(If you’re wondering who that is in the picture, read on for a quick history lesson!)
After a record-breaking year in League One, Birmingham City is back in the EFL Championship and ready to start the new season.
That officially kicks off for the Blues Friday afternoon when they host Ipswich Town (1:00pm, Paramount+). That will be the first official game of the league season. It will be an interesting matchup and a potential early indication of what is to come. Ipswich were one of the three teams relegated from the Premier League (the others being Leicester City and Southampton) this past season. That was after back-to-back promotions, which naturally the Blues are trying to do this year. Ipswich’s stay in the Prem was obviously short-lived, as it often is, but they rank as a relatively strong team. Indeed, some UK oddsmakers are rating them as the shortest odds for promotion. BetFred, for example, has them at 1/1. City are at 2/1. Those are still good odds, but Southampton are also short at 13/8 and City is matched by Sheffield United.
The two teams last met a season ago when both were last in the Championship; Ipswich won at home 3-1 and drew 2-2 away. However, that was against a much different Blues team than they will face Friday.
Last season’s City team was essentially a Championship-level squad playing a tier down, and it showed. The Blues also had a previously untested head coach (manager, whatever) in Chris Davies. He had something to prove and came through with flying colors. He’s no longer an unknown quantity but still has his sights set on higher things. His owners have been flashing the cash to make sure he has the pieces to do just that.
Birmingham City has in fact been incredibly active in the summer transfer window, and that existing Championship squad has been fortified.
A total of 5 players have been transferred out for fees. Perhaps the most surprising of these is striker Alfie May, who started last year in great form but tailed off a bit later. He’s now at Huddersfield Town. Two of them, Romelle Donovan (Brentford) and Ayumu Yokohama (KRC Genk) were sold to the clubs where they were on loan last season. Korean defender Myung-Jae Lee was let go on a free and is back in his home country. 2 more were loaned out, both to Blackpool: left-winger Emil Hansson (who was loaned to them last year anyway) and goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell. Most Blues fans will not be surprised if the latter at least does not return. Centerback Grant Hanley was let go and is without a club. Finally, club legend Lukas Jutkieiwicz has retired.
The Blues also had 7 loans come to an end. 4 of those were allowed to expire. 2 players were bought by the Blues: right-backs Taylor Gardner-Hickman (from Bristol City) and Alfons Sampsted (from Twente FC). 1 more is back on loan again: keeper James Beadle (from Brighton & Hove Albion). Icelander Sampsted was reported to have cost £1.7 million ($2.3 million). That would make him the 2nd most expensive addition this season, significantly less than the team’s biggest acquisition, striker Kyogo Furuhashi from French side Stade Rennais, who cost €9 million ($10.4 million). The Japanese national team player was with Rennes only half a season, having joined them from Glasgow Celtic, where he racked up an impressive 63 goals in 116 appearances.
The team also has 4 players coming in on free transfers. Those include left winger Demarai Gray. Gray is from Brum and was apparently willing to give up a substantial salary in Saudi Arabia to come back to his youth club. Another is right-back (the club seems to have a lot of those) Nigerian Bright Osayi-Samuel. He apparently chose the Blues over several other suitors, leaving Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce.
The club has 2 new loan players. One of them could well be the biggest pickup of the season. That would be central midfielder Tommy Doyle, who arrives from Wolverhampton Wanderers. He has been around the block a bit despite being only 23 but grew up in the Manchester City youth system. He may not be quite Premier League quality but is generally thought to be a very solid Championship-level player.
The Blues played 7 pre-season friendlies this summer, winning 4 and losing 3. That doesn’t really mean much, of course. The most recent of those was this past Saturday, a 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest. The game was a memorial for Trevor Francis, the Birmingham City and England legend who became the country’s first-ever £1.0 million transfer in 1979 when he moved to Forest. The goal was off the foot of Jay Stansfield, unsurprisingly. You can watch the highlights here.
This season will be a whole new test for the Blues but its ownership, management and players remain extremely ambitious. It’s going to be a fun one.
Last but not least: the 5-part documentary series Built in Birmingham: Brady & the Blues is available to stream on Prime Video. Each episode is about 30 minutes so it’s a relatively quick and fun watch. It’s also loaded with f-bombs, including from owners Tom Wagner and Tom Brady.
Update:
The Blues weren’t done upgrading the squad: they had been chasing 2 players, both strikers. They were closing in on a deal with Ajax for Englishman Chuba Akpom but got outbid by…Ipswich. They were also after Werder Bremen’s Marvin Duksch and finally signed him today. Duksch is 33 and has played his entire career so far in the Bundesliga. Ipswich may have overplayed their hand: Duksch is expected to be available to play tomorrow but Akpom is not.
