Birmingham City Football Club
A Brief History

The Early Years 1875-1900

The Club was formed as Small Heath Alliance and played it's first competitive match in Ladypool Road. It was formed by a group of cricketers who wanted to find something to keep them fit during the winter months. After a brief spell at Arthur Street, the Club moved to the Muntz Street ground in 1877. The Club became professional in 1885 and a year later the Club reached the semi finals of the English Cup losing to West Bromwich Albion. Also in 1886 the Club created history when they became the first to become a limited liability company when Small Heath FC. Ltd was created. 

In 1892-93 the Club became one of the founder members of the newly created Football League Division 2. The 'Heathens' as they were nicknamed, won the League in it's first season, scoring over 100 goals in the process and setting a record league victory of 12-0 against Walsall. But this at the time finishing top of the league, this did not mean automatic entry to the first division. A pair of play off matches (then called Test Matches) were played against the bottom club in the first division and Small Heath were unsuccessful in them losing to Newton Heath (Manchester United). 

In the following season Blues finished runners up in Division 2, which again earned them a play off game and a chance of promotion. This time the Heathens were successful beating Darwen 1-0 at the Victoria Ground in Stoke. The first ever season in the first division saw the Club finish 15th and were relegated via the play offs. The Club entered the 20th Century in Division 2.

1900-1914

The play off system was abandoned and a normal promotion/relegation system was adopted of two up and two down. The Club gained promotion in season 1900-01, but only to be relegated again the following season. A year later the Club changed Leagues again, being promoted to Division One, after finishing runners up in Division Two. This time they were to stay there for five seasons, before being relegated to Division Two, where they would remain until 1921. 

In 1905 the Club changed it's name to Birmingham Football Club and on Boxing Day of the following year, the Blues moved into their new St Andrews Ground, which saw it's first match on that day a 0-0 draw against Middlesbrough. 

1918-1939

In season 1920-21 Blues won the Second Division Championship. During the 1920's two records were set which still stand to this day. Joe Bradford in a 15 year career Blues scored a record 249 league goals, whilst full back Frank Womack amassed a total of 491 League appearances between 1908 & 1928. Joe Bradford incidentally still holds the Blues record for the moat league goals scored in one season, 29 in 1927-28.

For the first time in the Club's history, Blues reached the FA Cup Final in 1931, after defeating Sunderland in the semi finals. A crowd of over 90,000 at Wembley, saw Blues go down 2-1 to local rivals West Bromwich Albion. After 18 consecutive seasons in the First Division, Blues were relegated in 1938/39. During the same season on February 11th, 1939, an FA Cup 5th Round tie against Everton, saw the record attendance for St Andrews being set, when 66,844 fans attended.

1939-46

On October 15th, 1941 St Andrews staged it's first International match when England beat Wales 2-1. During the war a number of bombs fell on St Andrews, but in 1942 it was the mistake of a fireman, rather than the bombs, which led to the Main Stand being destroyed by the fire. The fireman mistook a bucket of petrol for water, whilst dampening down a small fire. The present name of Birmingham City Football Club Ltd was adopted in 1945. The Club won the Football League (South) Championship in the 1945/46 season and reached the FA Cup Semi Final in the same year. Blues were unlucky to lose to Derby after a replay. Over 80,000 watched the replay at Maine Road, but Blues lost centre half Ted Duckhouse, with a broken leg, just as extra time began, as the game had ended 0-0. In those days substitutes were not allowed and Derby took full advantage, eventually winning 4-0.

1947-1956

Normal League football resumed after the war and Blues again won the second division championship in the 1947/48 season. In doing so Blues established a second division defensive record by only conceding 24 goals in 42 matches. Unfortunately Blues were relegated in the following season, but another Second Division Championship was secured in the 1954/55 season and Blues went on in the following season to gain the Club's highest ever position in the top flight, finishing 6th in Division 1. Blues in the same year reached their second FA Cup Final, again beating Sunderland in the semi finals. Blues were favourites to beat Manchester City in the final, but alas it was not to be, going down 3-1. Also during the 1955/56 season Blues became the first English Club to take part in a European Football Competition when they entered the Inter Cities Fairs Cup. 

