List of Birmingham City F.C. managers
Small Heath's election to the newly formed Second Division of the Football League in 1892 prompted the board of directors to appoint him as the club's first paid official, responsible as secretary-manager for matters on the field in addition to his administrative duties.
[7] Former Birmingham defender George Liddell kept them in the top tier until they were relegated in the last season completed before the Second World War, resigning in September 1939 when league football was suspended.
Merrick managed them to their first major trophy, beating local rivals Aston Villa 3–1 on aggregate in the 1963 League Cup Final, but after four years of fighting relegation, the board asked for his resignation.
[16] Chosen only after abortive approaches were made to Don Revie, Brian Clough and Ronnie Allen,[17] Freddie Goodwin converted the attractive but inconsistent football of Cullis's teams to a skilful, aggressive game capable of winning promotion and maintaining top-flight status.
[d] Jim Smith brought experienced players to the club[27] but was sacked to make way for Ron Saunders, who had just walked out on league champions and local rivals Aston Villa.
[33] Southend United manager Barry Fry, hired at the cost of a record fine for "poaching",[34] failed to avoid relegation but combined the Division Two title with another victorious trip to Wembley in the Football League Trophy in 1995.
[38] After uncertainty surrounding a takeover bid for the club led him to accept the managerial post at Wigan Athletic,[39] former Scotland manager Alex McLeish was appointed in November 2007.
[40] Unable to avoid relegation at the end of his first part-season, McLeish led the team back to the Premier League at the first attempt in 2009,[41] then guided them to a 12-game unbeaten run, a club record in the top division,[42] and a ninth-place finish, their best since 1959.
[46] Lee Clark led Birmingham to a mid-table finish in his first season, but escaped relegation to the third tier on goal difference via Paul Caddis's stoppage-time equaliser at Bolton Wanderers in the last match of 2013–14.
[f] Before football resumed after the COVID-19-related hiatus, the club announced that he would leave at the end of the season;[57] the team's form plummeted, Clotet left early, they narrowly avoided relegation, and the BBC's West Midlands correspondent opined that the next appointment was "a decision [the board] cannot afford to get wrong if they are to steer clear of further turmoil and confusion.
"[58] Aitor Karanka lasted six months of a 2020–21 season played behind closed doors before stepping down in favour of Lee Bowyer, who resigned as manager of Charlton Athletic to convert a Birmingham team "hopelessly out of form" into one that went six games unbeaten to secure safety with two matches remaining.
[59][60][61] At the end of yet another relegation-threatened season, Bowyer was replaced by John Eustace,[62] who stabilised the team and avoided relegation against a background of two high-profile failed takeovers followed by a successful change of ownership.
[63][64] Two months into the 2023–24 season, with the team in the play-off places, in a move with echoes of Rowett's replacement by Zola, the American owners sacked Eustace, citing "the importance of implementing a winning mentality and a culture of ambition".
[64] Former England international player and Derby County and D.C. United manager Wayne Rooney's 9 defeats in 15 games took Birmingham down to 20th place and set a new club record for shortest tenure, of 83 days.
Results were so poor under his assistant, Mark Venus,[68] that the club rehired Gary Rowett as interim manager until the end of the season,[69] but the team were unable to avoid relegation.
