The 2016–17 season is

Birmingham City Football Club Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

's 114th season in the

English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the ...

and sixth consecutive season in the second-tier

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

. It covers the period from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017. With the team lying just outside the play-off positions, and two days after three new directors had joined the board, manager

Gary Rowett Gary Rowett (born 6 March 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player who is head coach of club Oxford United. As a player, he was a defender, and played in the Premier League for Everton, Derby County, Leicester City ...

and his backroom staff were sacked on 14 December 2016. Later that day, former

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

and

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

manager

Gianfranco Zola Gianfranco Zola (; born 5 July 1966) is an Italian football executive, Manager (association football), manager, and former Association football, footballer who played predominantly as a Forward (association football), forward. He is currently v ...

was announced as Rowett's successor. After four months, during which the team won just twice and dropped to 20th place, three points outside the relegation zone with three matches remaining, Zola resigned, to be replaced by

Harry Redknapp Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former association football, football manager (association football), manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United F.C., West Ham United, Portsmouth F.C., ...

, initially to the end of the season. Needing to win their final match if

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

and

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

both won their final fixturewhich they didBirmingham won 1–0 away to

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

to avoid relegation and finish in 19th place. As with all

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

clubs, the first team also competed in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

and

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

. They were eliminated in the third round of the former by

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

after a replay and in the first round of the latter by

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

. Thirty-two players made at least one appearance in first-team competition, of whom four were loan signings; there were fourteen different goalscorers. Defenders

Jonathan Grounds Jonathan Martin Grounds (born 2 February 1988) is an English football coach and former professional player who played as a left back or centre back. Grounds began his career with his local club, Middlesbrough, but never became a regular member ...

and Ryan Shotton appeared in 45 of the club's 49 fixtures over the season, and

Lukas Jutkiewicz Lukas Isaac Paul Jutkiewicz (born 28 March 1989) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He previously played for Swindon Town, Everton, Plymouth Argyle, Huddersfield Town, Motherwell, Coventry City, Middlesbroug ...

was top scorer with 12 goals, of which 11 were scored in league competition. Player of the season David Davis received 13 yellow cards and was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

once, a record which placed him at the top of the Championship ill-discipline table. The average league attendance, of 18,717, was some 6% up on 2015–16.

Background and pre-season

Under the management of

, Birmingham City spent most of the

2015–16 Football League Championship The 2015–16 Football League Championship (referred to as the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the twelfth season of the Football League Championship under its current title and it was the twenty-fourth season under its current ...

season in or around the play-off positions, but they won just once in the last 12 matches of the campaign, and finished in the lowest position they had occupied all season: tenth. With 16 wins and 15 draws, their finishing position and record was identical to that of 2014–15, albeit with 15 fewer goals conceded. First-team players released at the end of the 2015–16 season included Mark Duffy,

Neal Eardley Neal James Eardley (born 6 November 1988) is a Welsh former international association football, footballer who last played for Cymru Premier champions Connah's Quay Nomads F.C., Connah's Quay Nomads. He represented Wales at Wales national unde ...

, David Edgar,

Lee Novak Lee Paul Novak (born 28 September 1988) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. A former youth team player for Wallsend Boys Club, he began his senior career with Scottish club Gretna, before returning to his h ...

Wes Thomas Wesley Alexander Nevada Thomas (born 23 January 1987) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. He began his career in non-league football with various clubs in ...

. and the youth product

Mitch Hancox Mitchell John Hancox (born 9 November 1993) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a left-back or central midfielder for club Spennymoor Town F.C., Spennymoor Town. He has played in the English Football League, ...

