History of Birmingham City F.C. (1875–1965)

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

Storer's successor, Bob Brocklebank, though unable to stave off relegation in 1950, brought in players who made a major contribution to the club's successes of the next decade.

As a player, Gil Merrick had beaten Womack's appearance record and been England's regular goalkeeper; as manager, his team saved their best form for cup competitions.

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

[1]For the first thirteen years of their existence, there was no league football, so friendly matches were arranged on an ad hoc basis, supplemented by cup competitions organised at local and national level.

[1] In 1885–86, Small Heath reached the semi-final of the FA Cup, in which they faced West Bromwich Albion in front of 10,000 spectators at Aston Lower Grounds.

[6] As soon as payment of players over and above their actual out-of-pocket expenses was permitted by the Football Association for the first time, in 1885,[7] the Small Heath club turned professional.

[19][20] The directors appointed Alfred Jones as the club's first paid secretary,[1] and William Starling was elected to the Football League Management Committee as one of two representatives of the Second Division.

[22][23] Goalkeeper Chris Charsley, a policeman who played as an amateur and went on to serve as chief constable of Coventry, became the first Small Heath player to be capped by England.

[36] A year later, after their visit to Everton was abandoned after 37 minutes because of bad weather and the state of the pitch, a spectator took the host club to court claiming the return of his admission money.

[22] The board's decision to reject Villa's offer of "a big transfer fee and a benefit match in addition" for the services of centre-forward Bob McRoberts was vindicated when he top-scored with 17 goals.

A fifth change of division in eleven seasons – they reached the top two places by mid-November 1902 and remained there for the rest of the campaign[22] – gained Small Heath the reputation of a yo-yo club.

[46] This time, a late run proved enough to keep them in the division, in contrast to 1904–05 when they reached second place in mid-February, one point behind Everton, but lost six of the last ten games to finish seventh.

"[52] The landlords had raised the rent, but would neither sell the freehold of the ground nor allow its expansion, and the directors estimated that remaining at Coventry Road was losing the club as much as £2,000 a year in revenue.

Morris identified the site of a disused brickworks, three-quarters of a mile (1 km) nearer the city centre, as suitable for a new ground, the directors signed a 21-year lease, and construction began in January 1906.

On 26 December of that year, after volunteers spent all morning clearing the snow, 32,000 spectators witnessed the official opening of the 75,000-capacity St Andrew's Ground and a goalless draw with Middlesbrough.

Birmingham placed third in 1919–20,[22] and in 1920–21, driven by Frank Womack's captaincy and the creative skills of Scottish international Johnny Crosbie,[58] they reached the last day of the 1920–21 season needing to beat Port Vale away to be sure of maintaining their position ahead of Cardiff City and thus clinch the division title for the second time.

The club failed to submit the entry form in time to be granted exemption from qualifying, and the Football Association refused to bend the rules in their favour.

Between semi-final and final Birmingham lost six of their nine league matches,[22] and The Times reminded its readers that "sickness and injury had played havoc with their men for weeks past.

[70] Birmingham had a goal disallowed early on, then fell behind; the clearly unfit Bradford was able to equalise, but W. G. Richardson went upfield straight from the kickoff and scored his side's winner.

[69] Knighton's team finished in the top half of the division in 1932, and he signed a contract extension, but when Chelsea made him an offer he could not refuse, he left, to be replaced by George Liddell, recently retired from playing.

[74] Most football grounds reopened soon afterwards, even those in built-up or strategically significant areas, but Birmingham's Chief Constable ordered the continued closure of St Andrew's because of its proximity to likely air-raid targets such as the BSA munitions factories.

[75] The matter was raised in Parliament, but the Home Secretary felt unable to intervene in what was perceived as a local issue,[76] and the Chief Constable did not bow to public pressure until March 1940.

Brocklebank was responsible for introducing future England internationals Trevor Smith and Jeff Hall to the side, and for bringing in several mainstays of Birmingham's teams through the 1950s.

Goalkeeper Gil Merrick attributed to the defeat to a half-time failure to discuss how to stop Revie, and outside left Alex Govan blamed the absence of the "utterly ruthless"[85] Roy Warhurst through injury and a poor choice of replacement.

[89] In February 1958, three days after Birmingham lost 8–0 at Preston North End, former Bristol City manager Pat Beasley joined the club.

The realisation that a young, fit, England footballer could die of a preventable disease sparked a massive rise in demand for vaccination,[95] and a memorial fund launched in his name by the club and local newspapers endowed a research fellowship in the University of Birmingham's Department of Medicine.

[98] In 1962–63, while avoiding relegation only by winning two of their last three matches, they showed their best form in reaching the League Cup final, which was played over two legs on the grounds of the competing clubs.

But in the home leg Birmingham "served up a treat of attacking football ... controlling the game with such assurance that their supporters must have wondered why the team had performed so badly in the First Division",[99] and came out comfortable 3–1 winners, with two goals from Ken Leek and one from Jimmy Bloomfield.

[99][100] After the fourth consecutive bottom-six finish – they won the last two matches of 1963–64 to escape relegation – the board felt a "complete reorganisation" of the club was necessary, and asked Merrick to resign.