Tag: seasons

Birmingham City: First Team Squad For The 2024/25 Season.

Birmingham City: Fixtures, Results And Goal Scorers For The 2024/25 Season.

Birmingham City: Kits For The 2024/25 Season.

Birmingham City: Our 2023/24 Season In Review.

Birmingham City: Staff For The 2024/25 Season.

Birmingham City: Summer Transfers For The 2024/25 Season.

Birmingham City: The 2023/24 Season Archive.

Birmingham City: Videos For The 2024/25 Season.

Birmingham City: Welcome To New Manager Chris Davies.

Notes And Links

The Birmingham City club logo shown at the top of this page and other photos is the copyright of Birmingham City F.C. and comes from their social media pages and website as does the information given as shown.

Any subsequent information is from Wikipedia.

Wikipedia content is subject to change.

Birmingham City F.C. – Official website.

Birmingham City on Facebook – Official Facebook page.

Birmingham City on Twitter – Official Twitter page.

Birmingham City on Instagram – Official Instagram page.

Birmingham City on YouTube – Official YouTube page.

Blues Store – Official club store website.

Birmingham City Foundation – Official website.

Nike – Official website.

Undefeated – Official website.

Birmingham City: First Team Squad For The 2024/25 Season

You can read lots more about Blues by clicking here.

Following on from relegation last season Blues were left with a very thin squad indeed after the retained and released list was released on the 18th of May, 2024 but I have 100% faith in Tom Wagner, Chris Davies et al that everything will be alright by the time the new season starts. It won’t be a hitting the ground running start to the season but things will work out. I still think it will take two seasons to get out but I hope they prove me wrong. Nothing would make me more happier. We have a young new manager who is hungry to do well and I truly believe he will but everyone has to be patient which is hard for a lot of “fans”. Time will tell but I’m always the optimistic and I really believe the days of shit football are over for us.

Here are Blues first team players to date.

Click on the player’s links to read more about them via Birmingham City’s official website and Wikipedia (where available).

First Team Squad: 2024/25 Season

Goalkeepers

Number 21: Ryan Allsop.

Ryan Allsop.

Defenders

Number 2: Ethan Laird.

Ethan Laird.

Midfielders

Number 12: Marc Leonard.

Marc Leonard.

Forwards

Number 7: Emil Hansson.

Emil Hansson.

Blog Posts

Birmingham City: Fixtures, Results And Goal Scorers For The 2024/25 Season.

Birmingham City: Kits For The 2024/25 Season.

Birmingham City: News For The 2024/25 Season.

Birmingham City: Our 2023/24 Season In Review.

Birmingham City: Staff For The 2024/25 Season.

Birmingham City: Summer Transfers For The 2024/25 Season.

Birmingham City: The 2023/24 Season Archive.

Birmingham City: Videos For The 2024/25 Season.

Birmingham City: Welcome To New Manager Chris Davies.

Notes And Links

The Birmingham City club logo shown at the top of this page is the copyright of Birmingham City F.C. and came from their social media pages. The images below are also copyright of them and are from their official website. The subsequent information is from there too and anything else is from Wikipedia.

Wikipedia content is subject to change.

Birmingham City F.C. – Official website.

Birmingham City on Facebook – Official Facebook page.

Birmingham City on Twitter – Official Twitter page.

Birmingham City on Instagram – Official Instagram page.

Birmingham City on YouTube – Official YouTube page.

Blues Store – Official club store website.

Birmingham City Foundation – Official website.

Nike – Official website.

Undefeated – Official website.

Birmingham City: The 2023/24 Season Archive

You can read lots more about Blues by clicking here.

Below you will find all the links relating to Blues 2023/24 season.

Blues 2023/24 Season Archive

Birmingham City: Blues Are Sadly Relegated To League One.

Birmingham City: First Team Squad For The 2023/24 Season.

Birmingham City: Fixtures, Results And Goal Scorers For The 2023/24 Season.

Birmingham City: Gary Rowett, Paul Robinson And Dave Carolan Return To Steady The Ship For Blues.

