Birmingham City’s spending spree and do the numbers add up?
When a football club gets relegated, costs tend to be cut, with the high earners shown the door to soften the financial blow relegation can bring. Whether it be a decrease in revenue, loss of reputation, decreased interest or fewer televised games- getting relegated is tough to deal with. However, in Birmingham City’s case, what hasn’t killed them has seemingly made them stronger.
The reset button was pressed, with owners Knighthead Capital Management backing new manager Chris Davies in his first-ever managerial role, signing 17 players for a combined total of around £30 million. This figure is a League One record by some distance and Birmingham’s record for a transfer window, aided by deadline-day addition Jay Stansfield.
Stansfield’s shock move
Stansfield was with Birmingham last season on loan from Fulham, scoring 13 goals as Blues were relegated to League One for the first time in 30 years. Having picked up five club awards at the end-of-season awards, Stansfield was a shining light in a gloomy season, with all sane Birmingham fans believing a player of Stansfield’s calibre wouldn’t drop down to the third division of English football. However, after a relentless pursuit led by Blues chairman Tom Wagner, which saw many rejected bids, Wagner got his man for £15 million. The deadline-day scramble saw Blues fans frantically scrolling through social media and watching Sky Sports News to receive updates, with ‘Stanno’ signing on the dotted line at 11.30 pm.
A message from Tom Wagner… pic.twitter.com/pGNSLM7MHT
— Birmingham City FC (@BCFC) August 30, 2024
He played in the Carabao Cup for Fulham against Blues last Tuesday, so it was typical that he would return to St Andrew’s and score, picking up player of the match as Fulham won 2-0.
He received a warm reception that night and an even warmer reception when he made the same walk five days later as a Birmingham player.
The signing of Stansfield capped off an excellent transfer window, turning plenty of heads as Birmingham broke the League One record three times over, spending more money this window than Manchester City and most of the Championship. However, one pertinent question remains- how have they managed to do this?
Heightened revenues
Knighthead has already done enough to earn the trust of the fanbase with their renovations of St Andrew’s, a stadium requiring some much-needed care due to neglect from the previous regime. St Andrew’s needed a face-lift, and the new board have pumped money into the stadium, making the ground look more commercially friendly from the outside and inside, with new bars, new food stalls, a new club shop, a new sound system, renovation to hospitality areas, new pitch, repaired stands, new digital screens and new pre-match entertainment helping to make the stadium feel brand new.
https://twitter.com/BluesFocus/status/1829871244143182250
The stadium improvements have led to a rise in ticket sales, with many sold-out home games in the 2023/24 campaign, followed by season ticket sales increasing by around 50% from last season. The final season ticket total was 18,299 supporters, an unmatched season ticket crowd for over a decade. Birmingham will likely sell out every away game because of the size of stadiums the team will be visiting in League One and the heightened interest in watching the team play. This attendance money generated by fans spending money on tickets, club merchandise, food and drink will create an increased income which didn’t exist in years gone by.
Player sales
While it’s argued that Birmingham have a stronger team than last season, they have let some talented players go. A total of 19 players exited the second city either at the end of last season or in the summer transfer window, with high-profile departures including Jordan James, Siriki Dembele, Koji Miyoshi and Juninho Bacuna.
All these players exited for at least a million pounds each, with academy product James sold for just over four million pounds. All but two players who were out of contract for Blues were released last summer, freeing up a lot of the wage bill, meaning the club could spend some more cash this summer, which they duly did.
More commercially friendly
Since Knighthead acquired the club, they have taken many steps to bring Birmingham into the modern day with their strategies outlined in the Open House meetings and plans for the future.
Having purchased the 48-acre former Birmingham Wheels site in Bordesley this April, Wagner’s ‘Sports Quarter’ plan will take some time to get underway, but ambition and plans like this attract some of sports tops names and partners.
Last year, NFL legend Tom Brady, ranked as the best-ever American Football player by ESPN, became chair of the advisory board at Birmingham City, investing his own money into the club.
With names like this attached to the club, it can only be a positive when attractive prospective sponsorship partners. Just look at Wrexham’s success regarding their sponsorship partners and who their owners are.
American streetwear brand UNDEFEATED has sponsored Birmingham’s kit for the last two seasons, and they have over two million followers on Instagram. They have created merchandise they have sold not only UK-wide but in New York, heightening the club’s global reach.
The club also upgraded their deal with Nike midway through last season, ensuring they received a more ‘bespoke’ product from the sportswear supplier. Birmingham City chief executive Garry Cook is understood to be instrumental in the new arrangement, having forged his sports career with Nike. Partnerships like this and the deep pockets of American owners are facilitating the funds spent in the transfer window.
Is it fair?
Long story short, the rest of League One will look at what’s happening and say yes, but the Birmingham fans won’t care.
The club has been through the mire over the last decade, owned by the incompetence of BSHL, and if it wasn’t for the sale and emergence of Jude Bellingham four years ago to balance the books, the club might not be here today.
Birmingham fans are allowed to celebrate the upward trajectory Knighthead will look to spearhead with their wealth of investment, confident that it’s all within the rules.
Promotion is imperative this season as problems could arise next season, but the club is in safe hands, much safer than the hands which trusted Harry Redknapp with a war chest seven years ago. Blues fans know how that story goes, along with Portsmouth and QPR fans.
