text: birmingham city f.c. birmingham city football club ( / ˈsɪti / , locally / / ) is a professional association football club based in the city of birmingham , england . formed in 1875 as small heath alliance , they became small heath in 1888 , then birmingham in 1905 , finally becoming birmingham city in 1943 . they compete in the football league championship , the second tier of league football in england . as small heath , they played in the football alliance before becoming founder members and first ever champions of the football league second division . the most successful period in their history was in the 1950s and early 1960s . they achieved their highest finishing position of sixth in the first division in the 1955 – 56 season and reached the 1956 fa cup final , progressed to the final of the inter - cities fairs cup in 1960 and 1961 , and won their first major trophy , the league cup , in 1963 , beating aston villa 3 – 1 on aggregate . they won the latter competition for the second time in 2011 . they have played in the top tier of english football for the majority of their history . their longest period spent outside the top division , between 1986 and 2002 , included two brief spells in the third tier of the english league , during which time they twice won the football league trophy . st andrew 's has been their home ground since 1906 . they have a long - standing and fierce rivalry with aston villa , their nearest neighbours , with whom they play the second city derby . the club 's nickname is blues , due to the colour of their kit , and their fans are known as . history 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 . frank womack 's captaincy and the creativity of scottish international playmaker johnny crosbie contributed much to birmingham winning their second division two title in 1920 – 21 . womack went on to make 515 appearances , a club record for an outfielder , over a twenty - year career . 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 , they struggled in the league , with much reliance placed on england goalkeeper harry hibbs to make up for the lack of goals , bradford excepted , at the other end . they were finally relegated in 1939 , the last full season before the football league was abandoned for the duration of the second world war . the name birmingham city f.c. was adopted in 1943 . under harry storer , appointed manager in 1945 , the club won the football league south wartime league and reached the semifinal of the first post - war fa cup . two years later they won their third second division title , conceding only 24 goals in the 42 - game season . storer 's successor bob brocklebank , though unable to stave off relegation in 1950 , brought in players who made a major contribution to the club 's successes of the next decade . 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 team played attractive football which took them to the semifinals of the league cup in 1967 and the fa cup in 1968 , but league football needed a different approach . successor freddie goodwin produced a team playing skilful , aggressive football that won promotion as well as reaching an fa cup semifinal . 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 ; francis had scored a total of 133 goals in 329 appearances over his nine years at birmingham . smith took birmingham straight back to the first division , but 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 . in april 1989 the kumar brothers , owners of a clothing chain , bought the club . a rapid turnover of managers , the absence of promised investment , and a threatened mass refusal of players to renew contracts was relieved only by a victorious trip to wembley in the associate members cup . terry cooper delivered promotion , but the collapse of the bank of credit and commerce international ( bcci ) put the kumars ' businesses into receivership ; in november 1992 bcci 's liquidator put up for sale their 84 % holding in the football club . the club continued in administration for four months , until publisher david sullivan bought it for £ 700 , 000 , installed the then 23 - year - old karren brady as managing director and allowed cooper money for signings . on the last day of the season , the team avoided relegation back to the third tier , but after a poor start to the 1993 – 94 season cooper was replaced by barry fry . the change did not prevent relegation , but fry 's first full season brought promotion back to the second tier as champions , and victory in the football league trophy at wembley , beating carlisle united with a paul tait golden goal , completed the " lower - league double " . after one more year , fry was sacked to make way for the return of trevor francis . francis introduced players with top - level experience such as manchester united skipper steve bruce . in his second season the club narrowly missed out on a play - off position , followed by three years of play - off semifinal defeats . they also reached the 2001 league cup final against liverpool at cardiff 's millennium stadium . birmingham equalised in the last minute of normal time , but the match went to a penalty shootout which liverpool won . by october 2001 , lack of progress had made francis 's position untenable . after a 6 – 0 league cup defeat to manchester city , he left by mutual consent , replaced two months later by steve bruce . bruce shook up a stale team , taking them from mid - table into the play - offs where they beat norwich city on penalties to win promotion to the premier league . motivated by the inspirational christophe dugarry , 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 . first - team coach mark bowen was sacked and replaced by eric black , international players were signed , but an injury to forssell left the 2004 – 05 team struggling for goals . more transfer window loan signings ensured another mid - table finish . only two months later , chairman david gold said it was time to " start talking about being as good as anyone outside the top three or four " with " the best squad of players for 25 years " . injuries , lack of form , and a lack of investment during the transfer window saw them relegated before the last game of a season whose lowlight was a 0 – 7 fa cup defeat to liverpool . jermaine pennant and emile heskey left for record fees , many more were released , but bruce retained the confidence of the board . his amended recruitment strategy , combining young " hungry " players with free - transfer experience and shrewd exploitation of the loan market , brought automatic promotion at the end of a season which had included calls for his head . 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 , 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 žigić and obafemi martins and securing qualification for the europa league , with relegation back to the second tier . mcleish resigned in june 2011 to join aston villa . successor chris hughton narrowly failed to reach the knockout rounds of the europa league and the playoff final before , with the club in financial turmoil and under a transfer embargo , leaving for norwich city in june 2012 . under lee clark , birmingham twice retained their divisional status , albeit through paul 's 93rd - minute goal in the last match of 2013 – 14 to avoid relegation on goal difference . after a continuation of the poor form from the previous season , clark was sacked in october 2014 , to be replaced by burton albion manager and former birmingham player gary rowett . colours and badge the small heath alliance members decided among themselves that their colours would be blue ; in the early days , they wore whatever blue shirt they had . their first uniform kit was a dark blue shirt with a white sash and white shorts . several variations on a blue theme were tried ; the one that stuck was the royal blue shirt with a white " v " , adopted during the first world war and retained until the late 1920s . though the design changed , the royal blue remained . in 1971 they adopted the " penguin " strip – royal blue with a broad white central front panel – which lasted five years . since then they have generally worn plain , nominally royal blue shirts , though the actual shade used has varied . shorts have been either blue or white , and socks usually blue , white or a combination . white , yellow , red and black , on their own or in combination , have been the most frequently used colours for the away kit . there have been aberrations . the 1992 kit , sponsored by triton showers , was made of a blue material covered with multicoloured splashes which resembled a shower curtain . birmingham have only worn stripes on their home shirt once ; in 1999 they wore a blue shirt with a front central panel in narrow blue and white stripes , a design similar to the tesco supermarket carrier bag of the time . when the club changed their name from small heath to birmingham in 1905 they adopted the city 's coat of arms as their crest , although this was not always worn on the shirts . the 1970s " penguin " shirt carried the letters " " intertwined at the centre of the chest . the sports argus newspaper ran a competition in 1972 to design a new badge for the club . the winning entry , a line - drawn globe and ball , with ribbon carrying the club name and date of foundation , in plain blue and white , was adopted by the club but not worn on playing shirts until 1976 . an experiment was made in the early 1990s with colouring in the globe and ball , but the club soon reverted to the plain version . for the 2016 – 17 season , the home kit is all blue , apart from white trim on the sleeves and three white stripes down the sides and round the sock tops . the away kit is all red , apart from white trim at the neck and under the sleeve and three white stripes on the shoulders , shorts and sock tops . the kits , supplied by adidas in this first season of a four - year deal , bear the logo of online bookmaker , the club 's principal sponsor . sponsors ' names or logos have appeared on the shirts since 1982 . tables of shirt sponsors and kit suppliers appear below . stadiums small heath alliance played their first home games on waste ground off arthur street , bordesley green . as interest grew , they moved to a fenced - off field in ladypool road , sparkbrook , where admission could be charged . a year later , they moved again , to a field adjoining muntz street , small heath , near the main coventry road , with a capacity of about 10 , 000 . the muntz street ground was adequate for 1880s friendly matches , and the capacity was gradually raised to around 30 , 000 , but when several thousand spectators scaled walls and broke down turnstiles to get into a first division match against aston villa , it became clear that it could no longer cope with the demand . director harry morris identified a site for a new ground in bordesley green , some three - quarters of a mile ( 1 km ) from muntz street towards the city centre . the site was where a brickworks once operated ; the land sloped steeply down to stagnant pools , yet the stadium was constructed in under twelve months from land clearance to opening ceremony on boxing day 1906 . heavy snow nearly prevented the opening ; volunteers had to clear pitch and terraces before the match , a goalless draw against middlesbrough , could go ahead . the ground is reputed to have been cursed by gypsies evicted from the site ; although gypsies are known to have camped nearby , there is no contemporary evidence for their eviction by the club . the original capacity of st andrew 's was reported as 75 , 000 , with 4 , 000 seats in the main stand and space for 22 , 000 under cover . by 1938 the official capacity was 68 , 000 , and february 1939 saw the attendance record set at the fifth round fa cup tie against everton , variously recorded as 66 , 844 or 67 , 341 . on the outbreak of the second world war , the chief constable ordered the ground 's closure because of the danger from air raids ; it was the only ground to be thus closed , and was only re - opened after the matter was raised in parliament . it was badly damaged during the birmingham blitz : the railway end and the kop as a result of bombing , while the main stand burnt down when a fireman mistook petrol for water . the replacement main stand used a propped cantilever roof design , which meant fewer pillars to block spectators ' view of the pitch . floodlights were installed in 1956 , and officially switched on for a friendly match against borussia dortmund in 1957 . by the early 1960s a stand had been built at the railway end to the same design as the main stand , roofs had been put on the kop and tilton road end , and the ground capacity was down to about 55 , 000 . resulting from the 1986 popplewell report into the safety of sports grounds and the later taylor report , the capacity of st andrew 's was set at 28 , 235 for safety reasons , but it was accepted that the stadium had to be brought up to modern all - seated standards . after the last home game of the 1993 – 94 season , the kop and tilton road terraces were demolished – fans took home a significant proportion as souvenirs – to be replaced at the start of the new season by a 7 , 000 - seat tilton road stand , continuing round the corner into the 9 , 500 - seat kop which opened two months later . the 8 , 000 - seat railway stand followed in 1999 ; ten years later , this was renamed the gil merrick stand , in honour of the club 's appearance record - holder and former manager – but the main stand has still to be modernised . in 2013 , the club website listed the stadium capacity as 30 , 016 . in 2004 a proposal was put forward to build a " sports village " comprising a new 55 , 000 capacity stadium for the club , to be known as the city of birmingham stadium , other sports and leisure facilities , and a super casino . the project would be jointly financed by birmingham city council , birmingham city f.c. ( via the proceeds of the sale of st andrew 's ) and the casino group las vegas sands . the feasibility of the plan depended on the government issuing a licence for a super casino , and birmingham being chosen as the venue , but this did not happen . the club have planning permission to redevelop the main stand , but club and council have continued to seek alternative sources of funding for the city of birmingham stadium project . in 2013 , the birmingham city supporters ' trust 's application for listing st andrew 's as an asset of community value ( acv ) – a building or other land whose main use " furthers the social wellbeing or social interests of the local community " and where it is realistic to believe it could do so in the future . – under the localism act 2011 was approved by birmingham city council . this requires any proposed sale to be notified to the council , and provides for a six - month moratorium on that sale to allow the trust and other community groups to submit their own bid . supporters birmingham fans consider their main rivals to be aston villa , their nearest neighbours geographically , with whom they contest the second city derby . lesser rivalries exist with fellow west midlands clubs wolverhampton wanderers and west bromwich albion . according to a 2003 football fans census survey , aston villa fans thought of birmingham city as their main rivals , though this was not always the case . birmingham 's supporters are generally referred to as " " in the media and by the fans themselves ; the name is also used in a derogatory manner by fans of other clubs . a piece of public sculpture in the form of a ten - times - life - size head lying on a mound near the st andrew 's ground , 's sleeping iron giant , has been repeatedly defaced with blue paint on its nose . between 1994 and 1997 the club mascot took the form of a blue nose , though it is now a dog called beau brummie , a play on the name beau and brummie , the slang word for a person from birmingham . a number of supporters ' clubs are affiliated to the football club , both in england and abroad . an action group was formed in 1991 to protest against chairman kumar , the club blamed an internet petition for the collapse of the purchase of player lee bowyer in 2005 , and antipathy towards the board provoked hostile chanting and a pitch invasion after the last match of the 2007 – 08 season , but when