List of Birmingham City F.C. records and statistics

This article details all-time records. For a season-by-season statistical breakdown see Birmingham City F.C. seasons.
Small Heath F.C., champions of the inaugural Football League Second Division 1892–93

Birmingham City Football Club are a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Founded in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, the club turned professional in 1885[1] and three years later, under the name of Small Heath F.C. Ltd, were the first football club to become a limited company with a board of directors.[2] They were later known as Birmingham before adopting their current name in 1943.[3] Elected to the newly formed Second Division of the Football League in 1892, they have never dropped below the third tier of English football.[4] They were also pioneers of European football competition, taking part in the inaugural season of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.[5]

The list encompasses the major honours won by Birmingham City, records set by the club, their managers and their players, and details of their performance in European competition. The player records section itemises the club's leading goalscorers and those who have made most appearances in first-team competitions. It also records notable achievements by Birmingham players on the international stage, and the highest transfer fees paid and received by the club. Attendance records at St Andrew's, the club's home ground since 1906, are also included.

All figures are correct as of 10 January 2016.

Honours

Birmingham's first ever silverware was the Walsall Cup which they won in 1883. Their first honour in national competitive football was the inaugural championship of the Football League Second Division in 1892–93. The majority of their success came in the period from the mid-1950s to the early 1960s. Promoted to the First Division in 1955, in the following season they achieved their highest league finish of sixth place and their second FA Cup final appearance.[6][7] They went on to reach two successive finals of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, and won their only major trophy, the League Cup, for the first time in 1963,[8] a success not repeated until 2011.[9] In the 1994–95 season they completed the "lower-division double", of the Division Two (level 3) championship and the Football League Trophy, a knockout cup competition open to clubs in the third and fourth tiers of English football;[8] this was the first time the golden goal was used to decide the winner of a senior English cup final.[10]

Birmingham City's honours and achievements include the following:[6][8][9][11]

European competition

The Football League

Domestic cup competition

Wartime competition

Player records

Appearances

Most appearances

Competitive, professional matches only, appearances as substitute in brackets.[13][14][15]
# Name Years Leaguea FA Cup League Cup Otherb Total
1Merrick, GilGil Merrick1946–1959485 (0)56 (0)0 (0)10 (0)551   (0)
2Womack, FrankFrank Womack1908–1928491 (0)24 (0)0 (0)0 (0)515   (0)
3Bradford, JoeJoe Bradford1920–1935414 (0)31 (0)0 (0)0 (0)445   (0)
4Green, KenKen Green1947–1958401 (0)36 (0)0 (0)4 (0)440   (0)
5Crosbie, JohnnyJohnny Crosbie1920–1932409 (0)23 (0)0 (0)0 (0)432   (0)
6Smith, TrevorTrevor Smith1953–1964365 (0)35 (0)12 (0)18 (0)430   (0)
7Beard, MalcolmMalcolm Beard1960–1970349 (1)24 (1)25 (0)4 (0)402   (2)
8Tremelling, DanDan Tremelling1919–1931382 (0)13 (0)0 (0)0 (0)395   (0)
9Page, MalcolmMalcolm Page1965–1980328 (8)29 (0)14 (0)12 (0)383   (8)
10Hibbs, HarryHarry Hibbs1926–1938358 (0)30 (0)0 (0)0 (0)388   (0)
a. Includes the Football Alliance, the Football League and the Premier League.
b. Includes goals and appearances (including those as a substitute) in test matches and promotion playoffs, the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup,
the Football League Trophy, and the defunct Anglo-Italian Cup, Anglo-Scottish Cup, Full Members' Cup and Texaco Cup.