Birmingham City: Keep Right On To The End Of The Road.

Birmingham City: My First Home Game Of The 2023/24 Season.

Birmingham City: Summer Transfers For The 2023/24 Season.

Blog Posts

Birmingham City: Fixtures, Results And Goal Scorers For The 2024/25 Season.

Birmingham City: Kits For The 2024/25 Season.

Birmingham City: Our 2023/24 Season In Review.

Birmingham City: Staff For The 2024/25 Season.

Birmingham City: Summer Transfers For The 2024/25 Season.

Birmingham City: Videos For The 2024/25 Season.

Birmingham City: Welcome To New Manager Chris Davies.

Notes And Links

The Birmingham City Club logo shown at the top of this page and photos of our players is the copyright of Birmingham City F.C. and has come from Blues social media pages and website.

Birmingham City F.C. – Official website.

Birmingham City on Facebook – This is their official Facebook page.

Birmingham City on Twitter – This is their official Twitter page.

Birmingham City on YouTube – This is their official YouTube page.

Birmingham City: January Transfers For The 2023/24 Season

You can read lots more about Blues by clicking here.

One player was loaned in the January transfers, 2024 and two players were purchased. They were all midfielders.

January Transfers: 2023 – 2024 Season

Click on the player’s name to read their profile. This will take you to Birmingham City’s official website.

Click here to see our full first team squad for the 2023/24 season.

Midfielders

Number 13: Paik Seung-ho.

Welcome to Blues Paik.

Blog Posts

Birmingham City: First Team Squad For The 2023/24 Season.

Birmingham City: Fixtures, Results And Goal Scorers For The 2023/24 Season.

Birmingham City: Blues Are Sadly Relegated To League One.

Birmingham City: Gary Rowett, Paul Robinson And Dave Carolan Return To Steady The Ship For Blues.

Birmingham City: My First Home Game Of The 2023/24 Season.

Birmingham City: Summer Transfers For The 2023/24 Season.

Notes And Links

The Birmingham City Club logo shown at the top of this page and photos of our players is the copyright of Birmingham City F.C. and has come from Blues social media pages and website, as has the subsequent information. The new summer signings for the 2023/24 season image came from The BCFC Project via Facebook. Anything else is from Wikipedia.

Wikipedia content is subject to change.

Birmingham City F.C. – Official website.

Birmingham City on Facebook – This is their official Facebook page.

Birmingham City on Twitter – This is their official Twitter page.

Birmingham City on YouTube – This is their official YouTube page.

Blues Store Online – Birmingham City’s official club store online.

BCFC The Project on Facebook – This is their official Facebook page.

Birmingham City: My First Home Game Of The 2023/24 Season Against Millwall On 02/09/2023

You can read lots more about Blues by clicking here.

Saturday the 2nd of September, 2023 was like any other day for me when I am stuck in the house on a match day. I wake up, spend at least an hour in bed to let my brain catch up with the rest of my body, get up, have my breakfast, kill time, and watch the game on the telly. Today was going to be a different day and a whole lot better for it.

Before The Match

As the game was a 12.30 p.m. kick-off, I woke up earlier than normal for a Saturday, at about 9.15 a.m. and it is just as well I did. Around 15 minutes later my sister Julie rang me to ask if I was available in 30 minutes. I said yes and asked why. She told me my nephew Craig had a spare ticket and asked if I wanted to go. That was a no-brainer, ha ha. I got out of bed around 9.45 a.m., had a quick shave, and was about to have a cup of tea and my breakfast when Craig arrived at 10 a.m. It was time to go to the church of Birmingham City supporters and I was buzzing. St. Andrew’s hhyhbere we come.

We had left early so Craig could get a decent parking spot near the ground because traffic is atrocious around the Blues ground on a match day.

The journey was trouble free and after we parked we walked to The Royal George, a well-known, sought-out pub for Blues fans. It was here where Tom Wagner and Tom Brady visited on Saturday, August 12th, 2023, before they attended their first Blues home game ever against Leeds United.

