Bitter rivalry, free-scoring marksmen, stretchers, rage and Peter Enckelman: half a dozen Second City derby storiesVilla dominated the Football League during its Victorian infancy – they racked up five titles by 1900 – so their early command of the Birmingham scene is no great surprise. In November 1887, they met the club that would become bitter city rivals in serious competition for the first time: Small Heath Alliance were dispatched 4-0 in the FA Cup second round. It was payback for the first friendly between the clubs in 1879, which Alliance won 1-0 at their Muntz Street ground. Villa – already a grand, bordering on aristocratic, institution despite being just four years and nine months old – complained bitterly that...
The story of Italian’s past decade provides an illustration of the difficulties experienced by so many creative players who set out to translate their talents to the manager’s roleGianfranco Zola left the manager’s job at Birmingham City on Easter Monday, the local paper said “with dignity”. His decision acknowledged the implications of supervising only two victories in 24 matches and he was praised for turning up to explain himself rather than slinking out of the back entrance. The manner of his going was consistent with the class he had shown during a 20-year playing career that took him from an amateur team in his native Sardinia to glory with Napoli, Parma and Chelsea, and to 35 senior international appearances for...
After their side beat Bristol City for a first Championship win since 2 December, supporters await with trepidation the return of owner Fawaz al-HasawiFawaz al-Hasawi is expected to return to Nottingham this week, with the whiff of sulphur from the flares of Saturday’s protest against him still hanging in the air on the banks of the Trent. Nottingham Forest fans want him out of the club he purchased four and a half years ago but the Kuwaiti, who has performed more three-point turns than a learner driver, does not appear willing to leave and his motives for remaining become less clear by the minute.Not long after the shrieks of relief at Ben Osborn’s creative flair, which brought a first victory...
The Italian walked to the dugout to no fanfare and saw his new team lose 2-1 to Brighton but many fans cannot understand why he has replaced Gary RowettHad you arrived at St Andrew’s on Saturday having not read any news in the previous week, you would not have known Birmingham had a new manager. As Gianfranco Zola walked towards the dugout there was no fanfare, no introduction, no real hearty welcome from the home supporters. Some handshakes, a couple of autographs, a few more photographers than usual, but the fans of Birmingham did not greet their new leader like a new hero, arriving in town to save the day.That is at least partly because not many of them can...
It took the sudden passing of the 28-year-old England right-back in 1959 to get a generation pouring into clinics for inoculation against a disease that in the previous 10 years had killed over 3,000 people in England and WalesOn the face of it there was nothing particularly memorable about Birmingham City’s 1-1 draw at relegation-bound Portsmouth in March 1959 but for the sense of disappointment the visitors took from it. “Blues did themselves no credit in this so-casual stroll in the sun,” wrote Dennis Shaw in Birmingham’s Sports Argus. “Portsmouth did all they could to show why they have not won a league game since November. Blues were little better. After shooting into the lead shortly before the interval they...