the club was in financial difficulties , supporters contributed to schemes which funded the purchase of players brian roberts in 1984 and paul peschisolido in 1992 . a supporters ' trust was formed under the auspices of supporters direct in 2012 . there have been several fanzines published by supporters . made in brum , first issued in 2000 , was the only one regularly on sale in 2013 . the zulu began some years earlier and ran for at least 16 seasons . the hooligan firm associated with the club , the zulus , were unusual in that they had multi - racial membership at a time when many such firms had associations with racist or right - wing groups . the fans ' anthem , an adaptation of harry lauder 's keep right on to the end of the road , was adopted during the 1956 fa cup campaign . the times ' football correspondent described in his cup final preview how the birmingham clans swept their side along to wembley – the first side ever to reach a final without once playing at home – on the wings of the song " keep right on to the end of the road " . player alex govan is credited with popularising the song , by singing it on the coach on the way to the quarter final and when he revealed in an interview that it was his favourite . in the build - up to the 1956 fa cup semi - final with sunderland i was interviewed by the press and happened to let slip that my favourite song was harry lauder 's old music hall number " keep right on to the end of the road " . i thought no more about it , but when the third goal went in at hillsborough the blues fans all started singing it . it was the proudest moment of my life . ownership small heath f.c. became a limited company in 1888 ; its first share issue was to the value of £ 650 . the board was made up of local businessmen and dignitaries until 1965 , when the club was sold to clifford coombs . by the mid - 1980s the club was in financial trouble . control passed from the coombs family to former walsall f.c. chairman ken wheldon , who cut costs , made redundancies , and sold off assets , including the club 's training ground . still unable to make the club pay , wheldon sold it to the kumar brothers , owners of a clothing chain . debt was still increasing when matters came to a head ; the collapse of the bank of credit and commerce international ( bcci ) put the kumars ' businesses into receivership . the club continued in administration for four months until sport newspapers ' proprietor david sullivan bought the kumars ' 84 % holding for £ 700 , 000 from bcci 's liquidator in march 1993 . birmingham city plc , of which the football club was a wholly owned subsidiary , was floated on the alternative investment market ( aim ) in 1997 with an issue of 15 million new shares , raising £ 7 . 5 million of new investment . it made a pre - tax profit of £ in the year ending 31 august 2008 . in july 2007 , hong kong businessman carson yeung , via the hong kong stock exchange ( ) -listed company international holdings limited ( ) , bought 29 . 9 % of the plc from its directors . although his intention to take full control of the club initially came to nothing . completed the purchase in october 2009 at a total cost of £ , re - registered the club as a private company , and renamed the holding company birmingham international holdings ( bih ) . trading in bih shares was suspended in june 2011 after yeung 's arrest on charges of money - laundering . publication of financial results was repeatedly delayed , which led the football league to impose a transfer embargo , and offers for the club were entertained from 2012 onwards . after yeung resigned his positions with both club and company in early 2014 , share trading resumed , and following his conviction , efforts intensified to dispose of the club , which had to be done piecemeal in order to retain bih 's share listing . going into 2015 , the football league made public their concerns over yeung 's attempts to impose his choice of directors on the board despite his conviction disqualifying him from exerting influence over a club . relationships became increasingly factional , as illustrated by the failure of three directors , including the club 's de facto chief executive panos , to gain re - election , followed the next day by their reinstatement . on 17 february , the board voluntarily appointed receivers from accountants ernst & young to take over management of the company . their statement stressed that no winding - up petition had been issued and the company was not in liquidation . in june 2015 , the receivers granted a two - year exclusivity period to their preferred bidder , the british virgin islands - registered investment vehicle trillion trophy asia ( tta ) , wholly owned by chinese businessman paul suen cho hung . after striking deals with the previous major shareholders such that legal action against them would be dropped in return for their agreement not to obstruct any transfer of ownership , the receivers released a document in june 2016 setting out a timescale for the company restructure , share and takeover , to be completed by the end of october . it confirmed that suen would hold 60 . 