It's a dark day in Birmingham as Birmingham City, the club partially owned by a consortium including Tom Brady, dropped to League One for the first time in 29 years despite defeating Norwich City 1-0 on Saturday. Due to Plymouth Town defeating Hull City, they were able to edge Birmingham by a mere point to stay in the league. The Blues put up a fight near the end of the season, going undefeated in their final four matches but the damage was already done.
With six managers this season including a disastrous spell with Wayne Rooney at the helm where they won only two of his 15 games in charge. Tony Mowbray took over, but had to step away from day to day management in February to receive medical treatment with the expectation of returning as the first team manager when his treatment is completed. Birmingham were floundering when Gary Rowett took over, and the Englishman did the best he could to help try and avoid League One, but it wasn't enough in the end..
After selling Jude Bellingham to Borussia Dortmund in July of 2020, Birmingham didn't reinvest the funds from the sale into building a squad fit for challenging for the Premier League, instead settling into the lower reaches of the Championship. When Brady's group acquired a stake in Birmingham in August of 2023, it was supposed to be something that helped bring stability to the club, but since that point, five managers have led games for Birmingham afterr John Eustace was dismissed from his role as new ownership looked to make a splash with Rooney.
Eustace ended up joining Blackburn Rovers in February and led them to safety in the Championship at the expense of his former club. It has been a topsy-turvy season for the Blues but Eustace being what helped seal their relegation is quite a show of how chaotic things have been at Birmingham. It will be a tough fight back from League One as sometimes teams can get stuck in the second division for a new season but Birmingham can look to Ipswich Town for inspiration as the Tractor Boys secured back to back promotions making it to the Premier League on Saturday.
