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History of Birmingham City F.C. (1875–1965)

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For the club's later history, see History of Birmingham City F.C. (1965–present). For a statistical breakdown of the club's history, see List of Birmingham City F.C. seasons.

A faded photograph of a posed group of men, outdoors. At the front are six men sitting on benches and two seated on the ground, each dressed in sports clothing, a light-coloured shirt with darker trim, white shorts, dark socks and boots. Standing at the back are eight men, some bearded, wearing hats and coats, and three men in sports clothing. In front of the men is a large trophy in the form of a shield.
Small Heath F.C. pictured in 1893 with the Football League Second Division trophy

Birmingham City Football Club, an English association football club based in Birmingham, was founded as Small Heath Alliance in September 1875, and from 1877 played home games at Muntz Street. It adopted professionalism in 1885, and three years later, as Small Heath F.C., became a limited company with a board of directors, the first football club so to do. The team played in the Football Alliance from the 1889–90 season, and in 1892, along with the other Alliance teams, were invited to join the newly formed Second Division of the Football League. Although they finished as champions, they 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 the following year moved into a new home, St Andrew's Ground. 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.

Under the captaincy of Frank Womack, who went on to set club appearance records, Birmingham won their second Division Two title in 1920–21. The 19-year-old Joe Bradford made his debut in 1920; he was to score a club record 267 goals in 445 games and win 12 caps for England. In 1931, manager Leslie Knighton led the club to their first FA Cup Final; 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, placing too much reliance on England goalkeeper Harry Hibbs to make up for the lack of goals, Bradford excepted, at the other end. They were finally relegated in 1938–39, the last full season before the Football League was suspended 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 team won the Football League South wartime league and reached the semi-final 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. After taking over halfway through the 1954–55 season, Arthur Turner led the team to another Second Division title followed by what remains their highest league finish, of sixth place in the First Division, in 1955–56. They also reached the FA Cup final, losing 3–1 to Manchester City in the game best remembered 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 semi-final 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 fixture in the inaugural Inter-Cities Fairs Cup competition in May 1956; they lost to Barcelona after a replay in the semi-final. They were also the first to reach a European final, losing to Barcelona in the 1960 Fairs Cup final, and also lost to Roma in 1961. As a player, Gil Merrick had beaten Womack's appearance record and been England's regular goalkeeper; as manager, his team saved their best form for cup competitions. Opponents in the 1963 League Cup final, local rivals Aston Villa, were pre-match favourites, but Birmingham raised their game and won 3–1 on aggregate to lift their first major trophy. By 1965, Merrick had been asked to resign, and after ten years in the top flight, Birmingham were back in the Second Division.

1875–92: The early years

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In 1875, when members of the cricket team based at Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, on the east side of Birmingham, decided they wanted something to do in the winter months, they formed a football team. Playing under the name of Small Heath Alliance, their early games took place on a piece of waste ground off Arthur Street. As interest grew, they moved to an enclosed field in the Sparkbrook area where admission could be charged. In 1877, they decamped again, this time paying £5 a year to the family of a team member to rent a field adjacent to Muntz Street, in the Small Heath district, which became their home for the next 29 years.[1]

Ordnance Survey map showing football ground with housing to west and south and farmland to north and east
Muntz Street and surroundings in 1890

For the first thirteen years of their existence, there was no league football, so friendly matches were arranged on an ad hoc basis, supplemented by cup competitions organised at local and national level. During the 1880s, they played between 20 and 30 matches each season.[2] They played Aston Villa, the team that would become their main local rivals, for the first time in 1879; Small Heath won by "a goal and a disputed goal to nil".[1] They first entered the Birmingham Senior Cup in 1878–79,[3] made their debut in the national cup competition, the FA Cup, in 1881–82 – Billy Slater scored their first goal in nationally organised football as Small Heath beat Derby Town 4–1[4] – and won their first trophy, the Walsall Cup, the following season.[1] In 1885–86, Small Heath reached the semi-final of the FA Cup, in which they faced West Bromwich Albion in front of 10,000 spectators at Aston Lower Grounds.[5] According to the Sheffield & Rotherham Independent, Small Heath, who were by no means one of the foremost teams in the Birmingham area, had had a fortunate draw in the competition, whereas their opponents, fellow members of the Birmingham Football Association, were among the strongest in the country. Albion won easily, by four goals to nil, and the game was ended early after the losing supporters invaded the pitch and pelted the Albion goalkeeper with snowballs.[6]

As soon as payment of players over and above their actual out-of-pocket expenses was permitted by the Football Association for the first time, in 1885,[7] the Small Heath club turned professional.[1] The players did not receive a salary, but instead shared half the gate money.[8] Three years later, at the suggestion of Walter Hart, the president of the Birmingham FA who had once been the club's honorary secretary, it became the first football club to structure itself as a limited company with a board of directors,[9][10] under the name of The Small Heath Football Club Limited. The original company listed its objects as "to acquire a Football Club to play the game of Association Football and the doing all such other things as are incidental or conducive to the attainment of the above", set its nominal capital at £500, to be divided into ten-shilling shares, and its memorandum of association listed seven initial subscribers who between them took up 35 of the 1000 shares.[11] These included Hart, who became the first chairman of its board,[9] Alfred Jones, honorary secretary,[1] and William Starling.[11]

Head and upper torso of a young dark-haired white man with thick eyebrows and a large moustache. He is looking straight ahead, and is wearing a tasselled cap and open-necked striped shirt.
Caesar Jenkyns, captain in the 1890s

