CHRIS BIRCHALL was David Beckham’s team-mate at LA Galaxy and faced England at the 2006 World Cup.
But now he has traded the high life of LA and glitz and glamour of international football for pounding the Staffordshire mud as a REFEREE.
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The ex-midfielder, 39, lined up against the likes of Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Becks while playing for Trinidad & Tobago in Germany.
Stafford-born Birchall, who qualified for the Caribbean islands through his mum, spent three seasons in LA.
Hanging on a wall at home in Newcastle-under-Lyme is a personalised signed Beckham shirt and a photo of the pair when they won the MLS Cup in 2011.
He said: “David was great with me. Although I played with him towards the end of his career, wow what a player. He could pick you out with a pass from 40 yards.
“There was banter between us as English guys. He’d come into training every morning and say to me, ‘Hi, Mr Perfect’ and I was like, ‘If anyone should be called that it’s you!’
“He sends video messages when it’s my lad’s birthday and I’ll text him when any big news happens. He’s humble and the type of person you want to be associated with.”
Trinidad & Tobago — the Soca Warriors — elevated Birchall’s career. While still a 22-year-old League One footballer at Port Vale, he found himself up against the Three Lions.
England needed two late goals to win 2-0 in the group game before their World Cup quarter-final exit to Portugal.
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Birchall said: “My biggest memory was Beckham shaking my hand at the end and telling me, ‘You had one hell of a game’. He was my hero so that was special.
“It’s amazing looking back — lining up against Beckham, Scholes, Owen, Rooney, Ferdinand. That squad should have won a World Cup.”
Birchall — who also played for Coventry, Port Vale and Brighton before retiring in 2016 — started the process of becoming an official six months ago.
He said: “I’d love to ref in the EFL. The hardest things are positioning yourself and making split-second decisions.”
Birchall would like other former players to lend their experience to help the PGMOL stop the controversies ruining football.
He said: “The way certain laws are written tie the hands of refs. There’s no room for common sense.
“If an incident ticks all the boxes, you must give a certain decision. Yet if you’ve played you know every incident is different and whether a player meant to do something.
He sends video messages when it’s my lad’s birthday and I’ll text him when any big news happens. He’s humble and the type of person you want to be associated with.
Chris Birchall on David Beckham
“Take handball — a ball’s blasted at you from ten yards. You might be jumping with your arms slightly away from your body and as you’re landing the ball touches your hand. That isn’t a penalty but they’re given.
“The diving and simulation is ridiculous. That’s where I’d like to use my experience. Ex-footballers can see the tricks of the trade.
“I’ve sympathy for a ref who has a split second to make a decision and then has VAR putting him under pressure to change it after viewing a replay at one thousandth of a second. The game isn’t played in slo-mo.”
Birchall saw his ex-club Coventry denied what would have been an incredible win against Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final.
Victor Torp thought he had scored a 120th-minute winner to complete a fightback from 3-0 down. Ref Rob Jones gave the goal but VAR told him Haji Wright was a CENTIMETRE offside!
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Birchall said: “This is where VAR kills football. That decision affected a club’s history as Coventry would’ve reached the final having staged one of the greatest ever comebacks.
“VAR wasn’t brought in to decide offside by a toenail or to take three minutes to work out.
“If it’s level to the naked eye, award the goal — give the advantage to the striker as it used to be. We want to see goals, not find reasons to disallow them.”
PGMOL chief Howard Webb wants to welcome ex-players into refereeing and Birchall hopes to see his peers and officials work together.
He said: “I don’t want a battle between ex-footballers and refs. It’s about educating refs from a player’s perspective and the other way round.
“Paul Merson slates refs on Soccer Saturday — some stuff he’s saying as an ex-player is correct. But it’s often not the ref’s fault, it’s the law that’s written that needs changing.”
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Birchall concedes you cannot make a living refereeing at grassroots level and that perhaps puts ex-players off, especially those who played professionally in the lower divisions and are not wealthy.
However, he believes the PGMOL should team up with the PFA, FA and clubs to encourage footballers still playing to take courses.
He said: “Unless you’ve made good money from your career, you need a job while you’re developing to reach a level where you might get an income.
“They need to be telling footballers towards the end of their careers, ‘You can do this while you’re still playing.’
“There needs to be that transition from when they retire to going straight into refereeing or at least have a platform.”