There we met Craig’s friend Stuart, who was with his son Alfie, and we collected our tickets. Craig brought me my first pint of the day. This was my breakfast! I would like to say it was a nice pint of lager shandy but it wasn’t, It tasted musty and off but I drank it anyway, it would have been rude not to.

Looking towards the Royal George, Small Heath, Birmingham.

After we all had a drink and chat we headed toward where we were going to sit, The Gil Merrick Stand which is next to The Main Stand. Nearby is a poster of Blues most well-known goalkeeper and past manager, whom the stand is named after. There was an inflatable that was free to have a go at, where kids could try to score in different holes of different value points but regardless of what they scored, they got a free lollipop. It is a nice way to keep the kids busy before they enter the ground and Alfie enjoyed having a go. When we eventually move to a new ground (it is inevitable) the club needs to lay on more things for the kids to do than this though. By this is a place to get a drink and a bite to eat. This is fine for drinks if you are an adult but not so for kids. Stuart couldn’t get Alfie a soft drink and this needs to be sorted out in the future. This is not me nitpicking, just being honest and I have no doubt, that as we grow and grow, Tom Wagner will rectify all this. Craig got me another pint, just lager this time and we all had another chat. There was live entertainment via a man with his guitar and there is no doubt at all that since the new owners have been in charge, the match day experience and the atmosphere outside of the ground certainly has improved for the better.

With drinks down the hatch, Craig and Stuart kindly paid for a match programme between them (I always like to get a souvenir and this has improved a lot since I last got one) we entered the ground and climbed the seamless never ending steps to get to our seats. This was a task Craig handled well being he was on crutches due to a recent injury playing football himself!

The Gill Merrick Stand entrance, St. Andrew’s.

A Gil Merrick poster outside The Gill Merrick Stand, St. Andrew’s.

The Main Stand, St. Andrew’s.

Blues News v Millwall match programme 02/09/2023.

We settled into our seats at about 11.45 p.m., and not long after we all had a selfie. It is said the camera never lies and this is clearly so by the bloody mark on my Blues top, ha ha. Oh well, it is a great photo for memory’s sake anyway.

I took some photos of the ground, including the players warming up.

Inside St. Andrew’s, in the Gil Merrick Stand, for my first home game of the 2023/24 season with Craig, Alfie, And Stuart.

Blues entering the pitch for a warm-up v Millwall at St. Andrew’s.

Blues players warming up v Millwall at St. Andrew’s.

Blues and Millwall players warming up at St. Andrew’s.

The big screen between The Main Stand and The Gil Merrick Stand inside St. Andrew’s.

Inside St. Andrew’s.

The Main Stand, inside St. Andrew’s.

The Tilton, inside St. Andrew’s.

The Kop, inside St. Andrew’s.

Beau Brummie at St. Andrew’s.

Just before the 12:30 p.m. kick-off, there was a short pyro display and blue and white smoke to thrill the crowd. This is a new thing obviously American influenced by Tom Wagner and Tom Brady and I like it. As long as they don’t bring cheerleaders into the game then a bit of razzamatazz does no harm to the game and adds some excitement to the atmosphere in the ground.

This was the Blues team starting today. Our new loan signing Cody Drameh goes straight in the first 11 to make his home debut with another new loan signing, Emmanuel Aiwu taking his place on the bench.

Blues v Millwall starting line-up.

First Half

Blues were kicking toward The Gil Merrick Stand so it would have been nice to have seen us score a goal being we had a nice, clear view of the net. Alas, that wasn’t to be. Millwall scored an early goal against the run of play after a decent enough start from us and that knocked our confidence for almost 15 minutes. John Ruddy should have saved their free kick. His form was off today and his passing was poor. We picked up the pace toward the end of the first half but again, against the run of play they scored a second goal but it was ruled out by a delayed offside call. We had a late penalty decision when Keshi Anderson was fowled in their box. This was taken by Scott Hogan that should have taken us level at the break but it didn’t turn out that way. The penalty was weak and was easily saved by Matija Sarkic (who was on loan to us last season).