, who had been with the club for fourteen years. Free-transfer signings for 2016–17 included previous loanee

Robert Tesche Robert Tesche (born 27 May 1987) is a German professional association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for club VfL Osnabrück. Tesche played for Arminia Bielefeld, Hamburger SV and Fortuna Düsseldorf before moving to England in ...

from

and young

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

defender Daniel Cleary. Undisclosed fees were paid for

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

's attacking player Greg Stewart, young forward Che Adams from

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

, and

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

defender Ryan Shotton, who had been on loan at Birmingham in 2015–16. The terms of

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

striker James Vaughan's loan agreement required its conversion to a permanent contract, but he had not established himself as a first-team player and was allowed to leave. Birmingham made two loan signings, both for the first half of the season:

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

striker

and

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

left back

Rhoys Wiggins Rhoys Barrie Wiggins (born 4 November 1987) is a former professional footballer who played as a left back. Wiggins began his career at Crystal Palace, from where he had his first spell on loan to AFC Bournemouth. After just one first-team appea ...

. Attacking midfielder

Andrew Shinnie Andrew Murray Shinnie (born 17 July 1989) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for club Livingston. Shinnie started his professional career at Scottish Premier League side Rangers in 2006, but only made t ...

and striker Nicolai Brock-Madsen left on season-long loans, and young midfielders Koby Arthur and

Charlee Adams Charlee Shaun Adams (born 16 February 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Hornchurch. Adams began his football career in West Ham United's youth system, and moved in to Birmingham City in 2011. He m ...

and striker

Alex Jones Alexander Emerick Jones (born February 11, 1974) is an American Far-right politics, far-right radio host, radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist. He hosts ''The Alex Jones Show'' from Austin, Texas. ''The Alex Jones Show'' is the lo ...

went out on loan until January. The home kit is all blue, apart from white trim on the sleeves and three white stripes down the sides and round the sock tops. The away kit is all red, apart from white trim at the neck and under the sleeve and three white stripes on the shoulders, shorts and sock tops. The kits, supplied by

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

in the first season of a four-year deal, carry the logo of online bookmaker

888sport 888sport is an international sports betting brand owned by Evoke plc. It was founded in 2008, and is headquartered in Gibraltar. The company provides online sports betting, predominantly in European markets. History 888sport was launched as the ...

, the club's principal sponsor. After a training camp in Spain, Birmingham City's pre-season programme continued with

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

es away to

Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefor ...

teams

Solihull Moors Solihull Moors Football Club is a professional association football club based in Solihull, England. The club currently competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, after achieving promotion from the Na ...

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Formed in October 188 ...

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

and

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team competes in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system. Formed in ...

, and

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Hibernian. Their only home friendly was against Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

club

Roda JC Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; ), shortly as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or simply Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisie. The c ...

EFL Championship

August–September

Birmingham's opening fixture, on a sunny afternoon at home to

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

, was preceded by a minute's applause in memory of former player

Alex Govan Alexander Govan (16 June 1929 – 10 June 2016) was a Scottish professional footballer who played at outside left. Most of his career was spent with Plymouth Argyle (in two spells) and with Birmingham City during their most successful perio ...

, who died during the close season. With all senior players available for selection, the team lined up with

Tomasz Kuszczak Tomasz Mirosław Kuszczak (; born 20 March 1982) is a Polish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. He was most recently the goalkeeping coach of the Poland national fo ...

in goal,

Jonathan Spector Jonathan Michael Paul Spector (born March 1, 1986) is an American former soccer player who played as a defender. In his 16-year career playing first-team soccer he played over 400 games for club and country, and helped the United States win the ...

and

at full back, Michael Morrison (captain) and Ryan Shotton at

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

, David Davis alongside

Stephen Gleeson Stephen Michael Gleeson (born 3 August 1988) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Hitchin Town. Gleeson played youth football in his native Dublin before coming to England at the age of 15 to join Wolverhampt ...

in defensive midfield, Jacques Maghoma and David Cotterill as

wide midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

s, and Diego Fabbrini in support of lone striker

Clayton Donaldson Clayton Andrew Donaldson (born 7 February 1984) is a former professional Association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager who played as a Striker (association football), striker. He is Head of Development at York Cit ...