1957-1969

In 1958 Blues reached the semi final of the Fairs Cup, losing 6-5 on aggregate to Barcelona. In the next two competitions 1958/60 and 1960/61 Blues reached the final on both occasions, only to be beaten by Barcelona & AS Roma respectively. In the semi final of 1960/61 competition Blues beat Inter Milan both home and away and Blues hold the illustrious record of being the last English team to win a major European tie in the San Siro Stadium. 

The Football League Cup was first competed for in the 1960/61 season and in only it's third competition landed their only major trophy to date beating local rivals Aston Villa over two legs, by an aggregate of 3-1. The second leg was played at Villa Park, which ended 0-0 and the trophy was presented to Blues at the ground of our biggest rivals. 

Blues were relegated to the second division in the 1964/65 season and there Blues remained until 1972. Blues did appear in another FA Cup Semi Final in 1968, when they lost 2-0 to West Bromwich Albion at Villa Park. Many fans say to this day that Blues played brilliantly that day and were most unlucky to end up the losing side.

1970-1978

In September 1970, the then 16 year old Trevor Francis made his first appearance for the Blues against Cardiff. During his first season he scored all four goals in the home win over Bolton. During this spell he scored 12 goals in seven consecutive appearances. He went on to become a Blues legend, scoring a total of 133 goals in 328 appearances, in a nine year spell. 

Blues gained promotion back to the first division in the 1971/72 season. Blues secured promotion at the last game at Leyton Orient which they won 1-0 and in doing so pipped Millwall to the runners up position (only the top two in the league were promoted then). In the same season Blues lost 3-0 to the legendary Leeds United side of the early 70's in an FA Cup Semi Final at Hillsborough. Blues unusually wore a red and white version of their famous 'penguin' shirts that day. 

In 1974, Blues received a then record league transfer fee, of £350,000 for centre forward Bob Latchford, who departed for Everton, with as part of the deal Howard Kendall coming in the opposite direction to Blues. In some Blues fans eyes, this was the start of the decline of the Club.

The following year, Blues again reached the semi final of the FA Cup. Blues landed on paper the easiest draw of the semi final teams, against Fulham, who were in the league below Blues. A 1-1 draw at Hillsborough, meant a replay at Maine Road. In the game Blues played Fulham off the park, but just could not find the back of the net. Agonisingly, Blues conceded a goal with virtually the last kick of the game. It was total heartache and it was made worse by the fact  West Ham went onto win the final, a team that most Blues fans of the day, thought that Blues could beat. 

History was created in 1977, when the former England manager, Sir Alf Ramsey, managed the Club for a short period. Sir Alf, was the first knight to manage a football club. Jim Smith took over the managerial reigns in the following year and caused a stir, when he signed Argentinean Alberto Tarantini. It was a real coo to sign Tarantini, as only months earlier he had been part of the Argentinean World Cup winning team. However, even having a World Cup star could not prevent Blues being relegated to division two that season, which also saw the departure of Trevor Francis to Nottingham Forest, for a then league record transfer fee of £1m.

1980-1989

Jim Smith used the proceeds from the sale of Trevor Francis wisely, bringing in an experienced backbone to the team in Jeff Wealands, Colin Todd, Archie Gemmil and Frank Worthington. Blues scraped promotion finishing in third place in the league. A thrilling 3-3 draw at home against Notts County in the last game of the season against Notts County, saw tremendous scenes of joy at St Andrews.

The 1982-83 season saw Blues get off to a bad start and the Board asked Jim Smith to leave the Club. The decision was hastened by the availability of Aston Villa manager Ron Saunders, who after steering them to the first division championship in the previous, had resigned out of principle. Saunders was installed as Blues boss, much to the dismay of the Villa fans, plus a few bluenoses too.

