Where’s The Money Gone: Dong

Last year I started to take a look back into the recent past of Birmingham City to try to understand just why the club is in the shape it is in now. The third article in this series examines the tenure of the club’s former CEO Ren Xuandong to try and understand better some of the mistakes that were made in the past and just how the club can prevent making them in the future.

BCFC: Is It Worth It Any More?

Birmingham City crashed out of the FA Cup with barely a whimper on Saturday, losing 1-0 to League One side Plymouth Argyle. The final result might say that the Pilgrims won after extra time but the sad fact is a 4-0 scoreline in 90 minutes would not have flattered them. Yet the worst part of it all seems to be the number of Blues fans (including myself) who were just resigned to defeat and numb to the pain.

Coronavirus: Postponement Problems

Birmingham City confirmed late on Boxing Day that their home fixture against Peterborough United on Wednesday December 29 has been postponed due to the short turn around for players to return from isolation or recover from injury. This means that Blues will have two fixtures now to rearrange into what is already a fairly tight calendar.

BCFC: Regime Change

Birmingham City slumped to a 4-0 defeat on Saturday at Blackburn Rovers, leaving them 17th in the table. While the heavy defeat has brought out some critics of Lee Bowyer’s tenure as Head Coach, there has also been an increasing amount of talk online about how the ownership of the club might change.

The Elusive Mr King Part X – Cambodia

Last month I wrote about the family connections between the elusive Mr King, Wang Yaohui and Vong Pech, who has the largest financial interest in Birmingham City. Feedback from that article suggests there is still some confusion as to just who this Mr King guy is, and why I’ve dedicated so much of my time to uncovering connections between him and the titular shareholders of Birmingham Sports Holding. In this article I’m hoping to rectify that somewhat.

BCFC: A Ludicrous Hand?

Birmingham City blew a 2-0 lead on Saturday to draw 2-2 with Cardiff City at St Andrew’s. It was a bitter pill for Lee Bowyer to swallow, with the Blues Head Coach admitting that his side weren’t good enough in either box. With 22 games gone Blues lie in 15th place, eight points shy of the playoffs and the same number shy of the drop zone.

Who Are Ya: The Owners

One of the most complex things to understand about Birmingham City is just who owns the club. While the simple answer would be to point to the Hong Kong listed company Birmingham Sports Holdings, the ownership of that company is opaque due to the number of investment vehicles incorporated in the British Virgin Islands who own stakes in the company. Throw into the mix people owning stakes in the club directly and you’ve got a mess.

Where’s the Money Gone: St Andrew’s

The second article in my series looking at where Birmingham City have spent money in recent years focuses on St Andrew’s stadium. The stadium has been the centre of news throughout most of the current regime’s tenure due to the sale of the stadium to Birmingham City Stadium Ltd to get around P&S rules; the closure and partial reopening of the Tilton and Kop stands due to structural issues and the ground share deal with Coventry City FC.

Who Are Ya: Birmingham Sports Holdings

Everyone knows that Birmingham City are owned by a company based in Hong Kong, but how much is actually known about them and what they do? In this second refresher article about the powers that be behind the club, I’ve taken a look at Birmingham Sports Holdings.

BCFC: A January Problem?

Birmingham City scratched out a 0-0 draw with Coventry on Tuesday night at the Coventry Building Society Arena in a game that wasn’t one for the purists. In a performance marred by a ref handing out a harsh red card to Ryan Woods for serious foul play it could have been much worse had Coventry bought their shooting boots and only went to show just how thin the Blues squad currently is.