Goalscorers

Top goalscorers

Joe Bradford is the all-time top goalscorer for Birmingham City. He was their leading goalscorer for twelve consecutive seasons, from 1921–22 to 1932–33, and won 12 caps for England.[18]

Competitive, professional matches only. Matches played (including as substitute) appear in brackets.[15][18][19]
# Name Years Leaguea FA Cup League Cup Otherb Total
1Bradford, JoeJoe Bradford1920–1935249 (414)18 (31)0 (0)0 (0)267 (445)
2Francis, TrevorTrevor Francis1970–1979119 (280)6 (20)4 (19)4 (10)133 (329)
3Murphy, PeterPeter Murphy1952–1960107 (245)16 (24)0 (0)4 (9)127 (278)
4Wheldon, FredFred Wheldon1890–189699 (155)12 (13)0 (0)5 (7)116 (175)
5Briggs, GeorgeGeorge Briggs1924–193398 (298)9 (26)0 (0)0 (0)107 (324)
6Jones, BillyBilly Jones1901–1909
1912–1913
99 (236)3 (17)0 (0)0 (0)102 (253)
7Vowden, GeoffGeoff Vowden1964–197079 (221)8 (16)7 (16)0 (0)94 (253)
8Brown, EddyEddy Brown1954–195874 (158)13 (18)0 (0)3 (9)90 (185)
9Latchford, BobBob Latchford1969–197468 (160)6 (12)6 (16)4 (6)84 (193)
10McRoberts, BobBob McRoberts1898–190570 (173)12 (14)0 (0)0 (0)82 (187)
a. Includes the Football Alliance, the Football League and the Premier League.
b. Includes goals and appearances (including those as a substitute) in test matches and promotion playoffs, the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup,
the Football League Trophy, and the now-defunct Anglo-Italian Cup, Anglo-Scottish Cup, Full Members' Cup and Texaco Cup.

International caps

Maik Taylor, the club's most capped player

This section refers only to caps won while a Birmingham player.

Transfers

Trevor Francis, who joined Birmingham as a 15-year-old, became the first British footballer to be transferred for a fee of at least £1 million when Brian Clough signed him for league champions Nottingham Forest in February 1979. The basic fee was below £1m – Clough claimed in his autobiography to have set the fee at £999,999 because he did not want the idea of being the first £1m player going to Francis's head[23] – but VAT and the transfer levy raised the total payable to £1.18m.[24] Within three months he scored the winning goal in the 1979 European Cup Final.[25] Some four years earlier, Birmingham had also been involved in a British record transfer when they sold Bob Latchford to Everton, in part exchange for Howard Kendall and Archie Styles, the deal valuing Latchford at £350,000.[26]

For consistency, fees in the record transfer tables below are all sourced from BBC Sport's contemporary reports of each transfer. Where the report mentions an initial fee potentially rising to a higher figure depending on contractual clauses being satisfied in the future, only the initial fee is listed in the tables.

Record transfer fees paid

# Fee Paid to For Date Notes
1£6mValencia SERNikola Žigić26 May 2010 [27]
2£5.5mBlackburn Rovers ENGDavid Dunn7 July 2003 [28]
3£5mCardiff City ENGRoger Johnson25 June 2009 [29]
4£4.75mEverton SCOJames McFadden18 January 2008 [30]
5£4.25mCrystal Palace IRLClinton Morrison30 July 2002 [31]

Record transfer fees received

# Fee Received from For Date Notes
1 £6.7mLiverpool ENGJermaine Pennant26 July 2006 [32]
2£6mWest Ham United ENGMatthew Upson31 January 2007 [33]
3£5.5mWigan Athletic ENGEmile Heskey7 July 2006 [34]
4 £5mBolton Wanderers ENGFabrice Muamba16 June 2008 [35]
5£3.7mLeicester City ENGDemarai Gray2 January 2016 [36]

Managerial records

All three of the above had formerly played for the club.[39]

Club records

Goals

28 in 38 matches, Premier League, 2005–06.[4]
30 in 42 matches, First Division, 1985–86.[4]

Points

Two points for a win: 59 in 42 matches, Second Division, 1947–48.[4]
Three points for a win: 89 in 46 matches, Second Division (level 3), 1994–95.[4]
Two points for a win:
20 in 30 matches, First Division, 1895–96.[4]
22 in 42 matches, First Division, 1978–79.[4]
Three points for a win: 29 in 42 matches, First Division, 1985–86.[4]

Matches

Firsts

Record wins

Small Heath 12–0 Doncaster Rovers, Second Division, 11 April 1903.
Small Heath 12–0 Walsall Town Swifts, Second Division, 17 December 1892.
Birmingham City 6–0 Manchester City, fifth round, 11 December 1962.
Birmingham City 6–0 Macclesfield Town, second round, 22 September 1998.