It wasn’t just Ruddy’s passing that was not good enough first half, the whole team followed suit and should have done better. We didn’t deserve to be a goal down at the break. We made Millwall look better than they were. The first half was very frustrating to watch indeed.

I filmed a short clip of gameplay early in the first half. Click here to see it. As with the Pyro clip above it is clear I am no Steven Spielberg, ha ha, but it is all about sharing the experience of it all.

Blues and Millwall players leaving the pitch at half-time at St. Andrew’s.

Blues players leaving the pitch at half-time v Millwall at St. Andrew’s.

Half Time

Birmingham City 0 – Millwall 1.

Not a lot went on at the interval or at least I never noticed. I was busy on my phone and chatting. Stuart brought me a Coke and before you knew it, it was time to get back to our seats for the kick-off with Blues playing towards The Tilton End.

Second Half.

Blues played much better this time with plenty of chances to score but only one went in, a 53rd-minute goal from Jay Stansfield, making it two goals in two games. I didn’t see the goal that well being it was down the other end and my eyesight isn’t the best but after seeing it in the match highlights it was a good goal with a great assist from Juninho Bacuna.

As much as you do get a much better view watching Blues on telly, NOTHING beats being at St. Andrew’s and soaking in the great atmosphere. I wish it could be more often.

Stuart and Alfie left 10 minutes early to avoid the traffic. I want to say thank you to Alfie for sharing his sweets today, that was kind of him.

Me and Craig stayed until the end, hoping for another late winner that never happened.

Blues battled until the ref blew the final whistle, as we always do. I would like to state that said referee, Josh Smith, was very favourable to the Millwall players with his decisions but that seems to be the norm for most refs when anyone plays us.

Full Time

Birmingham City 1 – Millwall 1.

Regarding the crowd, the atmosphere in the ground was good but could have been better. When it was loud it was loud but the crowd was too quiet at times and the Millwall fans were heard too much for my liking.

Regarding the game, I felt like it was two points lost for us. However, I am NOT complaining, the fact that we could feel disappointed with a draw when in the not-so-distant past we would have snapped that up is a sign of how improved we have become on the pitch. Games like this would have ended up in a loss after starting from a goal behind and it is a credit to John Eustace for the good work he has done since being manager under dire circumstances. If you want to call him head coach, you can but I am old school so I will call him our manager.

After The Match

Me and Craig slowly made our way out of the ground and made our way to his car. As mentioned above the traffic around the ground on match day is shocking, especially as it is on the 97 bus route, and it was a challenge just to get onto the road. Slowly we made our way out of Small Heath and Craig dropped me back home thus ending my time at my first home game of the 2023/24 football season.

Some of the best days in life are the ones that include unexpected surprises and today was one of them and I am very grateful to Craig for thinking of me.

As we head into the international break Blues are undefeated in the league and are sitting in 4th place which is EXCELLENT. I just hope what happened last season when we went into the break on form and then returned doesn’t happen again!

Here is the top of the table after all Championship games were played today and match highlights.

Blues league position in the Championship on 02/09/2023.

KEEP RIGHT ON.

Blog Posts

Birmingham City: Blues Are Sadly Relegated To League One.

Birmingham City: Fixtures, Results And Goal Scorers For The 2023/24 Season.

Birmingham City: Gary Rowett, Paul Robinson And Dave Carolan Return To Steady The Ship For Blues.

Birmingham City: January Transfers For The 2023/24 Season.

Birmingham City: Keep Right On To The End Of The Road.

Birmingham City: Summer Transfers For The 2023/24 Season.

Notes And Links

The selfie image shown at the top of this page is the copyright of Stuart Smith. All other photos are copyrighted to me except the match programme, starting line-up, and league position photos which are the copyright of Birmingham City F.C. and have come from Blues social media pages and website.

Birmingham City F.C. – Official website.

Birmingham City on Facebook – This is their official Facebook page.

Birmingham City on Twitter – This is their official Twitter page.

