In 1996 a group of friends from “The Guy” Earl of Warwick pub in Welling decided to start up a football team in a local Sunday morning league. The team was going to be run by Matt Mein and to be called Real Ale FC. On 23 rd June 1996 one of the players had a tragic accident and died while on holiday with a group of friends. That player was Paul Birch who at the time was only 19 years of age.

On August of 1996 the players of Real Ale FC asked Paul’s parents if it would be ok to name the team after him and rename the club Paul Birch FC. Paul’s parents, Dave and Jean Birch, were more than happy to accept and were pleased that his friends wanted to do something in Paul’s memory. Paul’s brother Steve, who was 16 years of age at the time, was also invited to play to the club.

Since the club started it has played in 3 leagues, The Greenwich & Lewisham League, The London & Kent Border League and its current league The Orpington & Bromley District Sunday Football League. The club hasn’t been highly successful since it was formed in 1996, not winning a single trophy, but there have been some good achievements along the way. The club has been a Runner-up three times, coming 2 nd in the league in both 2001 & 2002 and also Runner-up in the Intermediate League Cup Final in 2002. One big achievement for the club is that it was promoted every year from the 1998-1999 Season to the 2002-2003 Season, that’s 5 years on the trot!! A sign of how the club has improved year after year which is a credit to everyone involved with the club since it was formed. The club was also promoted to the OBDSFL Premier Division in 2005 & 2007 which was the highest level the club had played.

In 2001 the clubs founder, Matt Mein, left and since then Paul’s father Dave has become Chairman and taken over the general running of the club. Including Matt & Dave there have been other people who’ve put in a lot of hard work and effort for the club over the years, Lee Martin, Dave Martin, Scott Major, Andy Costin, Danny Alder, James Collins and Mike Smith have all helped out over the years arranging fixtures, attending league meetings and collecting subs every week. Current manager Paul Howe and ex-manager Dave Curtis have both put in a lot effort for the club taking training sessions, looking after the kit & equipment and preparing the team on match days.

During the summer of 2007 the club expanded for the first time when a new reserve team was created. Gary Partridge, a friend of many of the Paul Birch players, was manager of OBDSFL Division Five outfit, Bromley Rovers. Unfortunatley for him things had not gone well for the club and they were on the brink of folding. Due to these unfortunate circumstances it was suggested to Gary that he brought what players he had left and became part of Paul Birch FC. After many dicussions Gary gladly accepted the offer and Paul Birch Reserves were born. This was a major achievement for the club and testament to how the club has grown throughout the years. Year after year the club grows and becomes more organised, with this new expansion we will hopfully see the start of great things for the club.

Everyone that has played for the club over the years has always really enjoyed themselves. The main reason is due to the tradition of club and there has always been an infectious family feel which still remains now despite their being a completely different side. We hope the club can carry on in Paul’s memory for many years to come and that the family feel the club has remains intact. Also we hope that the team can one day enjoy the success it deserves, which we’re sure, one day, it will.