The 2014–15 season was Birmingham City Football Club's 112th season in the English football league system and fourth consecutive season in the Football League Championship. It ran from 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015.
On 20 October 2014, with Birmingham 21st in the table and having won at home in the league only once in more than a year, manager Lee Clark and assistant Steve Watson were sacked. Coach Richard Beale and chief scout Malcolm Crosby were put in temporary charge. Gary Rowett, Burton Albion manager and former Birmingham City player, was named as Clark's successor on 27 October.
The team finished in 10th position in the Championship, which was the highest position it had occupied all season. Clayton Donaldson was top scorer with 16 goals, of which all but one were scored in league matches. In the 2014–15 FA Cup, Birmingham lost in the fourth round to Premier League club West Bromwich Albion, and were eliminated by Sunderland, also of the Premier League, in the second round of the League Cup. The average attendance at league matches, of 16,111, was some 4% higher than in 2013–14.
Background and pre-season
+ Pre-season match detailsDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendance8 July 2014Cork CityAW3–0Robinson 8', Caddis 83', Novak 89'1,11415 July 2014Forest Green RoversAW1–0Donaldson 18'1,10819 July 2014Mansfield TownA——Cancelled—26 July 2014Kidderminster HarriersAW3–0Thomas (2) 37', 46', Donaldson 75'3,92829 July 2014Notts CountyAW4–0Donaldson (2) 13', 58', Shinnie 14', Grounds 89'2,0162 August 2014Inverness Caledonian ThistleHW3–1Novak 8', Gray 38', Caddis 89' pen.4,444
Ownership
Trading in shares in the club's parent company, Birmingham International Holdings (BIH), was suspended in June 2011 after the arrest of major shareholder Carson Yeung on charges of money-laundering. Publication of financial results was repeatedly delayed, which led the Football League to impose a transfer embargo, and offers for the club were entertained from 2012 onwards. After Yeung resigned his positions with both club and BIH in early 2014, share trading resumed, and following his conviction, efforts intensified to dispose of the club, which had to be done piecemeal in order to retain BIH's share listing. Interest from a consortium fronted by former Swindon Town F.C. chairman Jeremy Wray and one-time deputy managing director of Birmingham City Peter Day, reported to have North American backing, came to nothing. BIH's accounts revealed a £12 million loss over the year ending June 2014.
Chief executive Peter Pannu's service contract expired at the end of September, though he remained a director, and his de facto successor Panos Pavlakis claimed the club was in a sounder financial state than previously. In December, following comments on the Often Partisan website by someone believed to be Pannu, the club issued a statement that "categorically refuted" allegations about their tax affairs and funding status, and the Football League asked the club for an explanation. A few days later, Pannu resigned his directorship of the club, and his appointment as CEO and MD of BIH was terminated.
Relationships within BIH became increasingly factional. At the company's AGM in January 2015, Pannu was re-elected to the board while three directors, including Pavlakis, were not, yet the next day the three were reinstated. 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. On 17 February, the board voluntarily appointed receivers from accountants Ernst & Young to take over management of the company. Their statement stressed that no winding-up petition had been issued and the company was not in liquidation, and the receivers assured the League that the club was not in an "insolvency event" of the type that could trigger a ten-point deduction.
Football League Championship
August–September Going into the opening-day visit to Middlesbrough having lost vice-captain Tom Adeyemi to divisional rivals Cardiff City, manager Lee Clark gave starting debuts to Grant Hall, Jonathan Grounds, David Edgar, Stephen Gleeson and, for the second time, to Wes Thomas, and substitute debuts to Mark Duffy and Clayton Donaldson. Birmingham lost 2–0, and in his post-match interview, Clark said the play was too negative: "the stat of no shots on target tells the story". Blues entered the first home game of the season having not won at St Andrew's in the league since October 2013, a second-tier record of 18 winless matches, and with captain Paul Robinson dropped to the bench. A sound defensive display and Thomas's powerful header from David Cotterill's cross just after the break ended the unwanted run of home results. Two draws followed, at home to Ipswich Town, who equalised in stoppage time, and away at Brentford, where Birmingham had a man advantage for 75 minutes and missed numerous chances to make the game safe. August ended with Robinson back in the side and Birmingham in 20th place after a 4–0 defeat at Wigan Athletic, who "could have won even more comprehensively than 4–0 such was their total superiority."