Birmingham City on YouTube – This is their official YouTube page.

Blues Store Online – Birmingham City’s official club store online.

Birmingham City: Summer Transfers For The 2023/24 Season

You can read lots more about Blues by clicking here.

Thirteen players have been bought in this summer, either on a full contract or on loan.

Unlike in the past when the clueless Chinese owned us and Harry Redknapp was the manager and spent money like a kid in a sweet shop (as exciting and crazy as it was at the time) Blues have been able to do all this within Financial Fair Play Regulations thanks to the savvy business experience of Tom Wagner (Knighthead / Shelby Companies).

All these signings are a great asset to a squad that will be utilised a lot during a tough league like the Championship and a special mention has to go to Technical Director Craig Gardner for his huge part in getting the deals over the line. Well done Craig.

New summer signings for the 2023/24 season.

Summer Transfers: 2023 – 2024 Season

Click on the player’s name to read their profile. This will take you to Birmingham City’s official website.

Click here to see our full first team squad for the 2023/24 season.

Blog Posts

Birmingham City: Blues Are Sadly Relegated To League One.

Birmingham City: Fixtures, Results And Goal Scorers For The 2023/24 Season.

Birmingham City: Gary Rowett, Paul Robinson And Dave Carolan Return To Steady The Ship For Blues.

Birmingham City: January Transfers For The 2023/24 Season.

Birmingham City: Keep Right On To The End Of The Road.

Birmingham City: My First Home Game Of The 2023/24 Season.

Notes And Links

Wikipedia content is subject to change.

Birmingham City F.C. – Official website.

Birmingham City on Facebook – This is their official Facebook page.

Birmingham City on Twitter – This is their official Twitter page.

Birmingham City on YouTube – This is their official YouTube page.

Blues Store Online – Birmingham City’s official club store online.

BCFC The Project on Facebook – This is their official Facebook page.

Birmingham City: First Team Squad For The 2023/24 Season

You can read lots more about Blues by clicking here.

Click here to see all the summer transfers for the 2023/24 season.

First Team Squad: 2023 – 2024 Season

Click on the player’s name to read their profile. This will take you to Birmingham City’s official website.

Goalkeepers

Number 1: Neil Etheridge.

Defenders

Number 2: Ethan Laird.

Midfielders

Number 6: Krystian Bielik.

Forwards

Number 8: Tyler Roberts.

Retained And Released List: The End Of The 2023 – 24 Season

The Club confirmed on the 18th of May, 2024 their list of retained and released players following the conclusion of the 2023/24 season.

Five of the Men’s First Team squad have been released. These are Neil Etheridge, Gary Gardner, Scott Hogan, Marc Roberts and Ivan Sunjic.

New contracts have been offered to Lukas Jutkiewicz and John Ruddy.

A contract extension has been activated for Keshi Anderson.

A further seven young professionals have been released. Oliver Basey, Tate Campbell, Marcel Oakley, Rico Patterson, Callum Sullivan, Finley Thorndike and Kieran Wakefield will all leave Birmingham City following the expiration of their contracts.

Third-year scholars Morgan Dance and Pharrell Williams have also been released.

Five players have returned to their parent clubs. These are Emanuel Aiwu, Oliver Burke, Andre Dozzell, Cody Drameh and Jay Stansfield.

Options in the Club’s favour have been exercised for Junior Dixon, Laiith Fairnie, Harley Hamilton, Sahid Kamara and Femi Olofinjana.

Rico Browne and Brad Mayo have been offered professional terms for next season.

All second-year scholars have been offered pro contracts, with further details to be confirmed during the close season.

The following players all remain under contract:

Keshi Anderson, Juninho Bacuna, Ben Beresford, Krystian Bielik, Lee Buchanan, Alfie Chang, Junior Dixon, Siriki Dembele, Romelle Donovan, Laiith Fairnie, Tommy Fogarty, George Hall, Harley Hamilton, Josh Home, Jordan James, Sahid Kamara, Brandon Khela, Ethan Laird, Emmanuel Longelo, Koji Miyoshi, Femi Olofinjana, Byron Pendleton, Paik Seung-ho, Alex Pritchard, Tyler Roberts, Dion Sanderson, Josh Williams.