. The

Press Association PA Media (formerly the Press Association) is a multimedia news agency A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and All-news radio, radio and ...

reported "no discernible improvement" in home form that had "cost them dearly last season", as Kuszczak made several saves to keep Cardiff at bay. Young substitutes Reece Brown and the 18-year-old Jack Storer, who made his Birmingham debut, combined to create a chance that Storer should have takenmanager

claimed it was the first he had missed since the start of pre-seasonand the match finished goalless. After a midweek exit from the

, Birmingham faced

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

Elland Road Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...

with

Maikel Kieftenbeld Maikel Kieftenbeld (; born 26 June 1990) is a Dutch professional association football, footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Dutch club SC Cambuur, Cambuur. Kieftenbeld began his football career with his hometown club, VV Lemeler ...

replacing Fabbrini in a more defensive lineup. Kuszczak's error, allowing

Hadi Sacko Hadi Sacko (born 24 March 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Turkish club Sakaryaspor. Born in France, he plays for the Mali national team, having made his debut in 2018. He is a former French youth international. C ...

's weak shot to creep underneath him, equalised Maghoma's early goal, but after Leeds' defence failed to clear Grounds' cross, Morrison gave Birmingham a 2–1 win, their first in eight Championship matches. When Donaldson's 44th-minute

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

away to

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

was saved, Davis was first to the rebound to give his side a leadalthough television replays supported the home team's accusation of encroachmentbut Craig Davies equalised in the last minute. Che Adams scored 24 minutes into his debut, at home to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

, but three second-half goals gave the visitors the points. Just 7 minutes after coming on as a substitute, Storer was sent off for headbutting an opponent; while leaving the field, he kicked the advertising hoardings, suffering a foot injury that kept him out for longer than the three-match ban. Davis received his fourth

yellow card Yellow card may refer to: * Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas * Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band * Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative co ...

in as many matches. August ended at home to

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

. Rowett strengthened the midfield by bringing in Kieftenbeld and

making his first league start since signing permanentlyin place of Cotterill and the injured Gleeson, and moving Davis to the right. The latter headed the first goal from Maghoma's cross, and after the break Donaldson won and this time converted a penalty for his first goal of the season before taking advantage of a defensive error to complete a 3–0 win. September began with a 1–0 win at

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

that left Birmingham fourth in the table. Donaldson missed a first-half penalty awarded for a foul on Adams, then ignored Rowett's instructions that Maghoma should take any further penalty and scored the one awarded for another foul on Adams after 49 minutes. After Kuszczak was injured while warming up before the match away to

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

, Adam Legzdins kept a clean sheet as Birmingham played out what the PA Sport reporter dubbed a "gritty" goalless draw. They relied on the "overworked" Legzdins to keep

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

at bay until

Gary Hooper Gary Hooper (born 26 January 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Maldon & Tiptree. Hooper started his career at non-League club Grays Athletic in 2003. While there he won the 2004–05 Conference South, a ...

scored for the visitors after 76 minutes, but the off-form Donaldson won and converted a penalty before substitute Jutkiewicz looped a header over the goalkeeper in stoppage timehis first goal since he put

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

2–0 up in the final match of the 2013–14 season, in which Birmingham were seconds away from relegation to League Oneto complete an unlikely victory. Two drawsaway to

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

, a "combative" match likened by Rowett to a

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The larg ...

bout, and at home to

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

, in which Birmingham twice came from behindtook them into October still unbeaten away from home and still in the play-off positions.

October–December

After Legzdins's "flying save" from

Marvin Emnes Marvin Renato Emnes (born 27 May 1988) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a striker or winger. Early life Born in Rotterdam, Emnes was a sprinter as a youth. Emnes played football for amateur side Xerxes before he joined the Spar ...

stopped Birmingham falling behind to

, they finally took a chance when substitute Fabbrini fed Cotterill whose cross was "rammed ... into the roof of the net" by Gleeson. Away to