Record defeats

Sheffield Wednesday 9–1 Small Heath, Football Alliance, 21 December 1889.
Newton Heath 9–1 Small Heath, Football Alliance, 7 April 1890.
Blackburn Rovers 9–1 Small Heath, First Division, 5 February 1895.
Derby County 8–0 Birmingham, First Division, 30 November 1895.
Newcastle United 8–0 Birmingham, First Division, 23 November 1905.
Sheffield Wednesday 9–1 Birmingham, First Division, 13 December 1930.
Preston North End 8–0 Birmingham, First Division, 1 February 1958.
Birmingham City 0–8 AFC Bournemouth, Championship, 25 October 2014.

Record consecutive results

This section applies to league matches only.[48]

8, from 26 December 1922 to 17 February 1923, First Division.
8, from 2 December 1978 to 24 February 1979, First Division.
8, from 28 September 1985 to 23 November 1985, First Division.

Attendances

Average and peak league attendances at St Andrew's

This section applies to attendances at St Andrew's, where Birmingham have played their home matches since 1906. Attendance figures from the club's early days are approximate.[51]

1,000, against Blackpool, Second Division, 27 November 1909.
1,000, against Burnley, Second Division, 28 February 1910.

Birmingham City in Europe

Invitations to enter the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, a football tournament set up to promote industrial trade fairs, were extended to the city hosting the trade fair rather than to clubs. Some cities entered a select team including players from more than one club, but Aston Villa, the other major club based in the city of Birmingham, rejected the opportunity to field a combined team.[5][52] Thus Birmingham City became the first English club side to play in European competition when they played their first match in the 1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup on 15 May 1956. They were also the first English club side to reach a European final, the 1960 Fairs Cup final, in which they met Barcelona. The home leg, a goalless draw, was played on 29 March 1960 and the away leg, which Barcelona won 4–1, some six weeks later.[upper-alpha 6] In the semifinal of the 1961 Fairs Cup Birmingham beat Internazionale home and away; no other English club beat them in a competitive match in the San Siro until Arsenal did so in the Champions League over 40 years later.[54]

Victory in the 2011 Football League Cup Final earned Birmingham qualification for the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League, which they entered at the play-off round.[55] A 3–0 aggregate victory over C.D. Nacional of Portugal[56] qualified Birmingham for the group stage, in which they were drawn alongside last season's finalists, S.C. Braga of Portugal, Slovenian champions NK Maribor, and fourth-placed Belgian team Club Brugge. They finished third in group H, one point behind Club Brugge and Braga, so failed to qualify for the knockout rounds.[57]

Record by season

Birmingham City's scores are given first in all scorelines.
Season Competition Round Opponent Home leg Away leg Play-
off
Notes Refs
Country Club
1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup GS Italy Internazionale 2–10–0 [upper-alpha 7] [59]
GS Yugoslavia Zagreb XI 3–01–0 [59]
SF SpainBarcelona 4–30–11–2 [upper-alpha 8] [59]
1958–60 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1R GermanyCologne XI 2–02–2 [upper-alpha 9] [61]
2R YugoslaviaZagreb XI 1–03–3 [61]
SF BelgiumR. Union Saint-Gilloise 4–24–2 [61]
F SpainBarcelona 0–01–4 [61]
1960–61 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1R HungaryÚjpesti Dózsa 3–22–1 [upper-alpha 9] [62]
2R DenmarkKB 5–04–4 [62]
SF ItalyInternazionale 2–12–1 [62]
F ItalyA.S. Roma 2–20–2 [62]
1961–62 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 2R SpainRCD Espanyol 1–02–5 [upper-alpha 9] [63]
2011–12 UEFA Europa League PO PortugalC.D. Nacional 3–00–0 [56]
GS PortugalS.C. Braga 1–30–1 [57]
GS SloveniaNK Maribor 1–02–1 [57]
GS BelgiumClub Brugge 2–22–1 [57]
Key

