These days it feels like you don’t even need to be on social media to be infected by iffy rumours. I don’t use social media a huge amount any more and I definitely don’t go searching for rumours but you can believe they found me via WhatsApp group chats and messages from people asking for reassurance, confirmation or both.
While I accept that the summer close season is the peak season for transfer rumours, what has irked me is the number of messages I’ve received from people asking me if Knighthead are selling up and / or Tom Wagner is not coming back to Birmingham. There has even been an image of a WhatsApp chat doing the rounds which thankfully has been met by derision by many.
Before I go any further it’s important to immediately confirm that they’re not true – that neither Knighthead are selling up nor Wagner walking away. If that’s all you needed to hear, then by all means click away from reading this article.
However, if you’re willing to stick with me I’ll share how I know that rumour is unmitigated bullshit – and why I think we’ve got to be more careful in allowing this stuff to propagate.
The Share Allotment
On July 2, Shelby Companies Limited (SCL) filed an update with Companies House, which showed an update of their capital after an allotment of shares.
The five-page statement doesn’t give a massive amount of information, but what it does provide is pretty conclusive evidence that Knighthead are not likely to be considering sell up any time soon.
To help understand what the statement means, it’s important to know how limited companies work in the UK.
If a limited company wants to bring new money into a company, it has a few avenues to do so. The two chief avenues are debt finance and equity finance; ie borrowing money or attracting new investors.
The statement mentioned above confirms that SCL has sold a number of shares in itself to investors to increase working capital.
While there is no confirmation in this statement as to who has put in what, we can infer from previously filed statements that the £17,822,302 in A1 shares has come from Knighthead Master Fund LP, and the £44,661,513 put in A2 shares has come from Knighthead Annuity & Life Assurance Company.
It’s important to understand that SCL is an investment vehicle and that the money has been injected into SCL rather than the directly into the club itself.
However, I think the apparent fact that Knighthead have injected £62,483,815 into this investment vehicle suggests that they’re very much still involved with the whole Birmingham City / Sports Quarter project.
Interestingly, there is also another £9,286,585 that has been invested in C shares in SCL in addition to the money mentioned above. Sadly, we won’t have any idea who that money has come from until the next confirmation statement is filed by SCL on 11 April 2027.
I appreciate that many people have some form of PTSD from the decade of ownership that went before Knighthead but these are very different times – although it should be noted that at the time of writing SCL were nearly three weeks overdue filing their accounts which in my opinion is poor.
Tom Wagner
I’ve said this before, but I think one of the hardest things we’ve had to deal with in the last few months is the absence of Tom Wagner from Birmingham after his health issues.
Tom’s charisma and sheer love for the game are hard to replicate, and I think his return to Brum will help dispel a lot of fears people have. However, as previously discussed we cannot expect Wagner to come back until he’s in a position to deal with every project he is involved in.
Unlike data on SCL which is available on the internet, it’s impossible for me to cite information on Wagner’s recovery further than “trust me bro”.
I’ve always affirmed that it’s important for people to be sceptical and to make their own mind up about things I write that I can’t back up with links and this doesn’t change here.
That being said, I will offer the following statements as things I know and that should help ease some worry.
I know that Wagner is getting better.
I can’t say where Wagner is in the recovery process because I have no idea and frankly it’s none of our business. I do know however that he is improving.
I know that Wagner not only wants to come back but that he is itching to do so.
Most of all, I know that Wagner still cares very deeply about Birmingham City as a project.
Last Saturday was not only the third anniversary of Knighthead’s takeover of the club but also Tom’s birthday – and I know that the anniversary was more important to him.
I will admit to my concern that Wagner will see on social media the false speculation that he might leave; I can’t imagine it’s what he would need to see while working hard to be able to come back.
This is a part of the reason I think we as fans need to be better.
The Speculation
No matter what anyone says, I think we as humans thrive on things like gossip and speculation. Even when we know something cannot be true, we talk about bits of gossip because it’s interesting to think what might happen if they are actual fact.
Transfer gossip is a good example of this.
I’ve seen people complain in the past that potential moves have come out in the press too much and that it’s made things more stressful as some of the more shrill online constantly demand to know when moves are completed.
Yet the absence of transfer gossip doesn’t necessarily mean an end to people being hyperbolic online. Instead, we’re treated to wailing from people who are convinced nothing is happening because nothing is being spoken about.
I’ve opined on this site before that maybe the club should produce something with someone senior saying a few things that would reassure people that everything is okay.
I still don’t think it would be the worst thing to do but the last couple of weeks has made me wonder if people would overthink even that; reading into every possible nuance to come up with some batshit conspiracy theory.
Just today I had a friend message me to say that if a particular transfer rumour was true, then he “was done with football”.
Now, while I appreciate that is hyperbole from someone who I know is going through a tough time – it still blows my mind that people can come out with something so dramatic over something so minor.
There will always be players coming in and moving on. There will always be things behind the scenes that need to be fixed, that can be improved upon. There will always be people who feel that they need to complain about something – this is not just the nature of football but the nature of life.
Likewise, the need for people to achieve clout or notoriety online is never going to fade and as such I don’t for one minute think we’ll ever see an end to people putting bullshit rumours out there about anything.
As horrible as the last few years were until Knighthead came along, it’s important to remember that we got through it all to the other side. If we can survive that level of bullshit from the people owning and running the club, then there is no need to be angsty cos of a social media rumour.
I get that there is a deep irony here in me writing this piece because I’m giving a rumour oxygen that I probably shouldn’t – and I’ll be honest, I’ve wracked my brain trying to think of how I can possibly write it without getting either too sanctimonious or hypocritical.
I only hope by offering an explanation of information available online coupled with a bit I know personally, I have helped to reassure people a little bit.
We’ve got a month left until the real ball comes out as it were. Let’s all take a deep breath and relax – what will be, will be.