April 10 – Having high-profile celebrity owners doesn’t guarantee anything in English football, but all bets are off when you have NFL legend and GOAT Tom Brady as a part-owner, as Birmingham City have proven after winning promotion to the Championship.
Thanks to victory over Peterborough at London Road, The Blues have romped home with six matches to spare in League One after a record £25million summer spend on 17 players.
With 29 wins from 40 league matches, Birmingham City have outclassed everyone, including Wrexham A.F.C. who have their own high-profile owners in the form of Hollywood pair Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds.
Now the team has an opportunity to put a cherry on top of the cake by winning the Vertu Trophy Final at Wembley Stadium on Sunday. A league-cup double could then follow if the team beats Crawley at home on Good Friday.
Speaking to BBC Radio, Birmingham City commentator Richard Wilford said: “It’s huge to get to this point so quickly.”
“Going into this season so many clubs in League One were warning them that they were in for a shock. It just hasn’t been like that. They’ve only lost three times in 40 games.
“They have been relentless in their desire to just keep on finding a way to win game after game. Promotion was inevitable.
“To get that done before Wembley is a terrific achievement, particularly given that Chris Davies is in his first senior season as a manager.”
For Davies, this has been a remarkable rise following in the footsteps of John Eustace, Wayne Rooney, Steve Spooner, Tony Mowbray, Mark Venus, and Gary Rowett who all had a period in the St. Andrews hotseat in the past 18 months without any success.
Birmingham entered the season as big favorites for promotion after their summer transfer spree.
“As much as Birmingham City’s return to the Championship seemed inevitable, the relentless way in which they have gone about their business has been extremely impressive,” said Wilford.
“The imaginative appointment of Davies to his first senior job has paid dividends, along with a recruitment policy that already had one eye on the second tier.
“An identifiable playing style, the return of sell-out crowds at St Andrew’s and approaching 40 victories in all competitions this season – that’s all combined to create a feel-good factor for a fan base who were warned they were ‘in for a shock’ this season.
“Once they found their more hard-nosed capability following November’s defeat at Shrewsbury, the shocks have been hard to find.”
How the Blues fare next season will undoubtedly be reflected in their transfer spend over this summer, as the Championship is widely considered to be the toughest league in the world to gain promotion from.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at moc.l1744957665labto1744957665ofdlr1744957665owedi1744957665sni@o1744957665fni1744957665