78 % of bih shares and the yeung faction no more than 14 % , and that the company would not be sold on within two years . honours birmingham city 's honours include the following : second division / division one / the championship ( level 2 ) champions : 1892 – 93 , 1920 – 21 , 1947 – 48 , 1954 – 55 runners - up : 1893 – 94 , 1900 – 01 , 1902 – 03 , 1971 – 72 , 1984 – 85 , 2006 – 07 , 2008 – 09 play - off winners : 2001 – 02 third division / division two ( level 3 ) champions : 1994 – 95 runners - up : 1991 – 92 fa cup runners - up : 1931 , 1956 league cup winners : 1963 , 2011 runners - up : 2001 inter - cities fairs cup runners - up : 1960 , 1961 associate members cup / football league trophy winners : 1991 , 1995 birmingham senior cup winners : 1905 in pre - league days , county cups were second only to the fa cup in importance as first - team competitions . small heath first entered the birmingham senior cup in 1878 – 79 – ten years before the foundation of the football league – and won for the first time in 1905 , defeating west bromwich albion 7 – 2 in the final . its importance declined with the increase in league fixtures , and from 1905 – 06 onwards , birmingham fielded teams containing reserve - team players . football league south ( wartime ) champions : 1945 – 46 preparatory to the football league resuming in 1946 – 47 , the first and second division clubs from the last pre - war season were divided geographically between the leagues north and south for 1945 – 46 . going into the last day of the season , aston villa were top of league south but had finished their programme two points ( one win ) ahead of the chasers but with a worse goal average . charlton athletic were second , above birmingham by 0 . 002 of a goal . while charlton could only draw at home to wolverhampton wanderers , birmingham won away at luton town , so claimed the title by 0 . 3 of a goal . statistics and records frank womack holds the record for birmingham league appearances , having played 491 matches between 1908 and 1928 , closely followed by gil merrick with 485 between 1946 and 1959 . if all senior competitions are included , merrick has 551 , less closely followed by womack 's 515 which is the record for an outfield player . the player who won most international caps while at the club is maik taylor with 58 for northern ireland . the goalscoring record is held by joe bradford , with 249 league goals , 267 altogether , scored between 1920 and 1935 ; no other player comes close . walter abbott holds the records for the most goals scored in a season , in 1898 – 99 , with 34 league goals in the second division and 42 goals in total . the club 's widest victory margin in the league was 12 – 0 , a scoreline which they achieved once in the football alliance , against nottingham forest in 1899 , and twice in the second division , against walsall town swifts in 1892 and doncaster rovers in 1903 . they have lost a league match by an eight - goal margin on eight occasions : twice in the football alliance and five times in the first division , all away from home , and once at home , beaten 8 – 0 by afc bournemouth in the championship in 2014 . their record fa cup win was 10 – 0 against druids in the fourth qualifying round of the 1899 competition ; their record fa cup defeat was 7 – 0 at home to liverpool in the 2006 quarter final . birmingham 's home attendance record was set at the fifth - round fa cup tie against everton on 11 february 1939 . it is variously recorded as 66 , 844 or 67 , 341 . according to the club website , the highest transfer fee received for a birmingham player is £ 6 . 5 million from liverpool for jermaine pennant in august 2006 , while the most expensive player bought was emile heskey , who joined from liverpool in may 2004 for a fee of £ players current squad where a player has not declared an international allegiance , nation is determined by place of birth . squad correct as of 26 july 2016 . squad numbers apply to the 2015 – 16 season . reserves and academy birmingham city ladies birmingham city ladies football club was formed in 1968 . the first team worked their way through the leagues until promoted to the fa women 's premier league in 2002 . after birmingham city f.c. withdrew financial support in 2005 , the club were only able to continue because of a personal donation . they re - affiliated with birmingham city in 2010 , were founder members of the fa wsl the following year , and won the fa women 's cup in 2012 . club officials owner : birmingham international holdings ltd birmingham city f.c. board of directors as of 11 august 2015 director : panos director : shui cheong ma coaching staff as of 15 may 2015 manager : gary rowett assistant manager : kevin summerfield first team coach : mark sale goalkeeping coach : kevin poole senior professional development coach : richard beale head of performance : darren robinson head of sports science : dave carolan head of analysis : joe notable managers gil merrick was the first birmingham manager to win a major trophy , the league cup in 1963 . merrick also led the club to the inter - cities fairs cup final in 1961 , following pat beasley who had done the same in 1960 . leslie knighton took the club to the final of the fa cup in 1931 ; arthur turner did likewise in 1956 , as well as taking charge of the club 's highest league finish , sixth place in the 1955 – 56 first division . birmingham reached the 2001 football league cup final under trevor francis , whose successor as permanent manager , steve bruce , twice achieved promotion to the premier league . birmingham won the league cup for the second time under alex mcleish in 2011 . the 1966 world cup - winning manager , sir alf ramsey , took charge of the club briefly in 1977 .