Small Heath were not among the select twelve clubs invited to join the Football League, which was to begin in 1888.[12] Instead, they joined the Football Combination, a second league formed to provide organised football for such excluded clubs.[13] This was not a success; poor organisation caused it to fold in April 1889 with many fixtures still outstanding.[14] For 1889–90, Small Heath were accepted into the Football Alliance, a new second league whose committee adopted the more successful aspects of the Football League's organisation, including limiting team numbers to a manageable twelve, and arranging and publishing the fixture list before the season began.[15] After two tenth-place finishes, and elimination from the 1890–91 FA Cup for fielding an ineligible player, they finished third in 1891–92, helped by Fred Wheldon's 21 goals from the 22 matches[16] and Caesar Jenkyns' captaincy and physical centre-half play.[17] Jenkyns became the first man to play a senior international match while a Small Heath player when selected for Wales for the 1892–93 Home Internationals.[18] They also progressed through four qualifying rounds and one round proper to reach the last 16 of the FA Cup. Drawn first, and therefore having choice of venue, Small Heath accepted Sheffield Wednesday's offer of £200 to forfeit home advantage and play the match at Wednesday's Olive Grove ground; they lost.[17]

1892–1905: Small Heath in the Football League

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The Football League decided to expand its membership for the 1892–93 season by forming a Second Division. Although Small Heath's application for admission to the enlarged First Division failed, they were one of eight Football Alliance teams accepted into the Second.[19][20] The directors appointed Alfred Jones as the club's first paid secretary,[1] and William Starling was elected to the Football League Management Committee as one of two representatives of the Second Division.[21] During the season, the team scored 90 goals at an average of 4 goals per game, beat Walsall Town Swifts 12–0 to set a club record League victory which, as of 2015, still stands, remained undefeated on their own ground, and won the last nine matches of the season to take the inaugural Second Division title.[22][23] Goalkeeper Chris Charsley, a policeman who played as an amateur and went on to serve as chief constable of Coventry, became the first Small Heath player to be capped by England.[18] Promotion to the First Division was not automatic, even for the champions, but depended on the results of test matches between the top three Second Division and bottom three First Division teams. Small Heath lost to 16th-placed First Division team Newton Heath (the future Manchester United) after a replay, so were not promoted, although the teams placed second and third were.[24] Their success at the second attempt, as 1893–94 runners-up and victors over Darwen in the test match, was met with relief as well as celebration. The club had been in serious financial difficulty during the season, during which it added a loss of £222 to an existing deficit of some £350;[25] the Birmingham Daily Post believed that "defeat would in all probability have meant the disbanding of the club", ambitions of promotion having sustained the committee's efforts throughout the season to raise enough funds to keep going.[26]

View towards one end of the ground, showing a roof, supported by several pillars and bearing a clock, covering the central part (behind the goal) of an otherwise open terrace
The Muntz Street end of the Coventry Road ground

Ahead of their first season in the top division, and in anticipation of increased attendances, the club began work on a grandstand and relaid the pitch.[27] Over the next few years, they purchased the remaining eleven years of the lease on the Coventry Road ground,[28] and bought the grandstand from Aston Villa's Wellington Road ground to use as a terrace cover, providing more covered standing accommodation.[29] Despite the misgivings of the Daily Post that the squad was too small,[26] the team finished 12th of 16. They opened the 1895–96 campaign with six defeats, spent most of it in the bottom two places, conceded more goals than any other team in the division for the second consecutive season, and scored fewer than all but bottom club West Bromwich Albion.[22] The directors were criticised for failing to improve the team[30] and for their selection policy: making too many changes to the team from one game to the next, and playing men when they were unfit.[31][32] A draw from the final match of the season, at home to Sunderland, would have secured their First Division status for another year, but they lost, finished 15th of the 16 teams, and were relegated.[22] Following the relegation, Fred Wheldon, who had scored 116 goals from 175 matches in league and FA Cup,[33] left for League champions Aston Villa for a fee of £350, which was reported to be a national record.[34]

Small Heath were involved in two incidents during First Division matches that had lasting ramifications. After one of Everton's goals in a 4–4 draw in November 1894 was awarded despite having gone well wide, the referee believing it had passed through a hole in the net – William McGregor, former president of the League, suggested that it was the worst decision he had seen since goal-nets were introduced, and the scorer agreed that it was no goal[35] – the League issued an instruction to referees to examine the nets before each match in the future.[36] A year later, after their visit to Everton was abandoned after 37 minutes because of bad weather and the state of the pitch, a spectator took the host club to court claiming the return of his admission money. The case was decided in favour of the club, the judge ruling that the paying spectator is not entitled to a full 90 minutes' football, but only to that portion which can reasonably be completed within the rules of the game.[37]

Head and shoulders of a young clean-shaven white man with neatly trimmed hair. He is looking straight ahead, and is wearing a shirt wth a drawstring at the neck.
Walter Abbott, record-holder for goals in a season

