Birmingham City F.C. season 2006-07

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Season 2006–07
Birmingham City
Manager	Steve Bruce
Chairman	David Gold
League	The Championship
Final league position	2nd
FA Cup	4th round
League Cup	4th round
Top goalscorer	League: Gary McSheffrey (13) All: Gary McSheffrey (16)
Highest home attendance	29,431 vs Queens Park Rangers (26 December 2006)
Lowest home attendance	15,854 vs Stoke City (11 February 2007)

The 2006–07 season was Birmingham City F.C.'s 104th consecutive season played in the Football League, their 46th in the second tier of English football, and their first season in that tier under the name of The Championship. The 2006–07 season also marked the 100th anniversary of the first game to be held at their St Andrew's stadium, and saw Birmingham promoted back to the Premier League after just one season in The Championship.

1 Season review
2 Playing stats
- 2.1 End of season player awards
3 Player transfers
4 Results
5 References

[edit] Season review

Birmingham bounced straight back to the Premier League by finishing second in The Championship. The season started with some inconsistent form leaving the team down and out in ninth position after the 0–1 defeat to Norwich City on 17 November. This left the Blues faithful calling for the sacking of manager Steve Bruce, but the board kept faith and the team pulled themselves around, and the year finished with Birmingham topping the table by nine points after dropping only seven points in 15 games since the defeat against Norwich.

Boxing Day saw the centenary of the opening of St Andrew's. Queens Park Rangers were the team to visit on the historic day, and Birmingham marked the occasion by defeating their rivals by 2–1. Many fans also hoped that the ‘curse of the gypsies’^{[citation needed]} would finally be dispelled from the stadium, and at last the team could make their mark on English football.

The FA Cup saw Birmingham overturn Newcastle United away from home that was undoubtedly^{[citation needed]} the result of the season. Goals from Gary McSheffrey, Bruno N'Gotty, Sebastian Larsson, DJ Campbell, and an own goal by former Aston Villa midfielder Nolberto Solano gave Birmingham a 5–1 victory at St James' Park. Blues went on to lose in the next round to Reading.

Birmingham once again returned to some inconsistent form, but a run of good results after the Easter games against Burnley and Barnsley saw them climb back to the top of the table with one game to go, and after Crystal Palace beat Derby County, promotion was secured. The only thing left to be sorted out was who would win the league, Birmingham or Sunderland? Blues had a one point lead, but after a defeat to Preston North End, and a victory for Sunderland, Blues were confined to finishing second. But promotion back to the big time was secured.

[edit] Playing stats

Last updated on February 9, 2008.

No.	Nat.	Position	Player	Total		Championship		FA Cup		Carling Cup
No.	Nat.	Position	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1		GK	Maik Taylor	31	0	27	-	3	-	1	-
2		DF	Stephen Kelly	41	0	36	0	1	0	4	0
3		DF	Mat Sadler	41	0	36	0	3	0	2	0
4		DF	Martin Taylor	37	1	30	0	3	1	4	0
6		MF	Stephen Clemence	35	4	34	4	0	0	1	0
7		MF	Sebastian Larsson	39	9	32	4	3	3	4	2
8		FW	Andrew Cole	5	1	5	1	0	0	0	0
9		FW	Mikael Forssell	9	1	7	1	0	0	2	0
10		FW	Cameron Jerome	43	9	37	7	2	0	4	2
11		MF	Julian Gray	10	0	7	0	0	0	3	0
12		MF	Mehdi Nafti	34	0	32	0	1	0	1	0
13		GK	Colin Doyle	22	0	19	-	0	-	3	-
14		FW	DJ Campbell	39	12	32	9	3	2	4	1
15		MF	Neil Kilkenny	13	0	7	0	2	0	4	0
16		DF	Olivier Tébily	7	0	6	0	0	0	1	0
17		MF	Neil Danns	35	3	29	3	3	0	3	0
19		FW	Rowan Vine	17	1	17	1	0	0	0	0
20		DF	Marcos Painter	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
21		DF	Bruno N'Gotty	27	2	25	1	2	1	0	0
22		MF	Damien Johnson	28	1	25	1	3	0	0	0
24		DF	Radhi Jaïdi	42	6	38	6	1	0	3	0
26		MF	Fabrice Muamba	40	0	33	0	3	0	4	0
27		FW	Nicklas Bendtner	48	13	42	11	2	0	4	2
28		MF	Gary McSheffrey	45	16	40	13	2	1	3	2
Players not playing for Birmingham City at the end of the season:
5		DF	Matthew Upson	12	2	9	2	3	0	0	0
8		MF	David Dunn	12	1	11	1	0	0	1	0

