Birmingham City F.C.
Founded: 1875


Also Known As:
SMALL HEATH ALLIANCE (1875-88)
SMALL HEATH (1888-1905)
BIRMINGHAM (1905-43)
BIRMINGHAM CITY (1943-)




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BIRMINGHAM CITY F.C. (Football Club)
Included Info: Brief History, Club/Stadium Info, Team Jersey & Much More...

BRIEF HISTORY of BIRMINGHAM CITY FOOTBALL CLUB (reproduced from 'Wikipedia' pages)

Birmingham City were founded as Small Heath Alliance in 1875, and from 1877 played their home games at Muntz Street. The club turned professional in 1885, and three years later became the first football club to become a limited company with a board of directors, under the name of Small Heath F.C. Ltd. From the 1889–90 season they played in the Football Alliance, which ran alongside the Football League. In 1892, Small Heath, along with the other Alliance teams, were invited to join the newly formed Football League Second Division. They finished as champions, but failed to win promotion via the test match system; the following season promotion to the First Division was secured after a second place finish and test match victory over Darwen. The club adopted the name Birmingham Football Club in 1905, and moved into their new home, St Andrew's Ground, the following year. Matters on the field failed to live up to their surroundings. Birmingham were relegated in 1908, obliged to apply for re-election two years later, and remained in the Second Division until after the First World War.

1920 also saw the debut of the 19-year-old Joe Bradford, who went on to score a club record 267 goals in 445 games, and won 12 caps for England. In 1931, manager Leslie Knighton led the club to their first FA Cup Final, which they lost 2–1 to Second Division club West Bromwich Albion. Though Birmingham remained in the top flight for 18 seasons. The name Birmingham City F.C. was adopted in 1943. In 1947 they won their third Second Division title, conceding only 24 goals in the 42-game season. When Arthur Turner took over as manager in November 1954, he made them play closer to their potential, and a 5–1 win on the last day of the 1954–55 season confirmed them as champions. In their first season back in the First Division, Birmingham achieved their highest league finish of sixth place. They also reached the FA Cup final, losing 3–1 to Manchester City in the game notable for City's goalkeeper Bert Trautmann playing the last 20 minutes with a broken bone in his neck. The following season the club lost in the FA Cup semifinal for the third time since the war, this time beaten 2–0 by Manchester United's "Busby Babes".

Birmingham became the first English club side to take part in European competition when they played their first group game in the inaugural Inter-Cities Fairs Cup competition on 15 May 1956; they went on to reach the semifinal where they drew 4–4 on aggregate with Barcelona, losing the replay 2–1. They were also the first English club side to reach a European final, losing 4–1 on aggregate to Barcelona in the 1960 Fairs Cup final and 4–2 to A.S. Roma the following year. In the 1961 semifinal they beat Internazionale home and away; no other English club won a competitive game in the San Siro until Arsenal managed it more than 40 years later. Gil Merrick's side saved their best form for cup competitions. Though opponents in the 1963 League Cup final, local rivals Aston Villa, were pre-match favourites, Birmingham raised their game and won 3–1 on aggregate to lift their first major trophy. In 1965, after ten years in the top flight, they returned to the Second Division.

Businessman Clifford Coombs took over as chairman in 1965, luring Stan Cullis out of retirement to manage the club. Cullis's took them to the semifinals of the League Cup in 1967 and the FA Cup in 1968. Two years later, the club raised money by selling Bob Latchford to Everton for a British record fee of £350,000, but without his goals the team struggled. Sir Alf Ramsey briefly managed the club before Jim Smith took over in 1978. With relegation a certainty, the club sold Trevor Francis to Nottingham Forest, making him the first player transferred for a fee of £1 million. A poor start to the 1981–82 season saw him replaced by Ron Saunders, who had just resigned from league champions Aston Villa. Saunders' team struggled to score goals and in 1984 they were relegated. They bounced back up, but the last home game of the 1984–85 promotion season, against Leeds United, was marred by rioting, culminating in the death of a boy when a wall collapsed on him. This was on the same day as the Bradford City stadium fire, and the events at St Andrew's formed part of the remit of Mr Justice Popplewell's inquiry into safety at sports grounds. The club lacked stability both on and off the field. Saunders quit after FA Cup defeat to non-League team Altrincham, staff were laid off, the training ground was sold, and by 1989 Birmingham were in the Third Division for the first time in their history.