, Legzdins kept his place in goal despite Kuszczak's return to fitness, and an injury to Spector prompted Rowett to break the Morrison–Shotton defensive pairing, moving the latter to right back and bringing Robinson into the centre. The ''Birmingham Mail'' commented that "their defensive reshuffle adspread instability throughout the side" as the seven-match unbeaten run came to an end in a 3–1 defeat. In the first match following the club's takeover by Trillion Trophy Asia, they beat a defensively poor

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

4–2, but away to newly promoted

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

, the hosts showed "more energy and drive" and, according to Rowett, "thoroughly deserved" to win the first competitive meeting between the clubs. Kuszczak returned to the side for the

Second City derby In English football, the Second City derby or Birmingham derby is the local derby between the two major clubs in the city of Birmingham—Aston Villa F.C. and Birmingham City F.C.—first contested in 1879. Villa play at Villa Park while Birmi ...

against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

, who had recently appointed former Birmingham captain and manager

Steve Bruce Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who was a centre-back in a twenty-year playing career. He is currently the head coa ...

as their manager. Despite Birmingham's domination of possession, it was Villa who took a first-half lead; Birmingham's shooting was wasteful, with Donaldson particularly profligate. Davis equalised after 71 minutes with a driven shot from the edge of the penalty area. After a strong performance on his first start, loanee left back

' season was ended by a knee injury sustained in an accidental collision in stoppage time. Birmingham recovered from a weak first half and 1–0 down after an hour to draw away to third-placed

when Grounds kept the ball in play to set up a chance for Jutkiewicz to score with a well-placed header. A win over

courtesy of Adams' late goal put Birmingham back into the play-off positions. Spector's stoppage-time dismissal meant a Football League debut for the 20-year-old

Josh Dacres-Cogley Joshua Jacob Dacres-Cogley (born 12 March 1996), sometimes referred to as Josh Cogley, is an English professional footballer who plays as a full back for club Bolton Wanderers. He spent ten years with Birmingham City, making 30 first-team appe ...

away to

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

, where the visitors rode their luck. Donaldson's penalty, Shotton's back-post touch, a fine performance from Kuszczak and a late disallowed goal ensured a 2–1 win, which took them into December fourth in the table. A poor performance compounded by Davis's dismissal for a second booking brought a 3–0 defeat at home to

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

. In the next match, Birmingham visited

the team who began the season as the hottest favourites ever for the Championship title. Rowett did not replace the suspended Davis with a similarly combative player, preferring to include more creative players, two of whom were substituted at half time with the score 2–0. Newcastle's superiority continued through the second half,

Dwight Gayle Dwight Devon Boyd Gayle (born 17 October 1989) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. Gayle played in the Arsenal academy as a youth, but was released in 2007, after which he began his career with Ryan of the Es ...

completed a hat-trick, and the match ended 4–0; Birmingham's teenage debutant

Corey O'Keeffe Corey James John O'Keeffe (born 5 June 1998) is a professional footballer who plays as a full back or midfielder for club Barnsley. O'Keeffe began his career with Birmingham City, made his senior debut in 2016, and spent time on loan at Soli ...

missed a good chance to mark his first appearance with a goal. Rowett was disappointed with his team, saying that "we didn't play enough balls or play with enough quality when we did win the ball. We were too passive at times." In front of the season's lowest league attendance, of 15,212, Birmingham beat

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

by two goals to one. Donaldson scored the first, from the penalty spot, but was stretchered off soon afterwards, and Morrison doubled the lead, but Ipswich pulled one back after 69 minutes and had a late equaliser disallowed.

Change of management

The win against Ipswich left Birmingham in seventh position, three points off third place, and outside the play-off positions only on

goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...

