Birmingham City F.C. seasons

Birmingham City Football Club was founded in 1875 as "Small Heath Alliance". For the first thirteen years of their existence, there was no league football, so matches were arranged on an "ad hoc" basis, supplemented by cup competitions organised at local and national level. Small Heath first entered the FA Cup in the 1881–82 season, and won their first trophy, the Walsall Cup, the following season.Matthews, "Complete Record", p. 8.] During the 1880s, they played between 20 and 30 matches each season. [Matthews, "Encyclopedia", p. 8.]

In 1888, the club became a limited company under the name of "Small Heath F.C. Ltd", Matthews, "Complete Record", p. 9.] and joined the Combination, a league set up to provide organised football for those clubs not invited to join the Football League which was to start the same year. However, the Combination was not well organised and folded in April 1889 with many fixtures still outstanding.ref label|Combination|A|Small Heath were founder members of the Football Alliance in 1889–90, and three years later were elected to the newly-formed Second Division of the Football League. They topped the table in their first season, failing to win promotion via the test match system then in operation, but reached the top flight for the first time in 1894. [fchd|id=SMALLHEA|name=Small Heath .] They were renamed "Birmingham" in 1905, finally becoming "Birmingham City" in 1943. [Matthews, "Encyclopedia", p. 194.]

The club's official history rates 1955–56 as their best season to date. [cite web
url=http://www.blues.premiumtv.co.uk/page/HistoryDetail/0,,10412,00.html |title=Club History |publisher=Birmingham City F.C. |accessdate=2007-10-04] The newly-promoted club achieved their highest ever finishing position of sixth in the First Division, reached the 1956 FA Cup Final, and became the first English club side to participate in European competition when they played their opening game in the group stages of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.ref label|FirstClubSide|B|aTheir only major trophy is the League Cup which they won in 1963; they reached the FA Cup final twice and the final of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup twice. During the 1990s, they won the Leyland DAF Cup and the Auto Windscreens Shield, competitions open to clubs in the third and fourth tiers of English football.

As at the end of the 2007–08 season, the club have spent 55 seasons in the top division of English football, 46 seasons in the second, and four seasons in the third. The table details their achievements in all national and international first-team competitions, and records their top goalscorer and average home league attendance, for each completed season since their first appearance in the FA Cup in 1881–82.

easons

Key

Key to league record:
P – games played
W – games won
D – games drawn
L – games lost
F – goals for
A – goals against
Pts – points
Pos – final position
Key to rounds:
P3rd – third place
QF – quarter-final
QR3 – third qualifying round
QR5 – fifth qualifying round
R1 – first round
R2 – second round, etc.
RInt – intermediate round
SF – semi-final
disq – disqualified
n/a – not applicable
Key to divisions:
Alliance – Football Alliance
Champ – The Championship
Comb – The Combination
Div 1 – Football League First Division
Div 2 – Football League Second Division
Div 3 – Football League Third Division
FL South – Football League South
Prem – Premier League

Top scorer shown in bold when he was also top scorer for the division.
Division shown in bold when it changes due to promotion, relegation or reorganisation.
League results shown "in italics" for abandoned or wartime competitions.