European attendance records

Notes

  1. Promoted automatically to the Football League First Division by finishing in third place in the Football League Second Division.
  2. Promoted via the playoff system to the Premier League after finishing in fifth place in the Championship.
  3. This competition, open to teams in the third and fourth tiers of English football, was renamed the Football League Trophy in 1992. It is more often referred to by its sponsored name, which in 1991 was the Leyland DAF Trophy and in 1995 was the Auto Windscreens Shield.
  4. Taylor's total includes caps won while on loan from Fulham.[21]
  5. Prior to 1910, the club was managed by committee or by a secretary-manager who combined club administration with responsibility for the team's affairs on the pitch. McRoberts was the first manager whose role did not include secretarial duties.
  6. The London XI, including players from several London clubs, were the first English team to play in European competition when they played their first match in the inaugural Fairs Cup in 1955, and the first English team to reach a final, in the same campaign.[53]
  7. Invitations to enter the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, a football tournament set up to promote industrial trade fairs, were extended to the city hosting the trade fair rather than to clubs. Some cities entered a select team including players from more than one club; others, including Birmingham, chose a club side to represent them.[58]
  8. The away goals rule did not apply when aggregate scores were level, so a playoff was staged at St. Jakob-Park, Basel, which Barcelona won 2–1 to reach the final.
  9. 1 2 3 Until the mid-1960s, entry to this competition remained by invitation, independent of domestic league position. Birmingham City's continued invitations resulted from their success in the previous edition of the competition. In 1961–62, there was an expanded entry of 28 teams, and Birmingham received a bye to the second round as losing finalist from the previous edition.[60]

