History

Whereas Newcastle United supporters have the weight of several decades of under achievement on their shoulders, Birmingham City fans can point to a full 133 years of the same.Sharing the city with Aston Villa and (putting aside disputes about where the political boundary of the city lies) West Bromwich Albion , Birmingham City’s role has traditionally been that of always the bridesmaid, never the bride. And not even chief bridesmaid, with the club’s achievements lagging far behind those of both her neighbours.

The club began life known as Small Heath Alliance, named after the part of the city in which they were formed, in 1878. Twenty seven years later, they adopted the name of the city itself, and became Birmingham City.Folklore has it (well, many Aston Villa supporters have it) that City and Aston Villa had a gentleman’s agreement that neither club would bear the name of the city, and that City – evidently – broke this agreement. Given that Aston was not swallowed up by the rapid growth of the city of Birmingham until 1911, this story can safely be written off as a footballing urban myth.

Most City supporters would freely admit that the club’s history has been unremarkable. A top six finish in 1956 (the year in which the club reached their only FA Cup final, losing to Manchester City in the match in which Bert Trautmann famously broke his neck) was the pinnacle of the club’s league achievements. The following year they reached the semi final of the Cup (a year in which the Birmingham clubs made up three of the semi finalists), and seven years later beat local rivals Villa to win their only trophy, the League Cup.1968 saw the club again reach the FA Cup semi final, led by the ageing Stan Cullis.

During the 1970s, a succession of high profile managers such as Sir Alf Ramsey and Jim Smith could not raise the club above the mediocre (despite the emergence of the young Trevor Francis, who became Britain’s first million pound player when sold to Brian Clough’s Forest in 1978.

The 1980s were no kinder to Blues.In 1982, the football world was stunned when Ron Saunders left fierce local rivals Villa with the club reigning champions and en route to winning the European Cup, only to turn up at City shortly after. However, the Saunders reign was not a success and in 1984 the club was relegated.Promotion back to the top flight followed, which in turn was followed by relegation.

Three years later, Birmingham emulated their more illustrious neighbours by experiencing life in the Third Division. At this point, the club was taken over by the infamous Kumar brothers, and thus began a truly disastrous era.

By 1992 the club was in administration, before being bought for a sum less than a million pounds by publisher David Sullivan. Terry Cooper’s managerial reign was ended as Barry Fry took over. Fry in turn gave way to returning hero Trevor Francis.

An appearance in the 2001 League Cup final against Liverpool was the high point of Francis’ tenure, and he was later replaced by Steve Bruce, who took the club to promotion to the Premier League.

Their first season in the top flight saw a highly respectable mid table finish, the high points of which were two victories, 2-0 and 3-0, against hated rivals Aston Villa. 2006 saw the club relegated again (by Newcastle), only to bounce straight back the following season.

The 2007-2008 season has been a difficult one for Blues. There has been uncertainty over the ownership of the club, with the Hong Kong based Carson Yeung’s abortive takeover bid, and the departure of Steve Bruce for Wigan Athletic, to be replaced by Alec McLeish.

Birmingham City Factoids.

1. St Andrews has long been rumoured to be the subject of a gypsy curse, which is seen as having brought about the club’s lack of success. During his spell as manager, Barry Fry urinated in all four corners of the pitch in an attempt to break the curse.

2. Birmingham City – Aston Villa is seen as the biggest rivalry in the Second City, but this has not always been the case. For decades, this accolade went to the Aston Villa – West Bromwich Albion fixture.

3. Birmingham’s fans are known as ‘blue noses’.

4. The end of the 1985 season saw one of the largest outbreaks of football violence in Britain as running battles marred Blues’ home fixture with Leeds United, culminating in the death of a young supporter killed when a wall collapsed on him. Events at St Andrews were overshadowed by the Bradford fire, which happened on the same day.

5. The club’s anthem is “Keep Right On”, which was adopted by the players as they travelled to the 1956 FA Cup final.

6. Famous supporters include Jasper Carrott, Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan of ELO, and the skinny blonde bloke out of Dalziel and Pascoe.