. The following morning, two days after three new directors had joined the board, Rowett and his backroom staff were sacked. Later that day, the former

and

manager

was appointed on a two-and-a-half-year contract. His staff included

Pierluigi Casiraghi Pierluigi Casiraghi (; born 4 March 1969) is an Italian professional football coach and former player who played as a striker. Casiraghi began his playing career in Italy in 1985, with Monza. He later played for Juventus, and Lazio, before endi ...

and

Gabriele Cioffi Gabriele Cioffi (born 7 September 1975) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who played as a defender. Playing career As a player, Cioffi was a defender. He started his career with Tuscan amateurs Sestese, which was f ...

as first-team coaches and Kevin Hitchcock as goalkeeping coach. The club's chief executive, Panos Pavlakis, said, "His pedigree, philosophy and ambition fits with what we would like to achieve as we move in a new direction. Gianfranco has a wealth of top-level experience as both manager and player and we are extremely excited about his appointment." Zola confirmed that he had been approached about the post "some time ago". The ''Birmingham Mail'' reported that the players were "fuming" when Rowett told them he had been sacked; Zola began his tenure with a meeting with five senior playersJutkiewicz, Morrison, Robinson, Shotton and Spector. He outlined his intention to make the team play more attacking, adventurous football, although he accepted it would be a gradual process: "I would be crazy to change a team that is doing so well and to try to implement so many things straight away."

December–January

The only change in the starting eleven for Zola's first match, at home to top-of-the-table

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

, saw Stewart replace the injured Donaldson. Kieftenbeld hit the post inside the first minute, Jutkiewicz gave Birmingham the lead early in the second half with an arcing header from Davis's cross, and the same player was denied by a "smart save". Zola brought on Dacres-Cogley for Stewart, to strengthen the right side of defence and counteract Brighton's increasingly influential substitute,

Solly March Solomon Benjamin March (born 20 July 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right winger for club Brighton & Hove Albion. Early life March was born in Eastbourne, East Sussex. His father, Steve, had been an apprentice footb ...

, and then replaced Gleeson, who had looked comfortable in the sitting midfielder role, with Tesche. March promptly beat Tesche and crossed for Anthony Knockaert to equalise. In the fourth minute of stoppage time, Robinsonon for Spectorfouled March to concede a free kick that led to a corner, from which Glenn Murray was left unmarked to head home the winner. According to

manager

Steve McClaren Stephen McClaren (born 3 May 1961) is an English football coach and former player who is currently the manager of the Jamaica national team. McClaren began his coaching career with Oxford United, before joining Derby County in 1995. In 1999 ...

, "Birmingham were waiting to be beaten"; they were beaten, but only via what Zola described as a soft penalty. December ended with Birmingham's first point since the change of management. Away to

, they came back from 2–0 down to draw the match, with goals from Jutkiewicz (penalty) and Maghoma, to finish the year in eleventh position. In January, Birmingham collected two points from five Championship matches in which they scored just twice. Jutkiewicz gave his side a lead at home to

, but in the second half, the visitors capitalised on mistakes to score three times as well as miss a penalty. In a match of few chances,

broke their five-match losing streak in a match of few chances in which Birmingham's highlight was the return on loan of midfielder

Craig Gardner Craig Gardner (born 25 November 1986) is an English professional football coach and former player who made 260 appearances in the Premier League and a further 67 in the Championship. He joined the coaching staff at Birmingham City in January 20 ...

, who had left the club after their relegation from the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

in 2011. Early in the visit to 23rd-placed

, Cotterill was fouled for a penalty converted by Jutkiewicz.

Danny Graham Daniel Graham (born 1978) is an American football player. Daniel Graham may also refer to: * Bob Graham (born 1936), Daniel Robert Graham, American politician * Daniel O. Graham (1926–1995), American general and political activist * Danny Graha ...

equalised with the last kick of the first half. Kuszczak had earlier suffered a blow to the head and was substituted at half time with blurred vision. Although the second half was open, the score remained 1–1, and Birmingham gave a late debut to new signing, Turkish international winger

Kerim Frei Kerim Frei Koyunlu (born 19 November 1993) is a footballer who plays as a winger for Elazığspor. Born in Austria, he plays for the Turkey national team. He previously played club football for Fulham, Cardiff City, İstanbul Başakşehir, ...

