It’s the middle of July, which means three things in Blues terms. Firstly, that the World Cup is about over and we can now get back to caring about club football; secondly that players have returned for pre-season training allowing us a glimpse of the team for the season ahead; and finally, it’s silly season where rumours are concerned.
As June draws to a close the new football season is almost truly upon us. Blues players report back for testing and pre-season training this week, while new contracts for players begin from July 1 with the new financial year. And even though England are still in the World Cup (for now), the time has come to once again start getting excited about what might happen at St Andrew’s this season.
On Thursday afternoon John Percy of the Telegraph reported on X that Craig Gardner is to step down from his position as Director of Football. Gardner has spent the last five years in various roles at Blues and played an important part in the sale of Blues to Knighthead in 2023.
It wasn’t meant to be like this. The message stemming from Tom Wagner was that Birmingham City’s return to the Championship was to be as brief as the stint in League One; another year of victory and uplift culminating with promotion to the Promised Land™ of the Premier League.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves shared a post on LinkedIn on Monday afternoon confirming her meeting with Knighthead chief Tom Wagner at HM Treasury to discuss the American hedge fund’s plans for the Birmingham Sports Quarter.
Blues beat Barnsley 6-2 on Saturday as they shattered more records on their march to promotion from League One. The victory was the team’s 10th league victory in a row at home and took Blues to 92 points in the table; a total that has never been achieved before by Birmingham City.
One thing about you can say about Blues is that the more some things change, the more they stay the same. While the team might be on for a record points haul on the pitch and the financials off the pitch go from strength to strength, online it’s drama once again with Wembley tickets at the heart of it.
Tuesday night saw Stevenage become the latest team to fall to defeat by Chris Davies’ Birmingham City, with a late Jay Stansfield goal confirming Blues’ place in the last four of the Vertu Trophy. That goal extended the current unbeaten run to 18, the number of games this season to 59, with just one match standing between the club and a Wembley appearance.
A shock announcement on Thursday afternoon confirmed that Garry Cook has stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of Birmingham City. The 62-year-old from Acocks Green had been CEO since the Knighthead takeover in July 2023 and remains as both a member of the Club’s Advisory Committee and as trustee of the Birmingham City Foundation.
Birmingham City beat Swindon Town 2-1 on Tuesday night to progress into the last eight of the Vertu Trophy and keep their hopes alive of the League One double. An Ayumu Yokoyama goal as well as a Harry Smith own goal were enough to seal the victory for Chris Davies’ men and extend Blues’ unbeaten run to 13 games.
