in the National Leagu ...

as an amateur in 1930. He made his league debut on the right wing on 8 March 1930, starring in a 7–0 win against Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic, Torquay's first win of the new year. He signed a professional contract with the Third Division South club the same month. In 1933, after 95 league games in which he scored 19 times for Torquay, Birkett moved to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

for a fee of £1,588, joining the

Highbury Highbury is an area of North London, England, in the London Borough of Islington. Highbury Manor Highbury was once owned by Ranulf, brother of Ilger, and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor hou ...

side during one of the most impressive periods in their history. His

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

debut came on 2 September 1933 against

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

, at Hillsborough, and initially he established himself in the team, winning a League Championship medal in his first season at the club ( 1933-34) as well as the 1933 FA Charity Shield. The following season he struggled to make the first team, after an initially bright start; he scored twice in Arsenal's 1934 Charity Shield win, 3-0 over Everton. However, his first-team opportunities became limited, thanks to the good form of Joe Hulme (whom Birkett had been signed to replace) and new signing Alf Kirchen. Birkett left for

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

in March 1935, after only 19 league appearances for Arsenal, in which he scored 7 goals. His Middlesbrough debut came on 16 March 1935 against

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

and later that year, on 19 October, Birkett made his only international appearance for

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 ...

, against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

; England won 3–1. He was selected to play a second game, but suffered an injury and withdrew. His replacement was a young

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English Association football, footballer who played as an Forward (association football)#Outside forward, outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the Br ...

, and that effectively saw the premature end of Birkett's England career. In July 1938, he moved to

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

, but the war intervened and cut short his career — he was only 26 when it began, but was 33 by the time league football resumed. He did play football during the war, including two appearances for

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 ...

(one goal) in the 1942-43 wartime season, and appearances for Darlington and then Torquay in the 1945-46 wartime season.''Western Morning News'', 11 January 1946

Post career life

He later returned to

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, living in retirement in

Brixham Brixham is a coastal town and civil parish in the borough of Torbay in the county of Devon, in the south-west of England. As of the 2021 census, Brixham had a population of 16,825. It is one of the main three centres of the borough, along with ...

, until his death in July 2002 at the age of 89.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birkett, Ralph 1913 births 2002 deaths English men's footballers England men's international footballers England men's wartime international footballers Torquay United F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Sportspeople from Dartmouth, Devon Dartmouth A.F.C. players English Football League players English Football League representative players Reading F.C. wartime guest players Men's association football forwards Footballers from Devon