References

General
Specific
  1. 1 2 Matthews (1995), p. 8.
  2. Williams, John & Neatrour, Sam (March 2002). "Fact Sheet 10: The 'New' Football Economics" (PDF). Sir Norman Chester Centre for Football Research, University of Leicester. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  3. Matthews (2000), "Club name", p. 55.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Small Heath"., "Birmingham"., and "Birmingham City". Football Club History Database (FCHD). Richard Rundle. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
    "Birmingham City: History 1975 to date". Statto. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
  5. 1 2 Radnedge, Keir (1998). "Inter-Cities Fairs/UEFA Cup". The Complete Encyclopedia of Football. Carlton Books. p. 200. ISBN 978-1-85833-979-5.
  6. 1 2 "Honours". The Birmingham City FC Archive. Tony Jordan. Archived from the original on 8 March 2005.
  7. "Team Records". The Birmingham City FC Archive. Tony Jordan. Archived from the original on 23 June 2003.
  8. 1 2 3 Oliver, Peter (2007). Birmingham City The Official Annual 2008. Grange Communications. ISBN 978-1-905426-79-9.
  9. 1 2 McNulty, Philip (27 February 2011). "Arsenal 1–2 Birmingham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
  10. Haylett, Trevor (24 April 1995). "Fry's delight as Carlisle succumb to sudden death". The Independent. Retrieved 6 September 2009.
  11. Fletcher, Paul (3 May 2009). "Birmingham clinch top-flight spot". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
  12. 1 2 Matthews (2000), "Age", p. 10.
  13. "Appearance Records". The Birmingham City FC Archive. Tony Jordan. Archived from the original on 11 March 2005.
  14. Matthews (1995), pp. 201–16, 243–44.
  15. 1 2 Matthews (2000), "Appearances", pp. 12–14.
  16. 1 2 3 "Individual Records". The Birmingham City FC Archive. Tony Jordan. Archived from the original on 11 March 2005.
  17. "Top League Goalscorers". The Birmingham City FC Archive. Tony Jordan. Archived from the original on 10 April 2003.
  18. 1 2 "Top Goalscorers". The Birmingham City FC Archive. Tony Jordan. Archived from the original on 10 April 2003.
  19. Matthews (2000), "Goalscoring", pp. 96–97.
  20. 1 2 3 Matthews (2000), "International Blues", pp. 119–22.
  21. Courtney, Barrie (2 March 2005). "(Northern) Ireland – International Results 2000–2005 – Details". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Retrieved 8 June 2011.
    "International: Maik Taylor". Irish Football Association. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
  22. "England in World Cup 1954 Squad Records". England Football Online. Archived from the original on 15 January 2012.
  23. Clough, Brian (1995). Clough: The Autobiography. Corgi. ISBN 978-0-552-14003-4.
  24. Harris, Nick (4 February 2004). "Landmark £1m fee for Francis was no big deal for Clough". The Independent. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  25. Matthews (2000), "Francis, Trevor", p. 86.
  26. Matthews (2000), "Latchford, Bob", p. 132.
  27. "Birmingham seal signing of giant striker Nikola Zigic". BBC Sport. 26 May 2010. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
  28. "Dunn signs for Blues". BBC Sport. 7 July 2003. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
  29. "Johnson completes Birmingham move". BBC Sport. 25 June 2009. Retrieved 25 June 2009.
  30. "Birmingham complete McFadden move". BBC Sport. 18 January 2008. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
  31. "Birmingham net Morrison". BBC Sport. 30 July 2002. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
  32. "Pennant completes Liverpool move". BBC Sport. 26 July 2006. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
  33. "West Ham capture Upson from Blues". BBC Sport. 31 January 2007. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
  34. "Wigan seal £5.5m move for Heskey". BBC Sport. 7 July 2006. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
  35. "Bolton splash out £5m on Muamba". BBC Sport. 16 June 2008. Retrieved 3 September 2008.
  36. "Leicester sign Birmingham winger". BBC Sport. 2 January 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  37. 1 2 "Managers". The Birmingham City FC Archive. Tony Jordan. Archived from the original on 9 April 2003.
  38. 1 2 "Birmingham Managers". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  39. Matthews (2000), "Managers", p. 148.
  40. Matthews (1995), p. 231.
  41. Matthews (1995), p. 140.
  42. Matthews (1995), p. 141.
  43. Matthews (1995), p. 142.
  44. Matthews (1995), p. 13.
  45. Matthews (1995), p. 241.
  46. Matthews (1995), p. 196.
  47. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Record Results". The Birmingham City FC Archive. Tony Jordan. Archived from the original on 11 March 2005.
  48. 1 2 "Birmingham City: Records". Statto Organisation. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  49. Shaw, Phil (22 March 2006). "Birmingham City 0 Liverpool 7: Liverpool's magnificent seven gives knock-out blow to Bruce". The Independent. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
  50. "Blues hold ten-man United". Sky Sports. 9 January 2010. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  51. Matthews (2000), "Attendances", pp. 20–21.
  52. Goodyear, David & Matthews, Tony (1988). Aston Villa A Complete Record 1875–1988. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 0-907969-37-2. At this time there seemed a general lack of ambition at Villa Park. The club were slow to install floodlights, they turned down the chance of combining with Blues to field a 'Birmingham' team for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup...
  53. Ross, James M. (13 July 2006). "European Cups Archive". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Retrieved 27 July 2007.
  54. Moore, Chris (27 November 2003). "Harris beats Henry". The Sun. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
  55. "2011/12 list of participants". UEFA. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
  56. 1 2 "UEFA Europa League 2012: Nacional–Birmingham". UEFA. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
    "UEFA Europa League 2012: Birmingham–Nacional". UEFA. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
  57. 1 2 3 4 "Standings: Group stage: Group H". UEFA. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
  58. Radnedge, p. 200.
  59. 1 2 3 Ross, James M. (28 February 2008). "European Competitions 1957–58: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1955–58". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Retrieved 20 August 2011.
  60. Radnedge, pp. 200–04.
  61. 1 2 3 4 Ross, James M. (27 June 2007). "European Competitions 1959–60: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1958–60". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Retrieved 20 August 2011.
  62. 1 2 3 4 Ross, James M. (27 June 2007). "European Competitions 1960–61: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1960–61". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Retrieved 20 August 2011.
  63. Ross, James M. (27 June 2007). "European Competitions 1961–62: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1961–62". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Retrieved 20 August 2011.
  64. 1 2 3 4 Matthews (1995), "Blues in Europe", pp. 241–42.

External links

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