Set up by debutant loanee Brek Shea, Thomas's powerful shot broke the stanchion of the goal, delaying the game by nine minutes. Visitors Leeds United came back to draw, and the 18-year-old Demarai Gray was booked for what the referee perceived as a dive. At home to Sheffield Wednesday, Birmingham failed to profit from having the better of the first half, and lost 2–0 in the second. A deflected shot from Callum Reilly on his first appearance of the season and Gray's "composed finish" over the goalkeeper gave Blues a half-time lead at top-of-the-table Norwich City. A strong penalty appeal for a foul on Donaldson was turned down and Grounds headed wide, but after the break, Cameron Jerome scored twice to restrict his former club to one point. At home to Fulham, Birmingham wasted several first-half chances, took the lead through Cotterill's first goal for the club, and let it slip to lose 2–1. September finished with the customary win at Millwall which left Birmingham 19th in the table. The 18-year-old Koby Arthur started the match, his first appearance since his recall from loan at Cheltenham Town.
October After conceding an early goal at previously unbeaten Charlton Athletic, strong performances from Davis and Reilly in midfield and Arthur in attack brought Birmingham back into the game. Arthur's goal was disallowed for offside against Donaldson – opinions varied as to whether he had interfered with play or whether he had indeed been in an offside position at all – but Davis's first goal for the club tied the scores. After a break for international matches, Birmingham lost 1–0 at home to Bolton Wanderers. Randolph was sent off for bringing down an opponent after Caddis's back pass had left him little alternative, and with all three substitutes already used, Lee Novak went in goal to face Craig Davies's penalty; Davies missed.
The result left Birmingham in 21st place, having won only once at home in the league for more than a year. The following Monday, 20 October, Clark took his customary press conference prior to the next day's visit to Blackburn Rovers. Hours later, he and assistant Steve Watson were sacked. Birmingham's chief scout, Malcolm Crosby, who had had some managerial experience with Sunderland, and coach Richard Beale took over the team on a caretaker basis for the Blackburn match. With Randolph suspended, Colin Doyle played his first league game since the 2012 play-offs. Birmingham had the better of the first half, but conceded early in the second, Neil Eardley was sent off for a second booking, and Andy Shinnie, in his first appearance since the opening day, shot against the crossbar in stoppage time.
Birmingham approached the visit of AFC Bournemouth still in 21st place, above the relegation places by a goal difference of one. They lost 8–0, a goal down inside three minutes and a man down three minutes later when Edgar was deemed the last defender. Caddis missed a 53rd-minute penalty that would have made the score 3–1. Bournemouth continued to score at will, including three in the final ten minutes. It was their record league win and Birmingham's record home defeat. Paul Robinson apologised for "that shambles of a game", recognised the fans' disappointment at paying a lot of money to come and watch an unacceptable performance, and promised that he and the rest of the players would take responsibility for putting it right.
MK Dons had refused Birmingham permission to speak to Karl Robinson, and former manager Chris Hughton was reportedly interested in returning, but by the Bournemouth match, the shortlist comprised three men: Owen Coyle, most recently at Wigan Athletic, and the two candidates believed by the media to be joint favourites, Mike Phelan, former assistant to Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, and Burton Albion manager and one-time Birmingham defender Gary Rowett. Described by the Birmingham Mail as "by far the most impressive interviewee", Rowett was appointed on 27 October on a one-year rolling contract. He brought his Burton backroom team with him: Kevin Summerfield, Mark Sale and Kevin Poole, all three former Birmingham players themselves, as respectively assistant manager, first-team coach and goalkeeping coach, and appointed Darren Robinson as head of performance. Crosby and previous goalkeeping coach John Vaughan left the club, and Beale returned to a coaching role.
November–December Rowett began what he called the "job that I just couldn't turn down" away at Wolverhampton Wanderers, who were level on points at the top of the table. During the week, he had the players working on "defensive shape and a bit of structure", and had brought in Charlton centre-back Michael Morrison on loan. Morrison replaced the suspended Edgar, and the team lined up with Donaldson as lone striker. Birmingham secured a goalless draw: Grounds' header was well saved, but the same player was perhaps fortunate not to concede a penalty for handball. After two minutes of the home fixture with top-of-the-table Watford, Donaldson's deflected shot produced Birmingham's first goal for more than a month; Watford soon equalised, then with five minutes left, Donaldson headed home from Cotterill's cross to secure a second home league win of the season. A goalless draw with Cardiff City featured disallowed goals for former Birmingham loanee Federico Macheda and substitute Wes Thomas, who was sent off late in the game for striking an opponent.
At Rotherham United, Rowett first picked the starting eleven which was to become his regular selection of choice: in a 4–2–3–1 formation, Randolph in goal, Caddis, Morrison, Robinson and Grounds as a flat back four, Davis and Gleeson in defensive midfield, Cotterill and Gray wide, Shinnie in the hole, and Donaldson as lone striker. Birmingham twice hit the post and missed numerous other chances before Donaldson had time to control the rebound from his saved shot and shoot more accurately for the only goal of the game, and a win that took Birmingham out of the relegation places. Rowett described it as "the most complete performance that we've had since taking over. We played with really good control and some good composure", while his opposite number Steve Evans thought "it looked like two poor teams out there".