IN FOCUS: BIRMINGHAM CITY

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2022-06-24T08:00:00.000Z

IN FOCUS: BIRMINGHAM CITY

2022-06-24T08:00:00.000Z

With the new Sky Bet Championship season now approaching, we bring you the lowdown on all 23 of our league opponents. In this article, the club in focus is Birmingham City

Originally formed in 1875 as ‘Small Heath Alliance’ after the area in which it was founded, the club was also known as ‘Small Heath’ & ‘Birmingham’ before becoming Birmingham City in 1943, which it has been known as since then.

City were founding members and the first champions of the Football League’s Second Division, and having advanced up the pyramid, enjoyed success in the 1950s and 60s.

The first English club side to play in a major European final, Birmingham two major honours come in the form of League Cups with a Carling Cup final win over Arsenal in 2011 memorable. The club were relegated from the Premier League weeks after this, and spent 11 years in the Championship to date.

Stadium: St Andrew’s (29,409; currently restricted to 19,000 due to construction work) – Cattell Rd, Birmingham, B9 4RL

Nickname(s): The Blues

Manager: John Eustace

2021/22 Finishing Position: 20th

2021/22 Top Scorer: Scott Hogan (10)

Notable Connections: Striker Lukas Jutkiewicz spent three seasons at Turf Moor having joined from Middlesbrough in 2014, helping the Clarets to the Championship title in 2015/16.

After an initial loan spell, he joined Birmingham from the Clarets and has remained there since, scooping a trio of club awards in the 2019-20 season including Player of the Year.

Elsewhere, fellow forward Sam Cosgrove started for Aberdeen against the Clarets in both legs of the UEFA Europa League qualifying tie back in 2018.

Last Time We Met: Since Burnley’s promotion to the Premier League in 2016, the pair haven’t met in any competition with the Blues remaining in the Championship for the entirety of that period.

The Clarets last encounter with the Midlands outfit therefore came in that promotion season, a 2-1 victory at St Andrew’s in April 2016 to make it 19 games undefeated, a run which would continue until the end of the campaign and finish on 23.

George Boyd fired home on the half-hour mark while Jacques Maghoma headed an equaliser for the hosts midway through the second half. With 13 minutes remaining though, Boyd found Andre Gray in space at the back post to smash a winner past soon-to-be Claret Adam Legzdins.

Jon Toral was shown a second yellow card – and a subsequent red – in added time for a trip on Lloyd Dyer having already brought down Joey Barton early on in the first half.

Full Record (All Competitions): P: 97 - W: 44, D: 21, L: 32

Fixtures in the 2022/23 season: 26.12.2022 (H – Turf Moor) / 19.10.2022 (A – St Andrew’s)