Though Birmingham remained in the top flight for 18 seasons, they struggled in the league, with much reliance placed on England goalkeeper Harry Hibbs to make up for the lack of goals, Bradford excepted, at the other end.

Though opponents in the 1963 League Cup final, local rivals Aston Villa, were pre-match favourites, Birmingham raised their game and won 3–1 on aggregate to lift their first major trophy.

[33] Smith took Birmingham straight back to the First Division, but a poor start to the 1981–82 season saw him replaced by Ron Saunders, who had just resigned from league champions Aston Villa.

[34] They bounced back up, but the last home game of the 1984–85 promotion season, against Leeds United, was marred by rioting, culminating in the death of a boy when a wall collapsed on him.

This was on the same day as the Bradford City stadium fire, and the events at St Andrew's formed part of the remit of Mr Justice Popplewell's inquiry into safety at sports grounds.

Saunders quit after FA Cup defeat to non-League team Altrincham, staff were laid off, the training ground was sold, and by 1989 Birmingham were in the Third Division for the first time in their history.

[36] A rapid turnover of managers, the absence of promised investment, and a threatened mass refusal of players to renew contracts was relieved only by a victorious trip to Wembley in the Associate Members' Cup.

[38] The club continued in administration for four months, until Sport Newspapers' proprietor David Sullivan bought it for £700,000,[39] installed the then 23-year-old Karren Brady as managing director and allowed Cooper money for signings.

The change did not prevent relegation, but Fry's first full season brought promotion back to the second tier as champions, and victory over Carlisle United in the Football League Trophy via Paul Tait's golden goal completed the "lower-league Double".

[44] Bruce's return as manager shook up a stale team; he took them from mid-table to the play-offs, and beat Norwich City on penalties in the final to secure promotion to the Premier League.

[49] Jermaine Pennant and Emile Heskey left for record fees,[50][51] many others were released,[52] but Bruce's amended recruitment strategy, combining free-transfer experience with young "hungry" players and shrewd exploitation of the loan market, brought automatic promotion at the end of a season which had included calls for his head.

[53] In July 2007, Hong Kong-based businessman Carson Yeung bought 29.9% of shares in the club, making him the biggest single shareholder, with a view to taking full control in the future.

[55] His successor, Scotland national team manager Alex McLeish, was unable to stave off relegation, but achieved promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt.

[71][72] Academy product Jude Bellingham was sold to Borussia Dortmund in the summer for a club-record deal reported to be worth up to £30 million,[73] after which Aitor Karanka lasted eight months as head coach before being replaced by former Birmingham player Lee Bowyer.

[78] Former Manchester City CEO Garry Cook was appointed to the corresponding role at Birmingham, and the club gained considerable publicity from the arrival of American football player Tom Brady as minority owner.

In a move that echoed Rowett's replacement by Zola seven years prior, the board stressed the need for "a winning mentality and a culture of ambition" across the club,[81] and a new appointment with "[responsibility] for creating an identity and clear 'no fear' playing style".

[84] His need for medical leave brought the interim appointment of Gary Rowett,[85] whose 11 points from the last eight games was not enough to prevent relegation to League One after 29 years at a higher level.

It was badly damaged during the Birmingham Blitz: the Railway End and the Kop as a result of bombing, while the Main Stand burnt down when a fireman mistook petrol for water.

[120][121] A piece of public sculpture in the form of a ten-times-life-size head lying on a mound near the St Andrew's ground, Ondré Nowakowski's Sleeping Iron Giant, has been repeatedly defaced with blue paint on its nose.

Control passed from the Coombs family to former Walsall chairman Ken Wheldon, who cut costs, made redundancies, and sold off assets, including the club's training ground.

[152] Going into 2015, the Football League made public their concerns over Yeung's attempts to impose his choice of directors on the BIHL board despite his conviction disqualifying him from exerting influence over a club.

[153] Relationships became increasingly factional, as illustrated by the failure of three directors, including the club's de facto chief executive Panos Pavlakis, to gain re-election, followed the next day by their reinstatement.

[155][156] In June 2015, the receivers struck deals with the previous major shareholders such that legal action against them would be dropped in return for their agreement not to obstruct any transfer of ownership to their preferred bidder, the British Virgin Islands-registered investment vehicle Trillion Trophy Asia (TTA), wholly owned by Chinese businessman Paul Suen Cho Hung, who in turn agreed that the company would not be sold on within two years.

[161] A June 2022 attempt to purchase the club by a group fronted by former Watford owner Laurence Bassini, involving financier Keith Harris and with money loaned by David Sullivan, came to nothing.

[162][163] A consortium led by fashion industry businessman Paul Richardson and Argentine former footballer Maxi López announced in July that they were close to completing the purchase of a stake in the club, and later confirmed that they were providing operating funds,[164][165] but pulled out in December citing a failure to agree revisions to the original terms of agreement;[166] in April 2023, Richardson, López and their proposed chief executive, former Charlton Athletic chairman Matt Southall, were sanctioned by the EFL after admitting breaching regulations by taking effective control of the club without approval.

[172] The agreements were subject to approval by the English Football League (EFL), which was forthcoming in early June, and by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKSE),[173] and an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on 13 July voted overwhelmingly to accept.

Going into the last day of the season, Aston Villa were top of League South but had finished their programme two points (one win) ahead of the chasers but with a worse goal average.

[50] The club's widest victory margin in the league was 12–0, a scoreline which they achieved once in the Football Alliance, against Nottingham Forest in 1899, and twice in the Second Division, against Walsall Town Swifts in 1892 and Doncaster Rovers in 1903.

[188] The highest fee paid, for English forward Jay Stansfield, who joined from Fulham in August 2024 after a successful loan spell at Birmingham the previous season, is variously reported as an initial £10 m, £12 m or £15 m, plus bonuses and a sell-on clause.

[190][192] In appreciation of Jude Bellingham's contribution in a short time with the first team – the club's youngest debutant, at 16 years and 38 days, and youngest goalscorer, he completed a full season in the Championship before becoming Birmingham's record transfer and the world's most expensive 17-year-old,[188] "showing what can be achieved through talent, hard work and dedication" while retaining a "caring, humble and engaging off-the-field demeanour" – the club retired his number 22 shirt "to remember one of our own and to inspire others.