The 1984–85 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 82nd in the Football League and their 33rd in the Second Division, to which they were relegated in 1983–84. They finished in second position in the 22-team division, so were promoted back to the First Division after only one season. They entered the 1984–85 FA Cup in the third round proper, and lost to Norwich City in that round after three replays. They were eliminated from the League Cup by West Bromwich Albion in the third round after a replay.
Wayne Clarke was the club's top scorer, with 19 goals in all competitions, of which 17 were scored in the league.
The last home game of the season, a 1–0 win against Leeds United in front of a season-high crowd of nearly 25,000 that confirmed promotion back to the top flight, was marred by rioting in which 500 people were injured and a 15-year-old boy died when a wall collapsed. The match took place on the same day as the Bradford City stadium fire, and both formed part of the remit of Mr Justice Popplewell's inquiry into safety at sports grounds. According to his report, the events at St Andrew's "more clearly resembled the Battle of Agincourt than a football match".
Football League First Division
DateLeaguepositionOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendance25 August 19846thOldham AthleticAW1–0Clements og5,3071 September 19844thWimbledonHW4–2Clarke 2, Ferguson, Hopkins10,4454 September 19842ndFulhamAW1–0Clarke6,0318 September 19842ndCrystal PalaceAW2–0Clarke, Hopkins6,52315 September 19841stCarlisle UnitedHW2–0Clarke, Harford11,74018 September 19841stPortsmouthHL0–118,04622 September 19841stWolverhampton WanderersAW2–0Hopkins, Kuhl16,69829 September 19841stHuddersfield TownHW1–0Hopkins11,4806 October 19841stBrighton & Hove AlbionAL0–213,69513 October 19844thBlackburn RoversHL0–212,75820 October 19844thNotts CountyAW3–1Clarke 2, Harford5,78827 October 19842ndOxford UnitedHD0–020,4213 November 19843rdShrewsbury TownHD0–09,80710 November 19844thManchester CityAL0–125,36917 November 19846thCharlton AthleticAL1–2Morley4,85024 November 19845thBarnsleyHD0–09,5051 December 19845thCardiff CityAW2–1Morley 25,0578 December 19845thMiddlesbroughHW3–2Saxby og, Rees, Wright pen8,00415 December 19844thLeeds UnitedAW1–0Clarke15,85922 December 19843rdWimbledonAW2–1Geddis 23,67426 December 19842ndGrimsby TownHW2–1Geddis, Platnauer14,18029 December 19843rdFulhamHD2–2Clarke, Hopkins11,8331 January 19853rdSheffield UnitedAW4–3Hopkins, Geddis, Clarke, West og16,5712 February 19854thHuddersfield TownAW1–0Geddis7,46023 February 19854thShrewsbury TownAL0–17,1772 March 19853rdOxford UnitedAW3–0Clarke 2, Geddis11,5845 March 19853rdOldham AthleticHL0–110,4899 March 19852ndNotts CountyHW2–1Clarke, Hopkins9,07112 March 19852ndCarlisle UnitedAL1–2Clarke4,09916 March 19855thBlackburn RoversAL1–2Rees10,59519 March 19854thManchester CityHD0–018,00423 March 19854thBrighton & Hove AlbionHD1–1Hopkins8,98630 March 19853rdWolverhampton WanderersHW1–0Geddis10,2365 April 19854thGrimsby TownAL0–16,9398 April 19854thSheffield UnitedHW4–1Clarke 2, Daly, Kennedy10,23513 April 19852ndPortsmouthAW3–1Geddis 323,98316 April 19852ndCrystal PalaceHW3–0Clarke, Geddis, Kennedy10,72720 April 19852ndCharlton AthleticHW2–1Kennedy, Wright pen10,69727 April 19852ndBarnsleyAW1–0Geddis6,7574 May 19852ndCardiff CityHW2–0Hopkins, Kennedy15,8686 May 19852ndMiddlesbroughAD0–07,84011 May 19852ndLeeds UnitedHW1–0Kuhl24,871
League table (part)
+Final Second Division table (part)Team1stOxford United4225988436+48842ndBirmingham City42257105933+26823rdManchester City422111106640+26744thPortsmouth42201486950+19745thBlackburn Rovers422110116641+2573
Results summary
FA Cup
RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceThird round5 January 1985Norwich CityHD0–012,941Third round replay23 January 1985Norwich CityAD1–1aetWright11,883Third round 2nd replay26 January 1985Norwich CityHD1–1aetGeddis11,755Third round 3rd replay28 January 1985Norwich CityAL0–112,396
League Cup
RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceSecond round 1st leg25 September 1984Plymouth ArgyleHW4–1Clarke, Hopkins, Harford, Rees7,964Second round 2nd leg9 October 1984Plymouth ArgyleAW1–0Clarke4,650Third round30 October 1984West Bromwich AlbionHD0–017,616Third round replay7 November 1984West Bromwich AlbionAL1–3Shearer16,717
Appearances and goals
Numbers in parentheses denote appearances made as a substitute. Players with name in italics and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Birmingham. Players marked left the club during the playing season. Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward
+ Players' appearances and goals by competitionNameLeagueFA CupLeague CupTotalGoalsGoalsGoalsGoalsGK Tony Coton 70000070GKJim McDonagh *10000010GKMark Prudhoe10004050GKDavid Seaman3304000370DFKen Armstrong3603040430DFJim Hagan21 (8)01 (2)04026 (10)0DFRay Ranson2804000320DFBrian Roberts4104040490DF Pat Van Den Hauwe 60000060DFBilly Wright4224140503MFDes Bremner3004030370MFGerry Daly29 (1)1402035 (1)1MF Paul Gorman 60001070MF Mick Halsall 2 (1)000204 (1)0MFRobert Hopkins39940214510MFMark Jones9 (1)0001 (1)010 (2)0MFMartin Kuhl25 (2)2004031 (2)2MFTony Morley *43000043MFNick Platnauer1114000151MFByron Stevenson60000060MFStuart Storer00001010FWIan Brown00000 (1)00 (1)0FWWayne Clarke401740324719FW Mick Ferguson 21000021FWDavid Geddis181200412213FW Mick Harford 1220031153FWAndy Kennedy4 (3)400004 (3)4FWJohn Linford *1 (1)000001 (1)0FWTony Rees5 (4)2001 (1)16 (5)3FWGuy Russell10000010FWPeter Shearer2 (2)000113 (2)1
See also Birmingham City F.C. seasons
Sources
For match dates, league positions and results: For lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 404–05.
References