Birch returns to football with Sheffield United

FORMER Chelsea and Leeds chief executive Trevor Birch has returned to football at Sheffield United.

The former Deloitte insolvency partner who also held roles with Everton and Derby County, was unveiled on Friday afternoon by Blades chairman Kevin McCabe as the Championship club’s new chief executive.

Mr Birch joins from sports agency Sportfive where he was chief operating officer and will be given the job of attracting major investment into the club as it looks to bounce back to the Premier League.

A former professional footballer, Mr Birch was the last player signed by legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly.

He was credited with attracting Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich to buy Chelsea from Ken Bates and later went to Leeds where he was involved in the sale of the club to a group of investors headed by Gerald Krasner.