Welcome to the latest instalment of the Gloucester Groundhopper blog.
For this blog, we went to a championship ground for the first time under my new alias, as well as a club with a history of drama. Birmingham City, who play at St Andrew's Stadium, was the club in question. This was my first visit to St Andrew's, and it didn't disappoint in terms of entertainment, drama, and the absurd. The stadium is about ten minutes from the city centre, so myself and AFC Finners decided to spend some time exploring Birmingham. It was a lovely start to the day, with stops at Tim Horton's, Pizza Hut, and a certain bull. However, the less said about the hordes of anti-vaxxers protesting in Birmingham's centre, the better. It’s All In The Name
Birmingham City are known as The Blues. The reason behind this is simple, it is the colour of their kit.
Some Notable Former Players
Ben Foster (Former Manchester United)
Cameron Jerome (Former Stoke City)
Obafemi Martins (Former Newcastle United)
Alexander Hleb (Former Arsenal)
Some Notable People From Birmingham:
James and Oliver Phelps- Harry Potter Movie Actors
Ozzy Osbourne- Musician
Joe Lycett- Comedian
Gabriel Agbonlahor- Footballer
Arthur Darvill-Actor
A History Lesson From AFC Finners
Birmingham City was founded in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance and became a professional football club in 1885. They first appeared in the football league in 1892 and were promoted to the top flight for the first time in 1894. They changed their name to Birmingham City Football Club in 1905 and relocated to St Andrews the following year.
Following World War I, they spent 18 years in the top flight, finishing as runners-up in the 1931 FA Cup final, losing to West Bromwich Albion.
During World War II, the Football League was once again halted, and the Kop was bombed, while the Main Stand burned down while serving as a fire station. Various inventive solutions were sought to ensure that the show continued as previous competitions resumed, and another second-tier title was won in 1948.
They would be relegated shortly before the Second World War, and in 1956, they would achieve their highest ever finish in the top flight, finishing sixth, and reach the FA Cup final for the second time, losing to Man City.
Additional endeavours included the construction of a new Main Stand in the mid-1950s and the first floodlit match against Borussia Dortmund in 1956. That game, which ended 3-3, was another landmark in the Club's continent-wide tradition. Blues had become the first English club side to compete in European competition earlier that year, defeating Inter Milan on their way to a Fairs Cup semi-final against FC Barcelona. They finally won their first major trophy in 1963, when they defeated Aston Villa in the league cup final 3-1 on aggregate.
They bounced between the top flight and the second division over the next few decades before being relegated to the third tier for the first time in the late 1980s. Birmingham's fluctuating divisional status continued to entertain, and they reached their second FA Cup final in 1956, which led to the adoption of the Club's renowned anthem, Keep Right On.
Barry Fry would return the club to the second division before Trevor Francis led them to the league cup final in 2001, where they were defeated on penalties by Liverpool. Steve Bruce would lead the club back to the top flight in 2002, thanks to Darren Carter's penalty. After being relegated in 2008, they would spend the next few years in the Premier League before returning immediately. In 2011, they reached the league cup final for the second time, and a late winner from Obafemi Martins secured a shock victory over Arsenal and the club's second major trophy.
They were relegated the following season and have remained in the second tier ever since, with the Blues wondering when they will be able to host Premier League football again.
Late goals are often scarce in football, but the Blues appear to specialise in the commodity. And none were as emotionally charged as Paul Caddis' close-range header in the dying embers of the 2013-14 season, which eliminated the possibility of relegation to League One. This sparked a trend of unappealing but enthralling survival missions, including one in 2017 under the direction of Harry Redknapp.
Now, in the midst of the 2021/22 Sky Bet Championship season, with former player Lee Bowyer at the helm as Head Coach, investment and innovation fuelled by the Club's ownership are fuelling a positivity and progression that rivals throughout the game.