Five seasons in the Second Division followed. Small Heath started 1896–97 badly but finished frustratingly well, in fourth position.[38] After coming sixth in 1898, they were only two points off the promotion positions with four matches of the 1898–99 season to play; they lost three, drew one, and finished eighth.[22] Walter Abbott set club records that still stand, of 34 league goals in a season and 42 in all competitions.[39] In 1899–1900, Small Heath were never out of the top four in the division but rarely in the top two, and finished third.[22] Both income and expenditure had doubled over the two First Division seasons.[25][28] The local press criticised the "penny wise and pound foolish" approach to the signing of players after relegation,[40] and the 1898–99 accounts illustrated an over-reliance on gate receipts: Woolwich Arsenal took £360 less on the gate, but their profit exceeded Small Heath's by nearly £3,000.[41] After an £875 loss the following season, the directors made it clear they could not continue funding a loss-making enterprise, and suggested that a reduction in players' wages was the only course of action.[42]

Two defeats at the end of the 1900–01 season deprived Small Heath of a second divisional title, but not of promotion as runners-up. They also reached the quarter-final of the FA Cup, losing to Aston Villa after a replay.[22] The board's decision to reject Villa's offer of "a big transfer fee and a benefit match in addition" for the services of centre-forward Bob McRoberts was vindicated when he top-scored with 17 goals.[43][44] Average attendances rose from 5,500 to 13,000 for 1901–02,[45] but finishing the season with a six-match unbeaten run was not enough to escape relegation. A fifth change of division in eleven seasons – they reached the top two places by mid-November 1902 and remained there for the rest of the campaign[22] – gained Small Heath the reputation of a yo-yo club.[46] This time, a late run proved enough to keep them in the division, in contrast to 1904–05 when they reached second place in mid-February, one point behind Everton, but lost six of the last ten games to finish seventh.[22]

1905–15: New name and new home

[edit]

With William Adams as president and former player Harry Morris on the board, the club adopted a more enterprising approach.[46] An extraordinary general meeting in March 1905 heard a proposal that, Small Heath being the only major football club in the city[a] since Birmingham St George's had folded in 1892, the club should be renamed Birmingham City F.C. The shareholders were not in favour, though they were prepared to go as far as plain Birmingham Football Club.[46] That name was approved by the Football Association, after consulting the Birmingham F.A., and by the League,[48] and was formally adopted ahead of the 1905–06 season. It was still a step too far for some; one reporter referred to "the Small Heath club now masquerading as Birmingham",[46] and the Manchester Courier reported their assuming "the more pretentious name of Birmingham".[49]

The inadequacies of the Coventry Road ground, which was by then surrounded by tightly packed housing, were highlighted by events surrounding the February 1905 match with Aston Villa. The official attendance was given as 28,000,[50] though with the gates closed before kick-off, thousands scaled walls or forced entrances in order to gain admission, and the actual attendance was estimated at anything up to 35,000.[51] The Birmingham Daily Mail commented that had space been available, another ten or fifteen thousand spectators might well have attended, as "hundreds of people found the doors closed against them, and probably there were thousands who would not go to the ground in view of the inevitable crush."[52] The landlords had raised the rent, but would neither sell the freehold of the ground nor allow its expansion, and the directors estimated that remaining at Coventry Road was losing the club as much as £2,000 a year in revenue. Morris identified the site of a disused brickworks, three-quarters of a mile (1 km) nearer the city centre, as suitable for a new ground, the directors signed a 21-year lease, and construction began in January 1906. On 26 December of that year, after volunteers spent all morning clearing the snow, 32,000 spectators witnessed the official opening of the 75,000-capacity St Andrew's Ground and a goalless draw with Middlesbrough.[51]

The Football Association used the ground for a semi-final of that season's FA Cup,[53] but Birmingham's play failed to live up to the new surroundings. They were relegated in 1907–08, prompting the resignation of Alf Jones, who had been secretary-manager since 1892. The second of Alex Watson's three seasons in charge ended with Birmingham bottom of the Second Division and having to apply for re-election to the league.[b] After Hart's address, in which he stressed the club's age and longstanding league membership and assured his audience that inexperienced directors to whom the team's present position could be attributed had retired in favour of men of experience, the meeting voted Birmingham back into the league as top of the poll.[55] Responsibility for team affairs passed to former player Bob McRoberts, who in 1911 became the club's first dedicated team manager.[56] Birmingham remained in the second tier for the five seasons before League football was suspended because of the First World War.[57]

1915–39: Birmingham in the First Division

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Frank Richards had taken over as secretary in 1911, and also acted as Birmingham's team manager for the various wartime competitions. When the Football League resumed after the war, he retained the post, and it was under his management that they returned to the First Division, in which they would remain for eighteen seasons. Birmingham placed third in 1919–20,[22] and in 1920–21, driven by Frank Womack's captaincy and the creative skills of Scottish international Johnny Crosbie,[58] they reached the last day of the 1920–21 season needing to beat Port Vale away to be sure of maintaining their position ahead of Cardiff City and thus clinch the division title for the second time. They did so.[22] A 19-year-old called Joe Bradford scored on his competitive debut on Christmas Day 1920 at West Ham United; he went on to set goalscoring records for the club of 267 goals, 249 in the league, was their leading scorer for twelve consecutive seasons from 1922 to 1933, and scored seven times in twelve appearances for England.[59] Off the field, the club bought the freehold of St Andrew's in 1921 for around £7,000.[60]

Birmingham finished 18th out of 22 in the first season back at the top level, but did not take part in the 1921–22 FA Cup. The club failed to submit the entry form in time to be granted exemption from qualifying, and the Football Association refused to bend the rules in their favour. Although that decision did not preclude their entering the competition in the qualifying rounds, the directors chose not to do so.[61] In 1922–23, the team set an unwanted record sequence of eight league defeats, since equalled but as of 2015 not beaten.[23] Off the field, the club made a £13,000 saving on wages and general expenses to end the season with a profit of £3,000.[62]