. Zola gave a first start to Frei and a debut to former

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

right-back

Emilio Nsue Emilio Nsue López (born 30 September 1989) is a professional footballer who plays for Primera Federación club Intercity. Born in Spain, he is the captain and all-time leading scorer of the Equatorial Guinea national team. A versatile playe ...

away to

, but although he thought the team had been more creative, they lost 2–0. Without Cotterill for the visit of

on transfer deadline dayhe had joined divisional rivals Bristol City on loan, having been given 24 hours notice to find another club because he did not fit into the shape that Zola wanted his team to take upand with Dacres-Cogley and Robinson replacing Nsue and Morrison on fitness grounds, Birmingham lost Shotton to injury at half time. Morrison came on, and helped his team produce what the ''Birmingham Mail'' reported as a determined performance that deserved at least a draw. The visitors scored the only goal after 71 minutes, extending the winless run under Zola's management to eight Championship matches.

February–April

Birmingham won their first match under Zola's management on 4 February at home to

. With both Morrison and Shotton unavailable through injury, Robinson and Grounds played at centre-back, with Nsue and Keita at full-back and Jerome Sinclair making his debut alongside Jutkiewicz. After heading against the crossbar in the first half, Jutkewicz scored the only goal of the matchhis tenth of the seasona few minutes after Fulham's Ryan Fredericks was sent off for a foul on Gardner. Normal service was resumed with a 3–0 defeat at

, in which Birmingham hit the woodwork three times. Without Davis, who began a two-match suspension for ten yellow cards, Birmingham recalled Adams to the starting eleven for the visit to

and gave Krystian Bielik his debut alongside Grounds at centre-back. Gardner captained the team, and was sent off for a bad foul, just after Preston had taken a 2–1 lead. Zola said he was "fed up" of talking about luck: "The reason we keep losing games like this is not because we are unlucky, at the moment we are very poor, simple as that." With Shotton fit again, Birmingham played a 3–5–2 formation for the visit of

; with Jutkiewicz injured, Adams and Sinclair played up front. Five minutes after Nsue "missed a sitter", QPR took the lead. After half an hour, left wing-back Keita went off with concussion; at half-time, winger Frei came on for defender Dacres-Cogley, and Jack Storer made a late appearance in a deeper, midfield role. By the time of Nsue's stoppage-time goal, QPR had four. Davis and Gardner returned at

, with Adams as lone striker. Kieftenbeld's sharp reaction to Wolves' goalkeeper dropping the ball at his feet gave Birmingham a lead, which was doubled by Davis with a curled shot from the edge of the penalty area. After Robinson was sent off for striking an opponentthe dismissal was rescinded on appealWolves reduced the deficit but Birmingham held on for a win that left them in 13th position. Fourth-placed

's manager

Garry Monk Garry Alan Monk (born 6 March 1979) is an English football manager and former professional player who was most recently the head coach of club Cambridge United. Monk, a centre back, began his playing career with Torquay United before joining ...

claimed to have not enjoyed the first hour of his team's visit to Birmingham, but Chris Wood scored twice to contribute to a 3–1 defeat for his former employers. Zola claimed that despite the mistakes, it was his team's best performance of the season. Four days later, they gave what

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...

's reporter dubbed "as poor a first-half display as they have produced all season" at home to 23rd-placed

. Another former Birmingham loanee,

Dan Burn Daniel Johnson Burn (born 9 May 1992) is an English professional association football, footballer who plays as a defender (association football), defender for club Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United and the England national football team, ...

