Clifford "Cliff" Birks was an English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 professional footballer. He played as both a right-half and at outside-right.

Playing career

Birks played for Stoke St. Peters and Stoke City

Stoke City F.C.

Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...

 before joining Port Vale

Port Vale F.C.

Port Vale Football Club is an English football club currently playing in Football League Two. They are based in Burslem, Staffordshire — one of six towns that make up the city of Stoke-on-Trent. The club's traditional rivals in the city are Stoke City, and games between the two clubs are known as...

 in November 1929. He made his debut on 27 December 1921, in a 2–1 home win over Charlton Athletic

Charlton Athletic F.C.

Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...

. He played 59 games over the next four seasons but was released in May 1936. He joined Torquay United

Torquay United F.C.

Torquay United Football Club, nicknamed the Gulls, are an English association football club based in the tourist resort town of Torquay, Devon. They played in the Conference National in 2008–09, but were promoted to Football League Two after a 2–0 win over Cambridge United on 17 May 2009 at Wembley...

, but was kept out of the side due to the form of Fred Beedall

Fred Beedall

Frederick Beedall was an English professional footballer. He was born in Chesterfield.Beedall, an inside-forward, joined Chesterfield in 1932 from Ling's Row Primitives. He made seven league appearances for Chesterfield before moving to Torquay United in 1934...

 and George Daniels

George Daniels (footballer)

George Daniels was a footballer who played in the Football League for Crystal Palace, Hartlepools United, Torquay United and Stoke City.-References:...

, Birks made his Torquay debut on 16 January 1937, scoring in the 4–1 defeat at home to Southend United

Southend United F.C.

Southend United Football Club is an English football club based at Roots Hall Stadium, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, who play in Football League Two. Their home ground is Roots Hall, and the club plan to move into a new 22,000-seater stadium located at Fossetts Farm.-Stadium:The club has had...

. However, this was to be his only appearance for Torquay and he left to join Halifax Town

Halifax Town A.F.C.

Halifax Town Association Football Club were an English football team who most recently played in the Conference National, although prior to that they participated in the Football League for over eighty years...

 for the following season. He played just twice for Halifax before leaving league football. During the war he guested for Leicester City

Leicester City F.C.

Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...

.