This had been Richards' last season as secretary-manager. He was succeeded by Billy Beer, who had played 250 matches for the club in the 1900s. He led the team to three mid-table finishes before, in early 1927, a boardroom dispute over transfer policy came to a head. Writing in the Sports Argus, the pseudonymous "Argus Junior" described one faction as "anxious to secure talent at almost any price" and the other "desirous with 'going slow' as its motto", and believed that "the former are now in the ascendancy and that they mean business".[63] Three directors resigned,[63] followed a few days later by Beer,[64] who had reportedly found it impossible to work with some members of the board.[65] Over the next few months, further departures included secretary Sam Richards, former player Billy Harvey, who had acted as team manager, and the long-serving Womack,[66] who made his Birmingham debut in 1908 and set club appearance records of 491 league games, a record which as of 2015 still stands, and 515 games in senior competition, since overtaken by Gil Merrick.[67] The Argus suggested a better course of action and "the clear duty of the present board [would be] to resign and test the feelings of the shareholders".[66]

Instead, it appointed former Arsenal manager Leslie Knighton as secretary-manager in June 1928. He was able to stabilise the team and in 1930–31, led them to their first FA Cup Final. Between semi-final and final Birmingham lost six of their nine league matches,[22] and The Times reminded its readers that "sickness and injury had played havoc with their men for weeks past. They had no regular practice together for the great match."[68] Opponents West Bromwich Albion were heading for promotion from the Second Division, youthful and full of confidence.[69] Bradford had played only once since the semi-final and declared himself fit on the morning of the match.[70] Birmingham had a goal disallowed early on, then fell behind; the clearly unfit Bradford was able to equalise, but W. G. Richardson went upfield straight from the kickoff and scored his side's winner.[69] Knighton's team finished in the top half of the division in 1932, and he signed a contract extension, but when Chelsea made him an offer he could not refuse, he left, to be replaced by George Liddell, recently retired from playing.[71]

Birmingham remained in the top flight for 18 seasons in all, but most of them were spent in the bottom half of the table.[22] Consistency of selection played a part in the 1920s; six – Womack, Bradford, Crosbie, Dan Tremelling, Percy Barton and Liddell – of the as of 2010 fifteen men with more than 300 league appearances for the club played most of their matches in that decade.[67] Much reliance was placed on Tremelling and then on England goalkeeper Harry Hibbs to make up for the lack of goals, Bradford excepted, at the other end.[72] Under Liddell's management, the makeup of the side never settled. He used 70 players over his six seasons in charge (in contrast to the 55 used in the first six First Division seasons in the 1920s[73]), and after narrowly avoiding relegation three times in 1934, 1935 and 1938, Birmingham were finally relegated in 1938–39, the last full season before the Second World War.[71] The club's record attendance of 67,341 was set that season, in the fifth round of the FA Cup against Everton.[45]

1939–65: Birmingham City and post-war success

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When war was declared in September 1939, the government banned public gatherings until safety implications could be assessed.[74] Most football grounds reopened soon afterwards, even those in built-up or strategically significant areas, but Birmingham's Chief Constable ordered the continued closure of St Andrew's because of its proximity to likely air-raid targets such as the BSA munitions factories.[75] The matter was raised in Parliament, but the Home Secretary felt unable to intervene in what was perceived as a local issue,[76] and the Chief Constable did not bow to public pressure until March 1940.[75][77] The ground suffered 20 direct hits from Luftwaffe bombing, bringing down the roof of the Kop terrace, and fires damaged the railway end stand, scoreboard and clock, and destroyed the main stand, including board room, gymnasium, treatment room and offices.[51][78] The club's current name of Birmingham City F.C. was adopted in 1943.[79] When nationally organised football resumed in 1945, Harry Storer was appointed manager. In his first season the club won the Football League South title, ahead of Aston Villa on goal average – the 1945–46 Football League North and South included teams from the pre-war First and Second Divisions, and were an interim step between the highly regionalised and mixed-ability wartime leagues and the Football League itself, which restarted in 1946–47 – and reached the semi-final of the first post-war FA Cup.[80] Two years later they won their third Second Division title, conceding only 24 goals in the 42-game season.[81]

Bob Brocklebank succeeded Storer as manager in 1950. Though unable to prevent them being relegated, he and chief scout Walter Taylor laid the foundations for the club's successes of the 1950s. Brocklebank was responsible for introducing future England internationals Trevor Smith and Jeff Hall to the side, and for bringing in several mainstays of Birmingham's teams through the 1950s.[82] Arthur Turner took over as manager in November 1954 with the club mid-table in the Second Division. By the end of the season they had scored 92 goals, with all five first-choice forwards reaching double figures,[83] beaten Liverpool 9–1, a result which remains that club's record defeat,[84] and were confirmed champions with a 5–1 win in the last game of the season away to Doncaster Rovers.[22]

Birmingham's sixth position in their first season back in the First Division remains their highest league finish. They also reached their second FA Cup Final, but lost 3–1 to Manchester City in a game best remembered for City's goalkeeper, Bert Trautmann, playing the last 20 minutes with a broken bone in his neck. City won using the Revie Plan, in which their centre-forward Don Revie played in a deep position, disrupting the Birmingham defence accustomed to the era's conventional playing positions. Goalkeeper Gil Merrick attributed to the defeat to a half-time failure to discuss how to stop Revie, and outside left Alex Govan blamed the absence of the "utterly ruthless"[85] Roy Warhurst through injury and a poor choice of replacement.[86] It was during this FA Cup campaign, in which all Birmingham's games had been away from home, that Harry Lauder's "Keep right on to the end of the road" was adopted as the fans' anthem.[87] The following season the club lost in the FA Cup semi-final for the third time since the war, beaten 2–0 by Manchester United's "Busby Babes".

