Birmingham City has undergone a remarkable transformation in recent months. Over 20,000 season tickets have already been sold for the upcoming Championship campaign, with another 14,000 fans waiting on a waiting list. The area around St Andrew's is now dotted with fan parks, and the atmosphere surrounding the club feels electric.
The ownership has laid out ambitious plans to re‑link England’s second city with the football club that carries its name, hoping to unlock the full potential of both. Supporter groups are sprouting up across the globe, a phenomenon that can be traced back to the high‑profile signing of Tom Brady. Everywhere you look, the conversation is about building a side that can compete at Premier League level. In this environment, an ambitious board and a fanbase that has been starved of success are understandably eager for rapid progress.
The excitement that surrounds the club brings with it heightened expectations, not just from those inside the organization but also from the wider football community. Everyone senses that Birmingham is on an upward trajectory, yet it is important to remember that sustainable growth takes time. Looking back, last season may have been more of a breathing‑space for the Blues rather than a loss of momentum.
To put the recent results into perspective, you have to travel back fourteen years to the 2011‑12 campaign, when Birmingham were still playing in Europe and finished higher than the 10th‑place finish recorded in the 2025‑26 season. "It was our first season back, which people found hard to remember at times," manager Chris Davies told Sky Sports ahead of the opening league fixture against Sheffield United. He wasn’t referring to the supporters – "they have been great" – but to everyone involved with the club.
Davies carries a considerable weight of hope on his shoulders. "One thing I learned is that I can handle it," he added. "I can manage the highs and the lows." The lows were few, as Birmingham clinched the League One title with a record‑breaking 111 points, dominating opponents with a possession‑based style that left little doubt about their superiority. The step up to the Championship proved far more demanding.
"You can read about the Championship, but feeling it is another matter entirely," Davies admitted. The second tier of English football posed new questions, and the Blues did not always have immediate answers.
Their original game plan worked only intermittently. In League One, Birmingham thrived on total football, maintaining roughly 80 % possession and circulating the ball relentlessly. That approach gave them control for the majority of each match. When they entered the Championship, the recruitment policy shifted toward smaller, technically adept players who could execute a similar style.
Some matches showcased the effectiveness of this approach, while others exposed a lack of physical punch, particularly away from home. Against that backdrop, a hard‑fought Carabao Cup victory over Swansea – a game in which Birmingham held just 39 % of possession but still netted the only goal – was more than a morale booster. It hinted that the squad had begun to incorporate new elements into its play. The goal scorer, 22‑year‑old Danish striker August Priske, was a January signing who appears to have benefitted from his half‑season in the Championship.
He also found the net against Barcelona at a packed St Andrew's a month earlier, quickly endearing himself to the fans. "Jhon Solis, Carlos Vicente and August arrived together, and those six months gave them a crash‑course in English football and the Championship. They are now ready to go and have performed admirably," Davies said. Vicente, a combative Spanish winger, supplied the assist for Priske’s Swansea goal, while Solis, a Colombian midfielder, also scored against Barcelona and has become a fan favourite.
Their contributions add both creativity and physical presence to the midfield and attack. Reflecting on the previous campaign, Davies concluded that taking the next step would require a greater emphasis on physicality. "The modern game relies heavily on man‑to‑man pressing and set‑piece proficiency. You need the stamina and strength to cope with that," he explained.
This philosophy has shaped the club’s summer transfer activity. In addition to the winter signings, Birmingham have secured centre‑back Dael Fry, a 6‑ft‑4‑in defender with nearly 300 Championship appearances. The expectation is that his experience and aerial ability will help the team adapt quickly to a more balanced style of play. Davies stresses that the aim is to augment what he has already built rather than to abandon it entirely.
"If a team can keep the ball, it is easier to switch to a more pragmatic or direct approach when needed, compared with a side that only knows how to play pragmatically," he noted. The shift toward a more direct style began toward the end of last season. Sitting in 17th place in mid‑April, Davies used the brief international break to tweak the team’s shape, focusing on quicker transitions, a higher tempo, and set‑piece opportunities. The changes paid off, as Birmingham finished the campaign with a five‑game unbeaten run, securing a respectable top‑10 finish and carrying renewed belief into the summer.
"It’s a delicate balance because we don’t want to lose what we’re good at," Davies said. "I won’t abandon the pressing. No team in the Championship last season consistently played through our press, and it was effective for us." Going forward, the plan is to fine‑tune the team’s response once possession is regained.
"We want to use the ball as a weapon, moving forward more quickly and winning more set‑pieces," he added. To that end, Birmingham have hired specialist set‑piece coach Scott Fry.
Davies believes that dead‑ball situations provide a clear pathway to becoming genuine promotion contenders. The impact is already visible: Solis scored from a set‑piece against Barcelona, and Priske’s winner at Swansea followed a dead‑ball routine that saw Vicente deliver the ball to the striker. "We need to score around 70 goals to be among the top teams," Davies explained. Birmingham managed 57 last season, falling short of the benchmark set by the top six clubs.
The target now is to find an extra 13 goals, and Davies is confident that a combination of set‑pieces, counter‑attacks, and open‑play goals can achieve that. "If six or seven come from set‑pieces and a couple from counters, we only need a few more from regular play. It’s absolutely doable." The confidence in the squad is palpable. Players who were unfamiliar with the Championship now have a full season’s worth of experience, including away trips to venues like Millwall.
At the training ground, Davies has stripped away the buzzwords that once adorned the walls, opting for a leaner, more focused approach that mirrors the squad’s mentality. While director of football Craig Gardner has departed, the club leans on the seasoned Mike Rigg to maintain continuity. Commercially, Birmingham continue to grow, boasting the highest revenue among Championship clubs without relying on parachute payments.
Having weathered a storm of change and now stabilising, Birmingham City stands on the cusp of its next chapter. Davies sums up the mood succinctly: "I am confident we can keep progressing. The key is to keep moving forward and getting stronger."