English Premier League Preview (Suck It, Barclays!): Birmingham City FC

Bongo looks to conquer the world.

As players around the globe are put through the paces in hopes of shaking off the rust ahead of their respective seasons, we here at UF fancy some pre-season training of our own… for the brain! In order to prepare properly for the next ten glorious months of hot club-on-club action, we’re previewing various leagues from around the globe.

Next up, our bread & butter, the best league in the world… the English Premier League (Suck it, Barclays!)

Let’s get our learn on.

Mention Birmingham City FC to any self-respecting Arsenal fan (yes, that includes me) and there is an instant reaction – disgust/violence/weeping. Everyone remembers that match. Saturday, February 23rd of the year 2008. Arsenal with the chance to go 8 points clear at the top while Bongo (The Guardian’s nickname for Birmingham) were looking to stave off relegation. 2 minutes and 30 seconds into the match and Martin Taylor receives a straight red card for a hard tackle on Eduardo.

As time goes on and the supporters look on in horror, it becomes clear that Eduardo’s leg is broken, and we know now that the Crozilian had suffered a devastating injury from which he would take well over a year to recover. Despite being up a man, Arsenal would concede the first goal of the match, but would charge into the lead on a brace from the brilliant Theo Walcott (who scored his first Prem goal that day). The clock was winding down, Arsenal had a man advantage and were up a goal, looking to secure the win for Eduardo, yet everyone was uneasy.

In the 94th minute Gael Clichy commits a foul in the box, and Birmingham eke out the draw on a PK from McFadden. Arsenal captain William Gallas throws a temper tantrum on the other end of the pitch.

It was the beginning of the end of Arsenal’s season. All because of Bongo.

Birmingham City FC were born in 1875 as Small Health Alliance, became Birmingham FC in 1905, and Birmingham City FC in 1943. As founding members, and first champions, of the Football League Second Division, Bongo have spent the majority of their existence in the top tier of English football. They moved into their current grounds at St. Andrews in 1906 (displacing some gypsies who are said to have cursed them) and have made several renovations which decreased the size of the stadium (most notably after the Taylor Report in the wake of the Hillsborough disaster) to its current size of 30,000. Notably, the actual pitch at St. Andrews was the spare pitch from the new Wembley.

St. Andrews – home of Birmingham City FC

Known as the Blues due to the color of their kits, Birmingham consider Aston Villa (their closest geographical neighbor) to be their main rival on the pitch. Their results, however, have been slightly less noteworthy than those of the latter. Birmingham City FC achieved their highest finish in the 1955/1956 season, taking 6th place in the former First Division. That same year they played in the FA Cup final, losing 3-1 to Manchester City. In 1963 they would win their only major trophy, beating rivals Aston Villa 3-1 on aggregate in the League Cup.

Their first EPL season was 2002/2003 (having gained promotion on a PK against Norwich in the playoffs – sorry, Bigus!), and they managed a 13th place finish which was quite respectable for a newly-promoted squad. They finished 10th the following season, and 12th in 2004/2005. They were relegated in 2005/2006 by 4 points after drawing 0-0 with Newcastle and losing 1-0 to Bolton in their final 2 matches. After finishing 2nd in the Coca-Cola Championship, the Blues were once again promoted. The 2007/2008 season in the EPL, however, would prove to be disastrous as they endured: (1) the departure of gaffer Steve Bruce to Wigan Athletic; (2) relegation on the last day of the season, despite beating Blackburn 4-1, after a 1-0 Fulham victory over Pompey; and (3) a pitch invasion by their supporters, culminating in sheer buffoonery.

Taking over after Steve Bruce was Scotsman Alex McLeish, who had a stellar career for his national side and Aberdeen, and went on to manage his national side as well. Although unable to avoid relegation that season, he lead Bongo to a 2nd place finish in the Coca-Cola Championship in 2008/2009, thus ensuring their return to the Premier League.

The past few years have also seen numerous significant events within the ownership and board structure of the club. In July 2007, Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung bought 29.9% of the club, making him the largest shareholder. In April 2008, chairman David Sullivan and managing director Karren Brady were arrested for conspiracy to defraud and false accounting (both were later freed on bail and have not been charged). This has impacted performance on the pitch as financial considerations have played into the transfers out of Emile Heskey and Jermaine Pennant (who became the first EPL player to wear an electronic monitoring device during a match). However, they have remained fiscally prudent and that strategy allowed them to sign Christian Benitez from Mexican side Santos Laguna for £7.75 million.

Unfortunately for Bongo, there are now serious questions concerning Benitez’ fitness (and mental stamina) after he played in a charity match while still recovering from a shoulder operation. For the moment, then, McLeish will have to rely on James McFadden, who joined during the January transfer window and had 4 goals in 22 appearances, and Marcus Bent, who had 3 goals in 16 matches last season. That strike tandem is bolstered by a midfield of former Arsenal man Sebastian Larsson (who is a fan favorite), Damien Johnson (who is still recovering from a broken jaw), captain (and Irish international) Lee Carsley, and journeyman Lee Bowyer. The defense is likely to feature David Murphy (if he can recover from last season’s broken kneecap in time), last year’s club POY Franck Queudrue, Ecuadorian signing Giovanny Espinoza, Martin Taylor (nicknamed “Tiny”), and former England Under-21 international Stuart Parnaby. Liam Ridgewell is slated to return to the line-up once he recovers from a broken leg, which is expected to be around October. Although Maik Taylor started in goal for 45 matches, it is entirely possible that Joe Hart (on loan from Manchester City) will be the starting GK for Birmingham City FC in the coming campaign.

On the whole, the Blues seem to have 1 key player at every position – Hart at GK, Queudrue on defense, Bowyer in the middle, and Benitez up top. However, it is very doubtful that will be enough to keep Birmingham in the EPL for yet another season. Look for them to continue their recent pattern of relegation-promotion-relegation as we rename them “Yo-Yo FC.”