For the inaugural edition of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, a football tournament set up in 1955 to promote international trade fairs, invitations were extended to host cities rather than to clubs. Aston Villa rejected the opportunity to supply players for a combined team to represent the city of Birmingham,[88] so Birmingham City became the first English club side to play in European competition when they played their first match on 15 May 1956. They were also the first English club side to reach a European final, the 1960 Fairs Cup Final, in which they lost to Barcelona 4–1 on aggregate.[c] They reached and lost in the 1961 final as well, to Roma 4–2 on aggregate.[89]

In February 1958, three days after Birmingham lost 8–0 at Preston North End, former Bristol City manager Pat Beasley joined the club. He was expected to be Turner's assistant, but chairman Harry Morris Jr. announced his appointment as joint manager, that Turner had recommended him, and that secretary Walter Adams was also to have input into team matters. At the time, Turner was quoted as being happy with the arrangement,[90] but was later reported to have only found out about it from the press and to have needed persuading not to resign.[91] The experiment did not work. Turner and the board found themselves at odds over aspects of managerial policy,[92] the players unsure as to who was in charge.[93] With the team lying 21st after a 6–0 defeat against West Bromwich Albion, Turner quit in September 1958. Beasley was named acting manager, and would have to submit his team selections to the board for discussion, though not for alteration: Morris insisted that "The manager and not the directors will pick the team as long as I am chairman."[94] He led the team to a 9th-place finish.[22]

Towards the end of the season, two weeks after playing in a match at Portsmouth, Birmingham full-back Jeff Hall died of polio. The realisation that a young, fit, England footballer could die of a preventable disease sparked a massive rise in demand for vaccination,[95] and a memorial fund launched in his name by the club and local newspapers endowed a research fellowship in the University of Birmingham's Department of Medicine.[96]

Gil Merrick joined the club in 1939 and kept goal during and after the war through the 1940s and much of the 1950s. He won 23 caps for England, and set a club record of 551 appearances in all senior competitions, as well as coaching the reserves.[97] After Birmingham finished 19th in 1959–60, having been in or just above the relegation places throughout the season, Merrick was appointed first-team manager. He was unable to improve the team's league performance, but did lead them to the first major trophy in the club's history. Entry to the new League Cup competition, introduced in 1960–61, was optional; several top-flight clubs chose not to enter, but Birmingham did so from the first year.[98] In 1962–63, while avoiding relegation only by winning two of their last three matches, they showed their best form in reaching the League Cup final, which was played over two legs on the grounds of the competing clubs. Opponents Aston Villa were pre-match favourites, having beaten Birmingham 4–0 in their most recent league meeting. But in the home leg Birmingham "served up a treat of attacking football ... controlling the game with such assurance that their supporters must have wondered why the team had performed so badly in the First Division",[99] and came out comfortable 3–1 winners, with two goals from Ken Leek and one from Jimmy Bloomfield. Under the captaincy of Trevor Smith, a solid defensive performance in a goalless draw saw Birmingham lift the trophy at the home of their local rivals.[99][100] After the fourth consecutive bottom-six finish – they won the last two matches of 1963–64 to escape relegation – the board felt a "complete reorganisation" of the club was necessary, and asked Merrick to resign.[101] He complied, but thought he had been ill-treated, and had nothing more to do with the club for more than thirty years.[97][102] In 1964–65, Birmingham finished seven points away from safety and returned to the Second Division.[22]

Notes

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  1. ^ Aston Villa F.C. was based in the municipal borough of Aston Manor, which was not absorbed into the county borough of Birmingham until 1911.[47]
  2. ^ Until 1987, clubs finishing each season in the bottom positions of the Football League were obliged to apply for re-election to the league, in competition with applicants from non-League football. Full member clubs of the Football League (the top two divisions) were eligible to vote, together with delegates representing the associate member clubs (lower divisions).[54]
  3. ^ The London XI, including players from several London clubs, were the first English team to play in European competition when they played their first match in the inaugural Fairs Cup in 1955, and the first English team to reach a final, in the same campaign.[89]