To all those leaving Blues I just want to thank them for their time at the club and wish them good luck and success for the future.

Any further squad news from now on will be dealt with on a separate page for the new season.

Blog Posts

Birmingham City: Blues Are Sadly Relegated To League One.

Birmingham City: Fixtures, Results And Goal Scorers For The 2023/24 Season.

Birmingham City: Gary Rowett, Paul Robinson And Dave Carolan Return To Steady The Ship For Blues.

Birmingham City: January Transfers For The 2023/24 Season.

Birmingham City: Keep Right On To The End Of The Road.

Birmingham City: My First Home Game Of The 2023/24 Season.

Birmingham City: Summer Transfers For The 2023/24 Season.

Notes And Links

Wikipedia content is subject to change.

Birmingham City F.C. – Official website.

Birmingham City on Facebook – This is their official Facebook page.

Birmingham City on Twitter – This is their official Twitter page.

Birmingham City on YouTube – This is their official YouTube page.

Blues Store Online – Birmingham City’s official club store online.

Birmingham City: Kits For The 2023/24 Season

You can read lots more about Blues by clicking here.

My initial reaction to seeing the new home shirt was it looks like a normal plain t-shirt but it’s OK and it will be one of those looks that will grow on me. There are different shades of Royal Blue and I would have preferred it to have been a more traditional darker shade. The bands around the neck and arms would have been better white and the shorts would have been better white but it is not a bad kit. It is one of them that will look better in person and worn.

I have always liked the Nike swoosh logo so I was pleased when we first had them as our kit supplier. However, like feeling the same when we had Adidas before them, it was disappointing that they make very generic tops, where as in the past we have had varied styles from different suppliers.

I don’t know much about the new kit sponsor Undefeated and as much as the front logo looks like a garden gate, it makes a nice change from gambling sponsors and it is nice that the kit is the same throughout the men and women’s teams and kids can wear the same as the adults are.

Although tradition plays a big part in it for the fans, in the end, it isn’t all necessarily about what colour a football kit is, the sponsors and advertising on it or what players name is on the back, what really matters is the club badge on the front. That represents all of us who follow this fantastic team. That is where the true passion lies.

Home Kit: 2023 – 2024 Season

Birmingham City’s new home kit for the 2023 – 2024 season.

Buy adult and children sizes here.

Birmingham City’s new home kit top for the 2023 – 2024 season.

Birmingham City’s new home kit shorts for the 2023 – 2024 season.

Birmingham City’s new home kit socks for the 2023 – 2024 season.

Away Kit: 2023 – 2024 Season

Birmingham City’s new away kit for the 2023 – 2024 season.

Buy adult and children sizes here.

Birmingham City’s new away kit top for the 2023 – 2024 season.

Birmingham City’s new away kit shorts for the 2023 – 2024 season.

Birmingham City’s new away kit socks for the 2023 – 2024 season.

Third Kit: 2023 – 2024 Season

Birmingham City’s new third kit for the 2023 – 2024 season.

Buy adult and children sizes here.

Birmingham City’s new third kit top for the 2023 – 2024 season.

Birmingham City’s new third kit shorts for the 2023 – 2024 season.

Birmingham City’s new third kit socks for the 2023 – 2024 season.

Blog Posts

Birmingham City: Blues Are Sadly Relegated To League One.

Birmingham City: First Team Squad For The 2023/24 Season.

Birmingham City: Fixtures, Results And Goal Scorers For The 2023/24 Season.

Birmingham City: Gary Rowett, Paul Robinson And Dave Carolan Return To Steady The Ship For Blues.

Birmingham City: January Transfers For The 2023/24 Season.

Birmingham City: Keep Right On To The End Of The Road.

Birmingham City: My First Home Game Of The 2023/24 Season.

Birmingham City: Summer Transfers For The 2023/24 Season.