Blues News: going back up
Birmingham City clinched promotion back to the EFL Championship in dramatic fashion this week.
On Saturday they defeated Barnsley 6-2. Barnsley pretty much doomed themselves in the third minute with a red card for a foul on Keshi Anderson. 30 minutes later Anderson was fouled again, this time in the box and Jay Stansfield predictably sank the penalty. However, just 3 minutes after that 10-man Barnsley got the equalizer. But then the rout was on. Alfie May got another brace and the Blues hammered the visitors with 21 shots and 8 on goal.
The same day Wrexham tightened its hold on the second automatic promotion spot by beating Burton Albion (who were down to 10 men after 10 minutes) 3-0 while Wycombe fell 0-1 to Reading.
That cut the Blues’ point requirement for promotion to just 2. On Tuesday evening they got precisely that as they headed to Peterborough United and secured a 2-1 win. Again, they took the early lead, this time on an Alfie May goal only to see it disappear just 3 minutes later. Taylor Gardner-Hickman got the second go-ahead goal in the 37th minute and the Blues held on to that lead until the final whistle. Celebrations immediately followed, both on the field and in the large Bluenose contingent in the stands.
That was despite resting a good few regular starters in advance of this weekend’s game, also against Peterborough United. This time both teams head to Wembley for the EFL Trophy final (Sunday, 8:30am, Paramount+). Expect a full-strength team on both sides; Peterborough is in fact the defending champion and will not want to lose twice to the same team in less than a week despite being a massive underdog. Birmingham is 1/4 favorite with Peterborough getting 11/4 odds.
Although the Blues are not playing a league game this weekend they can still clinch the League One title if Wrexham fails to win at Wigan Athletic (Saturday, 6:20am, Paramount+). Birmingham City is thus in the unusual position of being able to secure two titles in a single weekend. Even if they don’t get the league title, they have 6 games to get the 2 points they need; it’s not going to be a problem.
So now the race is on for the remaining automatic promotion spot. Currently Wrexham have a 3-point lead for that. They were idle in midweek while Wycombe beat Huddersfield 1-0. The two teams are now level on games played. Here are the current standings at the top of League One:
Wrexham are favored to take the second spot as they have an easier schedule than Wycombe. Stockport in 4th have little chance of catching them. Blackpool are beginning to fall out of contention for the 4 playoff spots now and Leyton Orient are also looking increasingly less likely to make it.
Lastly, if you are a follower of the Welcome to Wrexham docuseries – or not – there will be a similar series this summer about the Blues’ fight for promotion. The series is as yet untitled and the release date has not yet been announced. The series is being produced by Stephen Knight, who is a Blues fan and best known for his series Peaky Blinders, which was set in Birmingham just after the First World War. Tom Brady, the team’s part-owner, will be co-producer through his Religion of Sports production company, which has produced stories on Serena Williams and Simone Biles as well as, oddly given the company name, Bon Jovi.