As a matter of conjecture some Blues fans have seen the sacking of Jim Smith as a big mistake (then Director Jasper Carrott even resigned from the Board over the matter), as Smith was to continue in football management for the best part of the next 20 years. However, I think that it is too easily forgotten, then at the time Saunders was one of the top managers in the country. Blues were not doing well and it seemed a sensible move (and I at the time agreed with it). Yes ultimately Saunders was to fail at Blues, but you have to ask yourself why? Well it was simple he wasn't given sufficient financial backing in the transfer market by the Board. Do you think that Jim Smith would have done any better with little transfer money either? I don't think so.

Saunders kept Blues in at the end of the 1982-83 season, but they were relegated the following season. However Blues only spent one season in division two being promoted as runners up at the end of the 1984-85 season. Possibly the worst rioting ever to occur at St Andrews occurred during the last game of that season against Leeds United, with literally hundreds fighting on the pitch. Sadly a Leeds fan died at the game after a wall fell onto him.

The side that gained promotion under Saunders, quickly got a reputation as being one of the hardest and physically toughest teams that St Andrews had ever seen. The likes of Julian Dicks, Noel Blake, Robert Hopkins & Mick Harford almost became feared around the country, however their brand of football didn't quite work in the top flight. A run of 18 games without a win and a home defeat to non league Altrincham in the FA Cup saw the departure of Saunders. His replacement the charismatic John Bond could do little to prevent Blues being relegated once again. Blues continued to slide and in 1989 and for the first time in the Club's history, Blues were relegated to Division 3 and on the verge of bankruptcy. The fans marked the occasion with around 10,000 fans mostly in fancy dress, descending on Selhurst Park, for the last game of that season against Crystal Palace.

1990-1996

The new decade saw the long running association of the Combes family with the Club, come to an end, when ownership of the Club was sold for a token amount to the Kumar Brothers, who then primarily owned a clothing chain. Manager, Dave Mackay was sacked in 1991 and in came Lou Macari, who was then a top manager, who unfortunately had got embroiled in a betting scandal at one of his former Clubs, Swindon Town and had resigned as manager of West Ham. Although not gaining promotion from the 3rd Division, Macari did take Blues to their first Wembley appearance since 1956, in the final of the Leyland Daf Trophy. Almost 50,000 Bluenoses witnessed a Blues victory, over Tranmere Rovers by 3 goals to 2. With the Clubs drawing 2-2 and not many minutes remaining in the game, the winner came in spectacular style, with an overhead kick from Blues striker John Gayle. However, this limited success was marred, when Lou Macari, walked out on the Club during the close season, blaming a lack of ambition within the Club. This is still a sore point with Blues fans to this day and we have not let Mr Macari forget it.

Ex England & Leeds full back, Terry Cooper was brought into replace Macari for the start of the 1991-92 season and was successful in gaining Blues promotion, in his first season in charge. Blues finishing runners up in Division 3 to Brentford. With the creation of the new Premier League and the renaming of the Football Leagues, Blues found themselves, being promoted from Division 3, to the new Division 1. 

The 1992-93 season saw once again, turmoil off the field. Following the collapse of the BCCI Bank, the Kumar Brothers found their businesses, to be put under tremendous financial pressure and Blues were put into administration. The Club were struggling on the field also and relegation again looked to be a real possibility. However, things looked up when in March 1993, multi millionaires, David Sullivan, David Gold & Ralph Gold took over the Club (at it is a believed at a cost of £1m) and tide of optimism swept over the blue half of the City. That optimism was proved, when relegation was avoided on the last day of the season, with a 1-0 win over Alan Curbishley's Charlton at St Andrews. 

Blues though continued to struggle in the first division and Terry Cooper was replaced with the enigmatic Barry Fry. Fry who had enjoyed great success at Barnet & Southend, was hailed as the saviour and eventhough Blues put together a good run of results at the end of the season, Fry was unable to prevent Blues being relegated on the last day of the season. Although Blues had won their last game at Tranmere, West Brom managed to get a result at Fratton Park and Blues were relegated on goal difference to West Brom, who stayed up.