Honours
🏆Football League Championship (Champions: 1892-1893, 1920-1921, 1947-1948, 1954-1955) (Runners-Up, 1893-1894, 1900-1901, 1902-1903, 1971-1972, 1984-1985, 2006-2007, 2008-2009) (Play-Off Winners, 2001-2002)
🏆Second Division (Champions: 1994-1995) (Runners-Up: 1991-1992)
🏆FA Cup (Runners-Up: 1930-1931, 1955-1956)
🏆Football League Cup (Winners: 1962-1963, 2010-2011) (Runners-Up, 2000-2001)
🏆Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (Runners-Up: 1958-1960, 1960-1961)
🏆Football League Trophy (Winners: 1990-1991, 1994-1995)
🏆Birmingham Senior Cup (Winners: 1905)
🏆Football League South (Champions: 1945-1946)
Matchday: Birmingham City 2-1 Barnsley
When you arrive at the stadium, you will notice a large sign that says 'Birmingham City Football Club,' which is difficult to miss. You can take either the 17 or the 60 bus to and from the city centre, making it very convenient. However, I chose to use the JustPark app and purchased parking about 2 minutes away at a local Morrison's for just under £4, so parking should not be an issue.
We decided to walk around the entire stadium and look in the club shop, as is our custom. The club shop sells a wide variety of merchandise at surprisingly low prices for a Championship club. There is a pub on the corner of Tilton Road, but when we arrived, it was packed with Birmingham fans—and one Rangers fan—so we decided to pass.
We won these tickets through the Sky Bet EFL Rewards App. Trying to get these tickets was a bit of a hassle. We began at the ticket collection point (which, if you ask me, would be the obvious place to ask fans to collect tickets), but were directed to the Director's lounge. Now, I'm not sure if you've ever tried to enter a Director's Lounge at a Championship club in a Grandad jumper and jeans, but simply walking in doesn't cut it. We easily persuaded the steward to let us in, were searched, and asked for our tickets at the front desk, but they had never heard of the EFL Rewards App. They couldn't figure out what I meant because I didn't say the words "Sky Bet." Anyway, they discovered the tickets and immediately inquired, "How many do you want?" Because there were two people in front of her, I asked for two tickets; however, I believe it would have been simple to request more if I had desired them. The Carling Cup, which Birmingham City won in 2011, was on display in the Director's Lounge. So, before we left, we quickly snapped a photo of it.
Our next task was to dig a hole in the ground. We were looking for Entrance 9, but we might as well have been looking for Mordor. When we asked a steward where it was, they told us it was on the other side of the ground. We proceeded to the entrance indicated by the stewards. We were searched and informed that we had entered the wrong building. As you can see, I'm attempting to make a point with these short sentences. We were told to go to the Gil Merrick entrance, so that's where we went. We were searched again here. (SEARCH COUNT:3) Our tickets did not work, so we were directed to the Gil Merrick entrance, which was convenient because we were already there. We were instructed to go to the ticket office to find out where we needed to go, which was, you guessed it, the Gil Merrick entrance. We returned, and they let us in, but not before another search. We were in the ground after being searched four times and having the bottle cap of my Lucozade removed from me. Surely, the difficulties had passed. Nope. It turns out that I'd have to climb a billion stairs to watch the game. When I reached the top of the stairs, I was met with a scene reminiscent of the aftermath of the Vietnam War. People are crying, struggling to breathe, seeing stairs coming out of the trees, and there is carnage. Anyway, it was here that I had the remainder of my Lucozade removed from me.
We tried to move to some empty seats slightly to the right of where we were because the view from our seat wasn't great. Fans came in one by one, each saying, 'This is my seat.' So endearing. As a result, we ended up back where we began. I must say that the Birmingham fans we met were not pleasant. They were rude, blunt, and didn't seem to want to talk. A million miles away from other clubs I've been to in the past.