Bibliography

[edit]
  • Inglis, Simon (1988). League Football and the men who made it. London: CollinsWillow. ISBN 978-0-00-218242-3.
  • Lewis, Peter, ed. (2000). Keeping right on since 1875. The Official History of Birmingham City Football Club. Lytham: Arrow. ISBN 1-900722-12-7.
  • Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
  • Matthews, Tony (2010). Birmingham City: The Complete Record. Derby: Derby Books. ISBN 978-1-85983-853-2.
  • Matthews, Tony (2000). The Encyclopedia of Birmingham City Football Club 1875–2000. Cradley Heath: Britespot. ISBN 978-0-9539288-0-4.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f Matthews (1995). Complete Record. p. 8.
  2. ^ Matthews. Encyclopedia. p. 8.
  3. ^ Matthews (2010). Complete Record. p. 504.
  4. ^ Matthews (2010). Complete Record. p. 466.
  5. ^ "English Cup tie. Semi-final. West Bromwich Albion v. Small Heath Alliance". Birmingham Daily Post. 8 March 1886. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ Centre Forward (9 March 1886). "Football Notes". Sheffield & Rotherham Independent. p. 8 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "1883 – Northerners: Part 16 of the History of Football". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 15 June 2006.
  8. ^ "Club history". Birmingham City F.C. 29 May 2012. Archived from the original on 29 May 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  9. ^ a b Inglis. League Football. pp. 390–91.
  10. ^ Williams, John; Neatrour, Sam (May 2002). Fact Sheet 10: The 'New' Football Economics (PDF). Sir Norman Chester Centre for Football Research: University of Leicester. pp. 2–3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2005.
  11. ^ a b "Statement of nominal capital and Memorandum of association". Small Heath Football Club. 10 August 1888. Archived from the original on 4 December 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2015 – via Companies House.
  12. ^ Fletcher, Paul (26 February 2013). "One letter, two meetings and 12 teams – the birth of league football". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  13. ^ "Another Football League". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. 28 April 1888. p. 6 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. ^ Inglis. League Football. p. 12.
    Shury, Alan & Landamore, Brian (2005). The Definitive Newton Heath F.C. (2nd ed.). Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 11. ISBN 1-899468-16-1.
  15. ^ Cover-point (14 May 1889). "Cricket & Football Notes". Sheffield & Rotherham Independent. p. 8 – via British Newspaper Archive. The rejected applicants for admission to the Football League did not lose much time in making other arrangements, which have resulted in the formation of another league under the title of the Football Alliance. This entirely destroys the badly managed Football Combination of last season, and also seriously interferes with the proposed organisation of the Northern and Midland Counties Leagues.
  16. ^ Matthews (2010). Complete Record. pp. 224–29.
  17. ^ a b Matthews (1995). Complete Record. p. 9.
  18. ^ a b Matthews. Encyclopedia. pp. 121–22.
  19. ^ "Football League 1892–93". Football Club History Database. Richard Rundle. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  20. ^ "Annual meeting of the League". Sunderland Daily Echo. 14 May 1892. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  21. ^ Inglis. League Football. p. 387.
  22. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Birmingham City 1892–93 Results". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016 and "Table". statto.com. Retrieved 7 December 2015. Tables and results for other seasons, and tables as at any matchday within the season, available via dropdown menus.
  23. ^ a b "Birmingham City: Records". statto.com. Archived from the original on 9 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  24. ^ Inglis. League Football. p. 30.
  25. ^ a b "Small Heath Football Club". Birmingham Daily Post. 21 June 1894. p. 5 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  26. ^ a b "Notes on Sport". Birmingham Daily Post. 30 April 1894. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  27. ^ "Notes on Sport". Birmingham Daily Post. 6 August 1894. p. 3.
  28. ^ a b "Small Heath Football Club. A deficit on the year's working". Leicester Chronicle. 27 June 1896. p. 8 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  29. ^ "Sports Gossip". Birmingham Pictorial and Dart. 20 August 1897. p. 6.
  30. ^ Centre-Forward (14 October 1895). "Football Notes". Sheffield & Rotherham Independent. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive. People in Birmingham are blaming the Small Heath directors for not strengthening their team. ... Despite this the executive will not have a Scotchman though possibly their weak spot – at half-back – might therefore be remedied. Their patriotism is more to be commended than their judgment.
  31. ^ Centre-Forward (10 February 1896). "Facts and Fancies". Sheffield & Rotherham Independent. p. 9 – via British Newspaper Archive. While the majority of the players have fallen far short of expectation, it is not clear that the team has been managed to the best advantage. No fewer than four centre forwards have been played in a month, which is hardly likely to give any one of them a fair chance, while at least one man took part in Saturday's game who was quite out of condition, and not fit to take part in any match of importance.
  32. ^ "Serious outlook for Midland clubs". The Sportsman, quoted in "The position of Midland League clubs". Derby Mercury. 5 February 1896. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive. When this club obtained its position in the First League last season the committee had a splendid chance of obtaining big "gates" and doing well. But the chances were thrown away. They were afraid to speculate ... and went on with the old team last season, and they delayed enterprise this year until too late.
  33. ^ Matthews (2010). Complete Record. pp. 224–37.