The 1994-95 season saw the beginning of a new era as the Tilton Road & Spion Kop Terraces, were re-developed into all new seated stands, at a cost of £10m. It was a great season with Blues winning the Division 3 Championship, clinched on the last game of the season, with a 2-1 win at Huddersfield Town. Blues also visited Wembley again, this time beating Carlisle United 1-0 in the final of the Auto Windscreens Shield.

But Fry was unable to sustain the success in the First Division and although the team were never in danger of relegation, they didn't threaten the top positions either. This led to him being sacked in May 1996 and replaced with Blues former goal scoring hero Trevor Francis.

1996-2002

Francis arrived back at St Andrews, in a sea of publicity, the Blues 'prodigal son' had finally returned to St Andrews. Season 1996-97, was a period of consolidation for Blues, whilst 1997-98 saw Blues just missing out on the play offs, on goals scored. During the following season the Railway End was re-developed with 8,000 capacity all seated stand. This boosted the current capacity of St Andrews to over 30,000. 1998-99 season saw Blues reach the play offs for the first time. Watford were the opposition and after a 1-0 defeat at Vicarage Road, Blues scored through Dele Adebola in the opening minutes in the second leg at St Andrews to even the tie on aggregate. But just when Blues fans were thinking of a final appearance, David Holdsworth was sent off and the game drifted to penalties, which in front of the Tilton Road End, Watford won 7-6.

Season 1999-2000 saw Blues reach the play off semi finals again. This time Barnsley were the opposition, but a disastrous first half display in the first leg at St Andrews, saw Barnsley scoring four goals without reply. Eventhough Blues won the second leg at Oakwell 2-1, it was not enough. The following season saw Blues reach their first major final since 1963, when they reached the final of the Worthington Cup. An impressive cup run had seen victories over Premiership opposition in the form of, Tottenham, Newcastle and in the semi final Ipswich Town. The final against Liverpool at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff attracted a crowd of 72,500. Robbie Fowler opened the scoring for Liverpool after 30 minutes. But in injury time at the end of the game, Darren Purse equalised from the penalty spot. Blues gave Liverpool a scare in extra time, but the game ended up being decided on penalties, which Liverpool won 5-4. At the end of this Blues reached the play offs for the third consecutive season. A 1-0 win at St Andrews over Preston gave Blues a fair chance at Deepdale. But again it was not to be with Blues losing the game 2-1 and the resultant penalty shoot out 4-2.

In October 2001 manager Trevor Francis left the Club by 'mutual consent'. The Board named Steve Bruce as their number one choice as his replacement and after a number of wranglings with his then current club Crystal Palace, Steve Bruce was installed as manager in December that year. Blues reached the play offs for the fourth time. But unlike previous occasions this time they went in as the form team, being unbeaten in their last 10 games. Blues were paired with Millwall in the semi finals and after a 1-1 draw at St Andrews, Stern John scored in the last minute of normal time at The Den, to place Blues in their first ever play off final. It was a journey down again to the Millennium Stadium Cardiff to play Norwich in the final. In a tight game, a goal by each side in extra time, meant that the game went to penalties. For once in front of their supporters, Blues won a penalty shoot out, with 18 year old Brummie, Darren Carter scoring the winning penalty (Blues won 4-2 on penalties) to propel Blues for their first ever outing in the Premier League. 

2002-2006

Blues had a successful return to the top flight of English Football, finishing a respectable 13th in the league. Blues first win of the season came against Leeds United at St Andrews, but it was the 3-0 win over local rivals Aston Villa in September, that really grabbed the attention. The Club though went two months during the middle of the season, without a win. However some shrewd signings by Steve Bruce in the January transfer window re-vitalised the team and the Club only lost three of their last 11 league games. The successful end of season run also included a 2-0 win at Villa Park, which meant that effectively Blues had beaten Villa 5-0 over the season.