Notes

:A. note label|Combination|A|anote label|Combination|A|b: An attempt was made to set up a league called The Combination involving clubs not invited to join the Football League. Lack of proper organisation meant it was wound up in April 1889 with many fixtures still outstanding. Small Heath played 11 of their full 16 fixtures. [cite book
author=Shury, Alan |coauthors=Landamore, Brian |title=The Definitive Newton Heath F.C. |origyear=2002 |edition=2nd ed. |series='Definitive' Club Histories |year=2005 |publisher=SoccerData (Tony Brown) |location=Nottingham |isbn=1899468161] :B. note label|FirstClubSide|B|anote label|FirstClubSide|B|b: Birmingham City became the first English "club side" to take part in European competition when they played their first group game in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1955-58 on 15 May 1956, a goalless draw away at Inter Milan. The competition lasted over three English seasons with the final not played until 1958. The London XI, a representative side made up of players from several London clubs, were the first English "team" when they played their first group game in 1955.cite web
url=http://www.rsssf.com/ec/ecomp.html |title=European Cups Archive |accessdate=2007-07-27 |author=Ross, James M. |date=2006-07-13 |publisher=RSSSF] :C. : The League Cup competition started in the 1960–61 season.:D. : Includes goals scored in the Football Alliance, The Football League (including test matches and play-offs), Premier League, FA Cup, Football League Cup, Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, Associate Members' Cup/Football League Trophy in its various manifestations (Leyland DAF Cup, Auto Windscreens Shield, ...), and several now-defunct competitions such as the Anglo-Italian Cup, Texaco Cup, Anglo-Scottish Cup and Full Members' Cup. Excludes Birmingham Senior Cup: in its early days this was a prestigious first-team competition, but over the years its status has declined and it is now contested by the club's reserve team.:E. : League matches only (including Football Alliance, the Football League, and Premier League, but excluding test matches and play-offs). Sourced from Matthews, "Complete Record" up to and including the 1994–95 season, from European Football Statistics [cite web |url=http://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attnclub/birc.htm |title=English historical attendance and performance: Birmingham City |publisher=European Football Statistics |accessdate=2008-05-28] from 1995–96 to 2001–02 inclusive, and from the Football League [cite web |url=http://www.football-league.co.uk/page/ClubStats/0,,10794,00.html |title=Club Stats |publisher=The Football League |accessdate=2008-05-28] and Premier League [cite web |url=http://www.premierleague.com/page/Statistics/0,,12306,00.html |title=Statistics |publisher=Premier League |accessdate=2008-05-28] websites as appropriate thereafter.:F. : The first of Slater's two goals in the FA Cup first round tie against Derby Town, a 4–1 win played at the Muntz Street ground on 17 October 1881, was the club's first ever goal in national competitive football.:G. note label|FACupOnly|G|anote label|FACupOnly|G|b: FA Cup goals only.:H. : Founder member of the Football Alliance, which started a year after the Football League.:I. : Disqualified for fielding an improperly registered player, after eliminating Hednesford Town and Wednesbury Old Athletic in the qualifying rounds.:J. : The Football League expanded its membership at the end of this season by forming a Second Division. 11 of the 12 Football Alliance teams accepted invitations to join the Football League.:K. : Promotion and relegation decided by test matches, in which third bottom in First Division played third in Second Division, second bottom in First Division played second in Second Division, and bottom club in First Division played top club from Second Division, in one-off games at neutral venues, winners to play in the following season's First Division. Small Heath drew 1–1 with Newton Heath but lost the replay 5–2, so were not promoted despite winning the division.:L. : 24 goals in Second Division.:M. : Promoted via test match, beating Darwen 3–1.:N. note label|23goalsD2|N|anote label|23goalsD2|N|b: 23 goals in Second Division.:O. : Promotion and relegation decided by test match system in which bottom two clubs in First Division and top two clubs in Second Division played a mini-league of home and away matches against the two clubs in the other division, top two in mini-league to play in following season's First Division. Small Heath finished third in the mini-league so were relegated.:P. : The final test match left the two clubs involved needing to draw for them both to win promotion, which unsurprisingly is what happened. The Football League decided to expand each division by two places, and the existing clubs voted for two clubs to take the two new places in the First Division. Candidates were the losers from the two test match series plus teams placed third to sixth in the Second Division. Small Heath came fourth in the vote, so remained in the Second Division. From then on the League adopted promotion and relegation directly dependent on league position (two up, two down).:Q. : 34 goals in Second Division. Abbott's 34 league goals and 42 total goals in a season are club records.:R. : There was no automatic relegation from the Football League until 1987. The bottom two clubs in the League applied for re-election, together with candidates from outside the League. Each current League club had a vote. Small Heath were re-elected.:S. : The club played 106 competitive games in regional football, the Midland Section Principal and Subsidiary Competitions, over three seasons from 1916 to 1919. Guest players were permitted, and results and records from this period are not included in official statistics.:T. : Club did not enter FA