Teamsheets:
Birmingham City
Manager:Lee Bowyer
Neil Etheridge
Maxime Colin
Teden Mengi
Marc Roberts
Kristian Pedersen
Gary Gardner
Ryan Woods
Jordan James
Onel Hernandez⚽
Scott Hogan⚽
Lukas Jutkiewicz
Subs
Connal Trueman
George Friend
Jobe Bellingham
Ivan Sunjic
Tate Campbell
Jeremie Bela
Jordan Graham
Barnsley
Manager: Poya Asbaghi
Brad Collins
Jordan Williams
Michal Helik
Mads Andersen
Liam Kitching
Romal Palmer
Claudio Gomes
Callum Styles
⚽Victor Adeboyejo
Carlton Morris
Aaron Leya Iseka
Subs
Jack Walton
Jasper Moon
William Hondermarck
Jason Sraha
Aiden Marsh
Devante Cole
Cameron Thompson
The game begins fairly flat for both sides. Barnsley had a few chances through Callum Styles and Carlton Morris, but nothing spectacular. Birmingham City's Lee Bowyer had a couple of chances through Scott Hogan and Onel Hernandez, but frustration grew among Birmingham fans when their player didn't lob the keeper from 50 yards out when the ball wasn't even in play. When Birmingham opened the scoring with full-on route one football, I was starting to think it was going to be a boring 0-0. Neil Etheridge, the goalkeeper, smashed it upfield, Scott Hogan took it down, and played in Onel Hernandez, who slotted home to make it 1-0.
The rest of the first half was fairly uneventful, and it remained 1-0 at the break. At half time, AFC Finners indulged in the Pie and A Pint for £7.50 deal. In the words of Finners, you can't go wrong with a Pukka Pie as they're Pukka. It's a pie. It's Pukka. Story checks out.
The second half began quickly, with Birmingham quickly doubling their lead. A corner was delivered from the left, the keeper thumbed the ball, there was some mayhem in the box, and Scott Hogan tapped in to make it 2-0. The rest of the second half was a battle between fans and the board. With 70 minutes left on the clock, Birmingham fans united in their opposition to their owners, singing 'We Want Our Club Back.' According to my research, Birmingham City is owned by Birmingham Sports Holdings (75 percent) and Oriental Rainbow (25 percent) (22 percent ). The main source of frustration appears to be a lack of communication from the owners regarding a variety of situations, as well as a lack of investment in the club. In today's football, this type of thing has become far too common. Owners who know nothing about their football clubs and own them solely for the purpose of having something to talk about at the dinner table. Birmingham City, Derby County, Macclesfield Town, Bury FC, Wigan Athletic, and Bolton Wanderers are among the clubs involved. It's becoming far too common, and it must be stopped. In an ideal world, football clubs should be owned by local businessmen, but where does that leave the EFL and the Premier League? Of course, owners have had success as well, most notably Leicester City. It's something that needs to be addressed; I'm not sure what the solution is, but something needs to be done, or else the Premier League's wish for their B teams to join the EFL may come true simply to make up the numbers.
In any case, the game ended fairly quietly. The highlight was a Barnsley player who had the ball out wide and had the opportunity to take his man on, but instead panicked and kicked it out for a goal kick. I'd never seen anything like it before, and it nearly knocked me out. Barnsley made it 2-1 when Adeboyejo slotted home from the edge of the box, but despite 7 minutes of stoppage time, Barnsley rarely threatened to equalise. On the balance of play, I believe a Birmingham victory was justified. Both teams looked terrible, and it's no surprise that both are fighting for relegation (Barnsley more so than Birmingham). Both sides will almost certainly take staying up this season, and based on what I saw in this game, I believe Birmingham will have just about enough to do so, whereas I believe Barnsley will be a step too far.
Scores On The Doors
Atmosphere: 4.5/10 Food and Drink: 4.5/10 Stadium: 5/10 Welcome: 2/10
Overall Experience: 3.5/10
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