Inside Birmingham’s feel-good relegation, with ticket sales UP, wages at staggering level and ambitious plans for future

IF EVER determination was a feel-good  absorption to being relegated from the Championship, Birmingham had it past year.

You could person forgiven supporters for venting their choler aft a play which saw them usage 4 managers and driblet into League One.

But with the stardust of seven-time Super Bowl-winner Tom Brady successful the inheritance and a £20million transportation kitty, this was different.

The connection from the nine present is: “It’s not the league you’re in, it’s the nine that you are.”

Even fans who request instant  occurrence could spot determination was thing bigger astatine enactment here.

Under American proprietor Tom Wagner and the Knighthead Capital Management group  — who took implicit successful 2023 — things are connected the up.

Blues beryllium 4 points wide astatine the apical of League One, with 2 games successful manus connected their promotion rivals.

And arsenic they host Premier League broadside Newcastle on Saturday, the spread betwixt the teams whitethorn not beryllium arsenic large arsenic you think.

The Tynesiders person plans for a caller stadium but truthful does big-spending Wagner, with a 60,000-seater arena scheduled for 2029 astatine the earliest.

It could person been a summertime of misery aft Brum’s relegation but  play summons income were their champion successful 13 years, specified was the optimism implicit the club’s rebuild.

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Most location games are adjacent sell-outs astatine the 29,409-capacity St Andrew’s.

Manager Chris Davies was allowed  to walk £20m connected a squad rebuild, including a caller League One transportation grounds to bring successful striker Jay Stansfield from Fulham for an archetypal £12m rising to £15m.

The wage measure this play is successful the portion of £20m-£9m much than the adjacent highest successful the part — which would spot them having a sizeable fund adjacent successful the Championship.

But crucially determination are nary Profit and Sustainability Rules astatine enactment here.

Birmingham are taxable to SCMP  — Salary Cost Management Protocols — and, arsenic a newly-relegated club, they tin walk 75 per cent of turnover connected subordinate expenditure.

Financial priorities volition alteration with a  instrumentality to PSR successful the  Championship.

In the 2nd tier clubs tin suffer up to £39m implicit a rolling three-year   play earlier being deed with any  punishment.

But with promotion looking likely, Davies volition beryllium looking astatine different ample transportation kitty.

That is presently being helped by the procreation of immense revenues from  partnerships with the likes of Nike, Delta Air Lines and sportswear marque Undefeated.

And connected Super Bowl weekend, it cannot beryllium forgotten NFL fable Brady is besides listed arsenic a “minority owner” astatine St Andrew’s.

When Birmingham hosted Hollywood-backed Wrexham earlier this season, Brady brought on pal David Beckham to ticker the game.

Yet, contempt plans for a caller Sports Quarter and ace stadium, an unthinkable £15m was spent connected their existent location successful the summer.

And that was aft making repairs to dilapidated areas of the ground.

But wherefore splash retired connected large improvements to their existent location erstwhile a determination is successful the pipeline?

The Blues are reasoning connected their feet. The reasoning is they privation to turn their fanbase, arsenic a leap from 29,000-plus crowds to much than 60,000 does not hap overnight.

Wagner and his squad privation fans connected committee present and that means offering a matchday experience.

Birmingham are already moving connected attracting much 8 to 14-year-olds to games arsenic they consciousness determination has been a ‘lost generation’ of fans who were fed up of seeing them tread h2o nether a Far Eastern ownership that appeared detached from supporters.

Chief enforcement Jeremy Dale says they are already geared up to vie successful the Championship — and beyond.

He told Birmingham Live this week: “From a commercialized perspective, the nine is doing amended than ever before.

"If we got promoted, adjacent to the Premier League, if we had the Premier League TV wealth we wouldn’t beryllium successful the bottommost fewer teams successful that league.

“We’d beryllium conscionable beneath halfway, from a commercialized perspective.

“We judge adjacent season, from a commercialized constituent of view, we would beryllium performing wrong the apical 5 oregon six successful the Championship.

“The commercialized partners accidental they tin consciousness the vibe arsenic they locomotion astir the stadium — which is wholly antithetic to what determination was before.

“They realise it’s not the league you’re in, it’s the nine you are.”