Cup because secretary Frank Richards forgot to submit the entry form.:U. : Birmingham's first appearance in the Cup Final, a 2–1 defeat to Second Division West Bromwich Albion.:V. : League football was abandoned after three games because of the Second World War.:W. : The club played 215 competitive games in regional league and cup football between 1939 and 1946. Guest players were permitted, and results and records from this period are not included in official statistics.:X. : The FA Cup was contested in 1945–46 but the Football League proper did not resume until the following season. However 1945–46 did see the only full season played in the wartime Football League North and South regionalised competition; this included First and Second Division clubs divided geographically, playing each other home and away. Birmingham won the Southern section on goal average from Aston Villa. Records in this competition are not counted in official statistics.:Y. : From the First Round Proper to the Sixth Round of the 1945–46 FA Cup, matches were played over two legs. In the semifinal, Birmingham drew with Derby County at Hillsborough in front of 65,000 spectators. The replay at Maine Road, which attracted a crowd of over 80,000, went goalless into extra time, when defender Ted Duckhouse broke his leg trying to stop Derby's first goal. No substitutes were allowed, and Birmingham went on to lose 4–0.:Z. : Including goals scored in Football League South.:AA. : Club's highest League finish.:AB. : Reached the final without being drawn at home in any round, the first club so to do. Lost 3–1 to Manchester City, the game remembered for City's goalkeeper Bert Trautmann playing on having broken a bone in his neck after 70 minutes.:AC. : Equal with Chelsea on goal average; number of goals scored was not taken into account.:AD. : Birmingham became the first English "club side" to reach the final of a European competition, losing on aggregate to Barcelona (0–0 at home, 1–4 away). The London XI, consisting of players from several London clubs, were the first English "team" when they reached the final of the ICFC 1955–58.:AE. : Lost on aggregate to A.S. Roma (2–2 at home, 0–2 away).:AF. : Beat Aston Villa 3–1 on aggregate (3–1 at home, 0–0 away) to win club's first and as of 2007 only major trophy.:AG. : Between 1969–70 and 1973–74 the losing semi-finalists took part in a third-place play-off. [cite web |url=http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2005/04/FA+Cup_SemiFinalFactfile.htm |title=Semi-Final Factfile |publisher=The Football Association |date=2005-04-13 |accessdate=2008-05-25] Birmingham beat Stoke City on penalties after a goalless draw, the first time an FA Cup match had been determined by penalty shootout. [cite web |url=http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2003/05/48711.htm |title=FA Cup Trivia |publisher=The Football Association |date=2003-05-16 |accessdate=2008-05-23] :AH. : The home leg of the quarter final match against Newcastle United finished 1–1. Despite use of floodlights being banned due to the fuel crisis, the League refused to allow an earlier kickoff time for the away leg. The match was abandoned at 1–1 after 10 minutes of extra time in almost total darkness. When the match was replayed, Birmingham lost 3–1. [cite web
url=http://www.toonarama.co.uk/seasons/1970s/season73-74.html |work=Toonarama (a Newcastle United fansite) |title=Season 1973/74 |accessdate=2007-05-22] :AI. : Number of teams promoted to and relegated from the First Division changed from two to three in season 1973–74.:AJ. : This season saw the introduction of three points for a win intead of two.:AK. : Relegated to the third tier of English football for the first time.:AL. : Beat Tranmere Rovers 3–2 in the final of the Leyland DAF Cup at Wembley.:AM. : When the FA Premiership was formed, Div 2 was renamed Division One.:AN. : Beat Carlisle United 1–0 in the final of the Auto Windscreens Shield at Wembley in front of a crowd of 76,663. The goal was scored by Paul Tait in extra time. This was the first time a senior tournament in England was decided on a golden goal.:AO. : Missed out on a play-off place to Sheffield United by virtue of goals scored, which from 1992–93 to 1998–99 took precedence over goal difference in the Football League.:AP. : Lost in the play-off semifinal to Watford on penalties.:AQ. : Lost in the play-off semifinal to Barnsley on aggregate.:AR. : Lost in the play-off semifinal to Preston North End on penalties. This was the first season that an aggregate draw was not decided on the away goals rule; Birmingham would have gone through on away goals.:AS. : Lost to Liverpool on penalties after the game had finished 1–1. This was the first English football final to be held at the Millennium Stadium while the new Wembley Stadium was being built.:AT. : Promoted to the Premier League via the play-offs, beating Millwall 2–1 on aggregate in the semifinal and Norwich City on penalties in the final after the game had finished 1–1.:AU. : Division One was renamed The Championship in 2004–05.

References

;General
*Rundle, Richard. [http://www.fchd.info/SMALLHEA.HTM Small Heath] , [http://www.fchd.info/BIRMINGH.HTM Birmingham] , and [http://www.fchd.info/BIRMINGC.HTM Birmingham City] . "Football Club History Database".
* [http://www.footballsite.co.uk/Statistics/ClubbyClub/ClubHistories/Birmingham.htm Birmingham City] at [http://www.footballsite.co.uk Football Facts & Figures] .
* [http://www.rsssf.com Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF)] .
*cite book |author=Matthews, Tony |title=Birmingham City: A Complete Record |publisher=Breedon Books |location=Derby |year=1995 |isbn=1-85983-010-2
*cite book |author=Matthews, Tony |title=The Encyclopedia of Birmingham City Football Club 1875-2000 |publisher=Britespot |location=Cradley Heath |year=2000 |month=October |isbn=0-9539288-0-2;Specific