BIRMINGHAM, England — For long-time Birmingham City supporter Paul Ellis, the ultimate goal is not just steady progress — it’s a return to England’s top-flight Premier League, and a chance to test the club against the biggest names in British football.
Last season, Ellis explains, was all about foundational work: bringing in consistent first-team players and building a solid competitive base to set the stage for a promotion push. Now, the entire fanbase and club share one clear expectation: climbing back to the Premier League. Ahead of their first home match of the new Championship season this Saturday, that expectation hangs over the club, Britain’s so-called “Second City”, where promotion has become the only topic of conversation among supporters and staff alike.
Even as club chairman Tom Wagner continues his recovery from a stroke suffered earlier this year, Birmingham is moving full steam ahead with long-term ambitions: the club has formalized plans for a new 62,000-seat stadium as part of a multi-billion-pound “sports quarter” development, and has set clear on-field targets after a 10th-place Championship finish last season.
In a pre-season video released to club supporters, Birmingham chief executive Jeremy Dale emphasized the unified ambition that runs through every level of the organization. “We know our owners are very ambitious. Everyone at the club is ambitious, our managers are ambitious, and the players who’ve joined us have come here because they think this is the club where their ambitions can be realized,” Dale said. “So, we’re all aligned on our goals, and there should be no confusion about that.”
The road to this point has not been smooth. After heavy investment helped Birmingham claim the 2024-25 League One title and climb back to the second division, the club targeted back-to-back promotions last year but fell short of the mark — just like high-profile fellow second-tier side Wrexham. Under current English Football League rules, the top two teams in the 24-club Championship earn automatic promotion to the Premier League, with the final promotion spot decided by a playoff tournament that has expanded from four to six teams starting this season.
Similar to Wrexham, Birmingham has seen a surge in global attention since a 2023 change in ownership that brought new investment and celebrity ties to the club. U.S.-based Knighthead Capital Management, co-founded by Wagner, first acquired a stake in the club in 2023 before taking full control two years later, clearing the way for the massive sports quarter and new stadium project. The ownership group also added NFL legend Tom Brady as a minority stakeholder to boost the club’s global profile.
Growing pains have accompanied this new era, however. Former England captain Wayne Rooney lasted less than three months as manager during the 2023-24 season, which ended with Birmingham’s relegation down to League One. In a documentary series covering the club’s turnaround, Brady publicly questioned Rooney’s work ethic, a criticism Rooney later called “very unfair” in public remarks.
On the pitch, the Blues kick off their home campaign against Bristol City this Saturday, after opening the season with a 0-0 draw away at Sheffield United. The club already notched a 1-0 win over Swansea in the first round of the English League Cup on August 8, a result that gave an early boost to new tactical adjustments.
Now heading into his third season as Birmingham’s manager, Tony Davies — who previously served as an assistant coach to Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool, Celtic and Leicester, and later worked under Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham Hotspur — is declining to make bold promotion predictions, emphasizing the unforgiving nature of second-tier football. “Every single season in the Championship is hard,” he told reporters at a recent press conference. “You play 46 games … there’s not a lot to separate the sides. It’s really a relentless division.”
One clear weakness from last season was a lack of offensive production: Birmingham only scored 57 goals in 46 matches, while five of the league’s top six sides scored at least 70 goals. To address this gap, the club made an unusual off-season investment, hiring Scott Fry, one of British football’s most highly regarded emerging set-piece specialists, to join the coaching staff. The move paid an immediate dividend: August Priske’s match-winning goal against Swansea came directly from a carefully designed set piece.
After that opening League Cup win, Nigerian international right back Bright Osayi-Samuel echoed the club’s collective confidence. “We have big ambitions,” he said. “We believe that we can achieve what we want to achieve.”
Throughout Wagner’s recovery, the entire club and fanbase has rallied around the American chairman. The club first announced in February that Wagner had suffered a stroke and would step back from day-to-day operations to focus on rehabilitation, but both Davies and Dale confirmed they remain in regular contact with him. Fans have also flooded Wagner with messages of support, a show of care that has not gone unnoticed.
“You really feel that Birmingham fans really care about him, actually care about his health,” Gary O’Neill, co-host of the unofficial BCFC Royal Blue podcast, noted. Ahead of the new season, the club released an update confirming Wagner “continues to make strong progress in his recovery. He remains deeply grateful for the countless messages of support and well wishes he has received from Blues fans over recent months. Those messages have meant a great deal to him and certainly hardened his resolve to be back in top form as quickly as possible.”
For Birmingham supporters, a return to the Premier League would cap a 14-year wait: the club last competed in England’s top flight in 2011, the same year it claimed its iconic League Cup win over Arsenal at Wembley Stadium. For Ellis, who attended that final with his two sons, that victory remains the highlight of his decades following the club. Looking ahead, he holds a broader ambition for the whole city: “As we are the Second City, that is the aim, that is the goal, to have both Birmingham City and Aston Villa in the premiership and playing in Europe,” he said. “It’s more of a promotion for the actual city.”