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Ronnie Bird
Personal information
Full name	Ronald Philip Bird
Date of birth	27 December 1941
Place of birth	Birmingham, England
Date of death	20 March 2005 (aged 63)
Place of death	Cardiff, Wales
Position(s)	Winger
Youth career
	Birmingham City
Senior career*
Years	Team
1959–1961	Birmingham City
1961–1965	Bradford Park Avenue
1965–1966	Bury
1966–1971	Cardiff City
1971–1972	Crewe Alexandra
1972–1974	Gloucester City
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ronald Philip Bird (27 December 1941 – 20 March 2005) was an English professional footballer who scored 66 goals from 269 appearances in the Football League in the 1960s and early 1970s. He played more than 100 league matches for each of Bradford Park Avenue and Cardiff City, and also had spells with Bury and Crewe Alexandra.^[2]

Career

Born in Erdington, Birmingham,^[3] Bird played football at youth level for England alongside Bobby Moore. He began his club career as an apprentice at his hometown club Birmingham City, turning professional in January 1959 at the age of 18,^[3] but found first team chances hard to come by and left to join Bradford Park Avenue, being signed by manager Jimmy Scoular in June 1961. He quickly established himself in the side and helped the club to retain their Division Three status after being promoted the previous year. He became a prolific penalty scorer at the club and his 14 penalties scored in league football remains a club record.^[4]

He eventually left Bradford in 1965 to join Bury but only spent seven months at Gigg Lane before being signed again by Jimmy Scoular, this time at his new club Cardiff City for £5,000. He helped the club to win the Welsh Cup in his first season, one of three times he won the competition at Cardiff, and gained a reputation for scoring spectacular goals.^[5] He left Cardiff after five seasons at the club, after falling out with management over not being selected for the Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final match against Real Madrid,^[6] and joined Crewe Alexandra where he spent one year before dropping into non-league football with Gloucester City. He scored 21 times from 89 matches in all competitions during two seasons with the Tigers, and was appointed club captain for the 1973–74 season.^[7]^[8]

Later life

After retiring from football he took over as manager at Ebbw Vale and Bridgend Town before later returning to work with Jimmy Scoular as his assistant manager at Newport County. He left his post at the club during the 1978–79 season and later took over as landlord of the Golden Cross and Romilly Arms pubs in Cardiff.^[3]^[6] His experience in the trade prompted Cardiff City to hire him to take charge of the several bars in the club's ground and he later took up a number of positions at the club including match day hospitality manager, manager of the players' restaurant and a commentator for the club's website. He was taken ill in 2003, originally thinking he was suffering from flu,^[6] and was diagnosed with leukaemia.^[9] He subsequently stepped down from his various roles at the club, although after recovering somewhat he later returned to commentate on matches again before he died in the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, in 2005.^[3]

Honours

Cardiff City

Welsh Cup winner: 1966–67, 1969–70, 1970–71^[5]

References

^ "Ronnie Bird". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
^ "Ronnie Bird". Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database. Neil Brown. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Ronnie Bird". Cardiff City F.C. 22 March 2005. Archived from the original on 9 August 2011.
^ "Penalties" (PDF). Bradford Park Avenue history. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
^ ^a ^b Hayes, Dean (2006). The Who's Who of Cardiff City. Derby: Breedon Books. pp. 22–23. ISBN 1-85983-462-0.
^ ^a ^b ^c Risoli, Mario (22 March 2005). "Former Ninian ace Bird dies, 63". Western Mail. Retrieved 6 November 2023 – via TheFreeLibrary.
^ "Ronnie Bird". Tiger Roar. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
^ "Results 1970s". Tiger Roar. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
^ "City legend Ronnie: My Battle with cancer". South Wales Echo. 28 October 2003. Retrieved 19 June 2016 – via thefreelibrary.com.