, scored the only goal of the match. Away to

, Jutkiewicz scored an 89th-minute equaliser when the ball rebounded off his shin after his header was saved; despite the point, Birmingham dropped to 17th place, six points above the relegation zone. The last fixture in March saw the return of Donaldson after three months out with injury. The goalless draw took

top of the table and left Birmingham 18th and a point closer to relegation. Away to

, Grounds gave Birmingham a lead just after half-time, but Gavin Ward's shotdescribed by Ipswich manager

Mick McCarthy Michael Joseph McCarthy (born 7 February 1959) is a professional Manager (association football), football manager, pundit and former Association football, footballer. He was most recently the head coach of Blackpool F.C., Blackpool. McCarthy b ...

as "a wonder-strike, or a lucky cross"beat Kuszczak to share the points. After Glenn Murray's 20th goal of the season gave

a 2nd-minute lead, Birmingham had the better of the first half, but they conceded again just after half-time and the match finished 3–1. The consolation goal, after 85 minutes, came when Frei ran through Brighton's defence and slid the ball through to Maghoma in the penalty area; he backheeled it to Adams whose fierce shot was deflected past the goalkeeper. The next fixture saw the return to Gary Rowett to St Andrew's, as manager of

. Again, Birmingham conceded early; a shot rebounded off the post onto Kuszczak's back and into the goal. Jutkiewicz appeared to have equalised but the attempt was disallowed: neither manager saw a foul. After 69 minutes, Adams did equalise, and it seemed as though Birmingham would hold on for the draw when, in stoppage time, Derby's goalkeeper hit a quick goal kick down the middle to

Tom Ince Thomas Christopher Ince (born 30 January 1992) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder, winger (association football), left winger or Forward (association football), forward for club Wat ...

who lobbed the advancing Kuszczak. Birmingham began the Easter weekend away to

, whose relegation was already confirmed and who had lost their previous ten matches, without Donaldson, who had injured a knee in training. Zola said before the match that they needed to win, but the performance did not reflect that need. After 73 minutes, Frei's first goal for Birmingham, a swerving 25-yard free kick, gave his team the lead, but that lead lasted only 12 minutes, and Rotherham missed a clear chance to win the match in stoppage time when Jerry Yates "embarrassingly blazed over". At the end of the match, the Birmingham crowd called for Zola to gohe said that he had no intention of leaving, and as long as the fans turned on him but supported the players, there was no problemand during the post-match warm-down, arguments broke out among the players and Emilio Nsue had to be restrained by teammates. At home to

on Easter Monday, Birmingham lost 2–0.

Second change of management

Zola resigned after the match. He said: "I sacked myself. I decided to give in my resignation. I am sorry because I came to Birmingham with huge expectations. Unfortunately the results have not been good and I take full responsibility. It is not that I like quitting, but Birmingham deserves better. If I feel I cannot help the players, why stay? If I cannot help the team, it is better I leave and let someone else do that." The team had won just twice in 24 attempts under his management, and had fallen from three points off third place when he took control to three points outside the relegation zone with three matches remaining. According to

BBC WM BBC Radio WM is the BBC's local radio station serving the West Midlands. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at The Mailbox in Birmingham. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 193,000 ...

's Richard Wilford, "The Easter performances against Rotherham and Burton were limp, listless and damning. Birmingham's flirtation with relegation is very real indeed." Sixteen hours later, the club announced the appointment of the 70-year-old

, who was Premier League Manager of the Year in 2009–10 with

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. He would work unpaid until the end of the season, and would receive a bonus if the team avoided relegation.
Any interest in staying in post for 2017–18 would depend on their staying up. He brought in experienced manager

Steve Cotterill Stephen John Cotterill (born 20 July 1964) is an English coach and former player who is currently the manager of National League side Forest Green Rovers. Cotterill, a striker, had a nine-year career as a footballer playing for Burton Albio ...

and coach Paul Groves as first-team coaches, and retained Kevin Hitchcock as goalkeeping coach.

The last three matches

Redknapp contacted Gary Rowett to discuss the players ahead of his first match in charge, the derby visit to

, which was preceded by a minute's applause in honour of Villa and England defender

Ugo Ehiogu Ugochukwu Ehiogu (; 3 November 1972 – 21 April 2017) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre-back from 1989 to 2009. He was the coach of the Tottenham Hotspur U23 team until his death in April 2017. He played in the Pr ...