  34. ^ Centre-Forward (29 June 1896). "Facts and Fancies". Sheffield & Rotherham Independent. p. 11 – via British Newspaper Archive. Speculation has been rife in football circles as to the price paid by Aston Villa for the transfer of Wheldon, the Small Heath inside left. It turns out that the terms are higher than have ever been concluded, it being officially stated at the annual meeting of the Small Heath club in Birmingham on Friday evening that the sum guaranteed was £350, with a prospect of a still further amount conditional on the proceeds of a match to be played in the autumn. Aston Villa are also paying Wheldon a big salary for his services.
  35. ^ "Notes on Sport". Birmingham Daily Post. 5 November 1894. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  36. ^ "The Football League". Birmingham Daily Post. 14 November 1894. p. 5 – via British Newspaper Archive. It was also resolved that instructions be sent out to referees, asking them to inspect and observe the condition of nets prior to the commencement of League games.
  37. ^ "Gate money". Sheffield & Rotherham Independent. 12 November 1896. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive.
    "The return of gate money at football matches". Manchester Guardian. 12 February 1896. p. 3.
  38. ^ Argus Junior (24 April 1897). "Gossip". Sports Argus. Birmingham. p. 1.
  39. ^ "Individual Records". The Birmingham City FC Archive. Archived from the original on 11 March 2005.
  40. ^ "No title". Birmingham Pictorial and Dart. 23 July 1897. p. 9.
  41. ^ Lockett, Henry (4 November 1899). "Football finance". Leicester Chronicle. Supplement, p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  42. ^ "Small Heath Football Club. The chairman and players' wages". Birmingham Daily Post. 2 August 1900. p. 2 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  43. ^ "Saturday's football". Grimsby Daily Telegraph. 16 November 1900. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  44. ^ Matthews (2010). Complete Record. pp. 246–47.
  45. ^ a b Matthews. Encyclopedia. pp. 20–21.
  46. ^ a b c d Matthews (1995). Complete Record. p. 12.
  47. ^ "History of Aston – early period". Birmingham City Council. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  48. ^ "Small Heath's new name". Manchester Courier. 31 March 1905. p. 8 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  49. ^ "The Association game. Coming season's prospects. Small Heath". Manchester Courier. 12 August 1905. p. 8 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  50. ^ "This day's matches". Birmingham Daily Mail. 25 February 1905. p. 4.
  51. ^ a b c Matthews (1995). Complete Record. pp. 57–59.
    Inglis, Simon (1996). Football Grounds of Britain (3rd ed.). London: CollinsWillow. pp. 44–48. ISBN 978-0-00-218426-7.
  52. ^ Linesman (27 February 1905). "Football notes". Birmingham Daily Mail. p. 4.
  53. ^ Matthews. Encyclopedia. pp. 193–96.
  54. ^ Lyons, Andy & Ronay, Barney, eds. (2005). When Saturday Comes: The Half Decent Football Book. London: Penguin. pp. 329–30. ISBN 978-0-140-51575-6.
  55. ^ "Football League. Birmingham and Huddersfield in Second Division". Nottingham Evening Post. 13 June 1910. p. 6 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  56. ^ "Birmingham F.C. Team manager appointed". Birmingham Daily Mail. 20 June 1911. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  57. ^ "Birmingham". Football Club History Database. Richard Rundle. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  58. ^ Matthews (1995). Complete Record. p. 14.
  59. ^ Matthews. Encyclopedia. p. 74.
  60. ^ Matthews. Encyclopedia. p. 87.
  61. ^ Matthews (1995). Complete Record. p. 164.
    "Association football. The qualifying rounds of the Cup competition". Manchester Guardian. 23 April 1921. p. 11.
    "Birmingham not to play for English Cup next year". Evening Telegraph. Dundee. 27 April 1921. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  62. ^ "Other sport in brief". Daily Mirror. London. 5 September 1923. p. 14.
  63. ^ a b Argus Junior (5 March 1927). "Leaves of my notebook". Sports Argus. Birmingham. p. 1.
  64. ^ Argus Junior (12 March 1927). "The sands of the hour-glass". Sports Argus. Birmingham. p. 1. Managers are in a peculiar position. They have many masters to serve and to please them all is impossible. Mr. Beer has discovered this, and ... has cleared out. I am sorry, because, frankly, I thought he would make a good job of his task if given the opportunity.
  65. ^ Argus Junior (2 April 1927). "The sands of the hour-glass". Sports Argus. Birmingham. p. 1.
  66. ^ a b Argus Junior (12 May 1927). "An upheaval at St. Andrew's". Sports Argus. Birmingham. p. 1.
  67. ^ a b Matthews (2010). Complete Record. pp. 471–72.
  68. ^ "The Cup Final". The Times. 27 April 1931. p. 13.
  69. ^ a b "The Cup victory of West Bromwich, a triumph of youth". The Times. 27 April 1931. p. 5. The victory of West Bromwich Albion was the victory of youthful enthusiasm and confidence. ... Birmingham took the chance of playing Bradford, their centre-forward, after many weeks' absence from football through an injury to his knee. It is probable that, if they had another centre-forward available, they would not have taken the chance. It was evident almost in the first minute of the game that he was not himself. He had a slight limp at times. He could not trust himself too far and he did not go in for the ball as he would have done if he had been wholly fit.
  70. ^ Matthews (1995). Complete Record. pp. 18, 173.
  71. ^ a b Matthews (1995). Complete Record. pp. 19–20.
  72. ^ Matthews, Complete Record, pp. 15–17.
  73. ^ Matthews (2010). Complete Record. pp. 284–95.
  74. ^ "Closing of places of entertainment. Preventing large assemblies". The Times. London. 4 September 1939. p. 10.
  75. ^ a b Matthews (1995). Complete Record. pp. 21–22.
    Rippon, Anton (2005). Gas Masks for Goal Posts. Football in Britain during the Second World War. Stroud: Sutton. pp. 16–17. ISBN 0-7509-4030-1.
  76. ^ "Written Answers (Commons): Civil Defence: Football Matches (Spectators)". Hansard. 353. cc.726–7W. 15 November 1939. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  77. ^ "Commons Sitting: Civil Defence: Football Prohibition (Birmingham)". Hansard. 357. cc.1515–6. 22 February 1940. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  78. ^ "Another fire at St. Andrew's". Birmingham Post. 17 April 1942. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive.
