Birmingham City, Tom Brady’s new football club: where it is, division, history...

We’ve seen it happen already with Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney at Wrexham, as well as PGA Tour high-flyers Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas at Leeds United. Now, it’s NFL star Tom Brady, regarded as the greatest quarterback of all time, and Birmingham City.

Brady becomes Birmingham City minority owner

Becoming involved in the running of an English soccer clubs thousands of miles from home is becoming something of a trend for high-profile American figures from different fields, with Brady the latest to jump on the bandwagon. Unlike Reynolds and McElhenney, who are majority owners at Wrexham, Brady has become a minority owner at Birmingham, as is the case with Spieth and Thomas, who have invested in the San Francisco 49ers’ ownership group, 49ers Enterprises, who have taken over Leeds.

What role will Brady play at Birmingham?

According to a statement issued by Birmingham City, Brady’s role will be multi-faceted as, in addition to being an investor, he will also be “committing his time and extensive expertise” in his position as “Chair of the Advisory Board”. The club states that “the goal that Tom has committed to own is to make Birmingham City a respected leader in nutrition, health, wellness, and recovery across the world of football” and that their mens’s women’s and academy teams will benefit from his knowledge.

Bellingham’s Birmingham beginnings

While Birmingham City are a household name on UK shores, it’s probably not controversial to say they don’t have the same level of recognition internationally as Manchester United, Liverpool or Arsenal, for instance. At present, they are perhaps best known around the world for being the club at which Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham started his professional career.

Where is Birmingham?

Also known as The Blues, Birmingham are based in the city of the same name, which is the second largest in the United Kingdom (hence its “Second City” nickname) and is located in the West Midlands in England, around 120 miles (193 kilometres) north-west of London. Birmingham itself has a population of over 1.1 million according to a 2021 census, with its metropolitan area home to 4.3 million people.

The history of Birmingham City

Aston Villa, who have won the English top division seven times in their history and the European Cup in 1982, are the city of Birmingham’s most successful professional club, and are The Blues’ bitter rivals. Brady’s new club, who were founded in 1875, haven’t had nearly the same level of success as their neighbours, with their biggest on-field achievement being lifting the League Cup (the second cup competition in England) in 1963 and 2011. Other than that, they have won several lower division titles to earn promotion and have been beaten in the FA Cup final on two occasions, the last of which was all the way back in 1956.

What division do Birmingham City play in?

Unlike Villa, who will compete in the Premier League in 2023/24, Birmingham are gearing up for their 13th successive season in the Championship, the second tier in the English soccer pyramid. The Blues do have some recent experience of the top division (2002-2006, 2007-2008, 2009-2011) but they haven’t been regular participants at that level since the 1970s. In each of the last seven seasons, they have finished no higher than 17th out of 24 and only narrowly avoided relegation to the third tier on a couple of occasions.

St Andrew’s: the home of The Blues

Some of you will know St Andrews as the home of golf, but the Blues’ home stadium is called St Andrew’s (note the slight difference in spelling), where they have played since 1906. The original ground could hold up to 75,000 fans but the seating capacity of the current stadium now stands at just under 29,500. Their average attendance in 2022/23, however, was just 15,500, although that was mainly due to parts of the stadium being closed due to reparation work.

Brady: “An iconic club with history and passion”

“Birmingham City is an iconic club with so much history and passion and to be part of the Blues is a real honour for me. BCFC is built on teamwork and determination and I’m excited to work alongside the board, management and players to make our Second City club second to none. I’ve been part of some amazing teams in my day, and I’m looking forward to applying my perspective to create that same success here in Birmingham”, said Brady after details of his involvement were announced. Success hasn’t come all that easily to the Blues in recent times, but maybe that could be about to change?