, who died two days before at the age of 44. A poor but even match in front of a 40,000 crowd was changed after an hour by the introduction of Gabriel Agbonlahor, who scored what proved to be the winning goalhis fifth against Birmingham. While bemoaning the fact that Villa's only shot in the second half had resulted in a goal, Redknapp was pleased with the players' application. Video later emerged that appeared to show Paul Robinson kicking and punching Villa's

James Chester James Grant Chester (born 23 January 1989) is a former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, centre-back. Starting at Manchester United F.C., Manchester United, he later went ...

just after the goal was scored. After Villa owner

Tony Xia Tony Jiantong Xia () is a Chinese businessman. He is the chairman, CEO and owner of Recon Group. Early life and education Xia was born in Quzhou, Zhejiang. At the age of 14, he left home to attend university in Beijing. He was amongst the fir ...

alerted the authorities to the incident via Twitter, Robinson was charged by the FA, who did not accept his argument that contact was accidental, and he received a three-match ban. Michael Morrison's return to fitness after three months out coincided with Robinson's suspension, and he returned to both starting eleven and captaincy for the home fixture against

. With his team confirmed in the play-off positions, manager David Wagner made ten changes to his starting eleven. After eight minutes, Adams was brought down in the area but Jutkiewicz's penalty was saved. A quarter of an hour later, Adams was sent off for what the referee perceived as a foul; the red card was rescinded on appeal. Four minutes before half-time, Grounds' close-range header put Birmingham ahead, and with fourteen minutes or normal time remaining, a foul on Maghoma conceded a second penalty. Maghoma wanted to take the kick himself, but Redknapp told Gardner to do sohe had never seen Gardner take a penalty, but admired the way he could strike a ball and the kick was successful. Despite the win, Blackburn Rovers beating Aston Villa meant relegation was still a possibility. Birmingham went into the last day of the season knowing that a win away to

guaranteed survival. If they failed to win, they would go down only if both Blackburn and Nottingham Forest won their final matches. Survival was indeed achieved with a 1–0 victory, this result being essential as both Blackburn and Forest won their final matches.

Match results

League table

Results summary

FA Cup

As with all first- and second-tier teams, Birmingham entered the competition at the third-round (last-64) stage. They were drawn at home to

EFL Cup

In the first round of the League Cup competition, renamed

following the rebranding of

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

as English Football League, Birmingham were drawn at home to

, newly promoted to

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

. They made nine changes from the eleven who started the opening league fixture, only Morrison and Grounds keeping their places. Full-back

made his senior debut, and first appearances of the season were made by goalkeeper Adam Legzdins, full-back

Paul Caddis Paul McLean Caddis (born 19 April 1988) is a Scottish Football coach (association football), football coach and former professional association football, footballer who is manager of National League North side Hereford F.C., Hereford. Caddis pla ...

playing in a covering position ahead of Dacres-Cogleymidfielders

and

, winger

Viv Solomon-Otabor Viv Efosa Solomon-Otabor (born 2 January 1996) is an English professional association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder#Winger, winger for UAE Pro League club Al Orooba Club, Al Orooba. He joined Birmingham City F.C., Birmingham Ci ...

and striker James Vaughan. After a first half which Birmingham dominated, creating numerous chances which they failed to take, the second-half introduction of Maghoma, Donaldson and Gleeson made no difference to the score. Just before the end of

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

, Liam Sercombe won the match for Oxford with a close-range header.

Transfers

In

: Brackets around club names indicate the player's contract with that club had expired before he joined Birmingham.

Out

: Brackets round a club denote the player joined that club after his Birmingham City contract expired.

Loan in

Loan out

Appearances and goals

:Sources:For representative nationality:
:Numbers in parentheses denote appearances made as a substitute. :Players marked left the club during the playing season. :Players with names ''in italics'' and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Birmingham. :Players listed with no appearances have been in the matchday squad but only as unused substitutes. :Key to positions: GK –

Goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

; DF – Defender; MF –

Midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

; FW –

Forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2016-17 Birmingham City F.C. season

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

Birmingham City F.C. seasons