Birmingham's first top-flight season for 16 years finished in mid-table. Loan signing Mikael Forssell's 17 league goals helped Birmingham to a top-half finish in 2003–04, though performances and results tailed off badly towards the end of the season. In July 2007, Hong Kong-based businessman Carson Yeung bought 29.9% of shares in the club, making him the biggest single shareholder, with a view to taking full control in the future. Uncertain as to his future under possible new owners, Bruce left in mid-season to become manager of Premier League rivals Wigan Athletic. His successor, Scotland national team manager Alex McLeish,[53] was unable to stave off relegation, but achieved promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt, and a ninth-place finish, their best for 51 years, the following season. In 2011, they combined a second victory in the League Cup, defeating favourites Arsenal 2–1 with goals from Nikola Žigic and Obafemi Martins and securing qualification for the Europa League, with relegation back to the second tier.


CLUB FACTS & INFORMATION

Official Name
--
Birmingham City F.C.
Club Nickname
--
The Blues
Year Founded
--
1875 (141 years ago)
English County
--
West Midlands
Current Ground
--
St. Andrew's Stadium
Ground Location
--
Birmingham, England
Club's Owner
--
Trillion Trophy Asia
Club Chairman
--
Cho Hung Paul Suen
Current Manager
--
Harry Redknapp
Current League
--
Championship
Last Season
--
Championship, 19th place


HOME COLORS

Royal Blue & White
AWAY COLORS

Red, Yellow & Black
INTERESTING STADIUM FACTS & INFORMATION


ST. ANDREW'S STADIUM
St. Andrews Ground, Birmingham
West Midlands, B9-4RL England


OPENED: ......... December 26, 1906
SURFACE: ........ Grass
COST: .............. £10,000
CAPACITY: ...... 29,409
RECORD: ......... 66,844 (1939 vs Everton)
OWNER: ........... Birmingham City F.C.
OPERATOR: ..... Birmingham City F.C.
FIELD SIZE: ..... 109 x 72 yards (100 x 66 meters)



HOME JERSEY
AWAY JERSEY


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St. Andrew's Stadium (Birmingham) Seating Diagram
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Arsenal
Aston Villa
Barnsley
Birmingham City
Blackburn Rovers
Blackpool
Bolton Wanderers
Bournemouth
Bradford City
Bradford Park Avenue
Brentford
Brighton & Hove Albion
Bristol City
Burnley
Bury
Cardiff City
Carlisle United
Charlton Athletic
Chelsea
Coventry City
Crystal Palace
Darwen

Derby County
Everton
Fulham
Glossop
Grimsby Town
Huddersfield Town
Hull City
Ipswich Town
Leeds United
Leicester City
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Liverpool
Luton Town
Manchester City
Manchester United
Middlesbrough
Millwall
Newcastle United
Northampton Town
Norwich City
Nottingham Forest

Notts County
Oldham Athletic
Oxford United
Portsmouth
Preston North End
Queens Park Rangers
Reading
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Sheffield Wednesday
Southampton
Stoke City
Sunderland
Swansea City
Swindon Town
Tottenham Hotspur
Watford
West Bromwich Albion
West Ham United
Wigan Athletic
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Wolverhampton

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** NOTE ** The 1940-41 thru 1945-46 League Seasons cancelled due to World War II,
while clubs only completed 3 matches each before the 1939-40 Season was cancelled.

** NOTE ** The 1915-16 thru 1918-19 League Seasons cancelled due to World War I.




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