    "Birmingham Football Club's loss. Grandstand destroyed by fire". Birmingham Post. 22 January 1942. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  79. ^ Matthews. Encyclopedia. p. 55. "City was added to Birmingham (to make Birmingham City Football Club) in the summer of 1943 (and not 1945 as previously thought). The official Blues home programmes for the 1943–44 season clearly show Birmingham City Football Club on the front cover."
  80. ^ Rollin, Jack (2005). Soccer at War 1939–45. London: Headline. pp. 108–09, 247. ISBN 978-0-7553-1431-7.
  81. ^ Matthews (1995). Complete Record. pp. 22-23.
  82. ^ Matthews, Complete Record, p. 61.
  83. ^ Matthews, Complete Record, pp. 25–27.
  84. ^ "Records: Matches". Liverpool F.C. Archived from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  85. ^ "Trevor Smith". The Times. London. 20 August 2003. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011.
  86. ^ "Alex Govan". Birmingham City F.C. 2007. Archived from the original on 18 September 2007. It was a fair result but I still say to this day that if Roy Warhurst had been fit then there would only have been one winner.
    Lewis (ed.) Keeping Right On. p. 63. "... if Badham had been in we would have won that game. He would never have given Don Revie the room to run the match."
  87. ^ "Club anthem". Birmingham City F.C. Archived from the original on 14 February 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  88. ^ Radnedge, Keir (1998). "Inter-Cities Fairs/UEFA Cup". The Complete Encyclopedia of Football. Carlton Books. p. 200. ISBN 978-1-85833-979-5.
    Goodyear, David & Matthews, Tony (1988). Aston Villa A Complete Record 1875–1988. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 0-907969-37-2. At this time there seemed a general lack of ambition at Villa Park. The club were slow to install floodlights, they turned down the chance of combining with Blues to field a 'Birmingham' team for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup...
  89. ^ a b Ross, James M. (13 July 2006). "European Cups Archive". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Retrieved 27 July 2007.
  90. ^ Holden, Bill (5 February 1958). "New 'big 3' pick the men they want to buy". Daily Mirror. London. p. 20.
  91. ^ Matthews (1995). Complete Record. p. 62.
  92. ^ Williams, Alan (6 September 1958). "Arthur Turner quits Birmingham City". Daily Express. London. p. 10. They bitterly resented his failure to rebuild when the 1955 promotion and 1956 Wembley side started to fade. They were exasperated by his decision regarding the signing of a class inside forward the club has needed so badly for two years. They ridiculed his overenthusiastic assessment of young players he thought would be ready for the First Division last season. They complained that he had not enough faith in modern coaching methods.
  93. ^ Williams, Alan (25 February 1958). "Crisis club snubs Eddy Brown". Daily Express. London. p. 12. I came out of the office more perplexed than I went in. One manager shifted the blame on to the board. The other just looked embarrassed and said nothing, absolutely nothing. Now surely it is up to the board to explain. All I want to know is why I am left out.
  94. ^ Hall, Ross (6 September 1958). "Turner resigns as Birmingham boss". Daily Mirror. London. p. 13. Mr. Morris then added, 'He will have to submit his teams to the Board for discussion. But they will not alter them. The manager and not the directors will pick the team as long as I am chairman.'
  95. ^ Varma, Anuji (24 June 2009). "Tragic Birmingham City star Jeff Hall inspired polio fight". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
    "The moment that could save her life". Daily Express. London. 21 April 1959. p. 5. If you happened to pass a health clinic yesterday, or on any day since April 4, you would have seen a queue—a big one—of mothers and children, teenagers and young people at work, waiting for polio inoculations. Why since April 4? Because that was the day that Jeff Hall, the Birmingham and England full-back, died of the disease. Before that there were few queues. Polio injections had been made available to more than 6,000,000 youngsters between 15 and 26, and many appeals were made to them to take advantage of it. But by the end of February only one in 12 of them had paid attention to the warning. Jeff Hall's death changed all that.
  96. ^ "Poliomyelitis research fellowship". The Times. London. 14 November 1959. p. 8.
  97. ^ a b "Gil Merrick: England goalkeeper unfairly blamed for the heavy defeats against Hungary in 1953 and 1954". The Independent. London. 6 February 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2015. Merrick's reward, however, was the sack, delivered abruptly in the spring of 1964, a decision which left him heartbroken as he believed he had laid the foundations for a successful future.
  98. ^ Matthews, Complete Record, pp. 29–31.
  99. ^ a b Jawad, Hyder (2006). Strange Magic. Birmingham City v Aston Villa. Birmingham Post. pp. 27–28.
  100. ^ Ponting, Ivan (15 September 2003). "Obituary: Trevor Smith". The Independent. London. Retrieved 12 December 2015. Smith was an inspirational figure in both legs of their League Cup victory over local rivals Aston Villa in 1963, especially in the goalless second game at Villa Park, when his tight marking of the combative Bobby Thomson was a crucial factor in the Blues maintaining their 3–1 advantage from the opening encounter.
  101. ^ "Birmingham City ask Merrick to resign". The Guardian. 29 April 1964. p. 16. Yesterday Mr W. Adams, the secretary of Birmingham City, issued the following statement: 'Mr Gil Merrick met the board this morning who notified him that changes and complete reorganisation of the club were to take place, and asked him to resign. To this Mr Merrick agreed.'
  102. ^ "Gil Merrick". The Daily Telegraph. London. 5 February 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2015. For 36 years he did not set foot in St Andrew's, but in later years he returned to the fold; and in 2009 the club renamed the ground's Railway End Stand after Gil Merrick.
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