[edit] End of season player awards

The end of season awards ceremony was held at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel on 2 May 2007.^[1]

Award	Winner	Details
Flybe player of the season	Stephen Clemence
Player's player of the season	Stephen Clemence
BRMB listeners' player of the season	Stephen Clemence
Junior Blues player of the season	Gary McSheffrey
Young player of the season	Fabrice Muamba
Academy player of the season	Krystian Pearce
BBC WM breakthrough award	Colin Doyle
Top goal scorer of the season	Gary McSheffrey
Goal of the season	Sebastian Larsson	for his goal against Sheffield Wednesday on 28 April
Magic moment of the season	Colin Doyle	for his penalty save against Wolves on 22 April

[edit] Player transfers

[edit] In

Date	Pos.	No.	Name	From	Fee	Source
2006-05-31	FW	10	Cameron Jerome	Cardiff City	£3,000,000	BBC Sport
2006-06-20	MF	17	Neil Danns	Colchester	£500,000	BBC Sport
2006-06-28	DF	2	Stephen Kelly	Tottenham Hotspur	£750,000	BBC Sport
2006-07-06	DF	21	Bruno N'Gotty	Bolton Wanderers	Free	BBC Sport
2006-08-04	DF	24	Radhi Jaidi	Bolton Wanderers	£2,000,000	BBC Sport
2006-08-16	MF	28	Gary McSheffrey	Coventry City	£4,000,000	BBC Sport
2007-01-11	FW	19	Rowan Vine	Luton Town	Undisclosed	BBC Sport
2007-01-31	MF	7	Sebastian Larsson	Arsenal	£1,000,000	BBC Sport

[edit] Out

Date	Pos.	No.	Name	To	Fee	Source
2006-06-30	GK	18	Nico Vaesen	Lierse	Free	BBC Sport
2006-07-05	MF	11	Stan Lazaridis	Perth Glory	Free	BBC Sport
2006-07-07	FW	16	Emile Heskey	Wigan Atheltic	£5,500,000
2006-07-26	MF	7	Jermaine Pennant	Liverpool	Undisclosed	BBC Sport
2006-07-28	MF		Carl Motteram	Torquay United	Free	BBC Sport
2006-08-02	DF	3	Jamie Clapham	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Free	BBC Sport
2006-08-03	DF	29	Mario Melchiot	Stade Rennes	Free	BBC Sport
2007-01-17	MF	8	David Dunn	Blackburn Rovers	Undisclosed	BBC Sport
2007-01-31	DF	5	Mathew Upson	West Ham United	£6,000,000	BBC Sport
2007-01-31	DF	20	Marcos Painter	Swansea City	£25,000	BBC Sport

[edit] Players loaned in

Date In	Date Back	Pos.	No.	Name	To	Source
2006-07-29	2007-05-06	MF	26	Fabrice Muamba	Arsenal
2006-08-04	2007-01-31	MF	7	Sebastian Larsson	Arsenal	BBC Sport
2006-08-04	2007-05-06	FW	27	Nicklas Bendtner	Arsenal	BBC Sport
2007-03-21	2007-05-06	FW	8	Andy Cole	Portsmouth	BBC Sport

[edit] Players loaned out

Date In	Pos.	No.	Name	To	Source
2006-10-06	MF		Peter Till	Leyton Orient	BBC Sport
2006-10-12	FW		Nick Wright	Bristol City	BBC Sport
2006-11-23	FW		Nick Wright	Bristol City	BBC Sport
2006-11-23	MF		Peter Till	Grimsby Town	BBC Sport
2006-11-23	MF		Mathew Birley	Lincoln City	BBC Sport
2007-01-11	GK	29	Adam Legzdins	Macclesfield Town	BBC Sport
2007-02-16	DF		Sam Oji	Bristol Rovers	BBC Sport

[edit] Results

[edit] The Championship

Birmingham City scores given first

Game	Date	Venue	Opponents	Score	Scorers	Attendance
1	5 August 2006	Home	Colchester United	2–1	D. Campbell 30', N. Bendtner 79'	24,238
2	9 August 2006	Away	Sunderland	1–0	M. Forssell 40'	26,668
3	12 August 2006	Away	Stoke City	0–0		12,347
4	19 August 2006	Home	Crystal Palace	2–1	N. Bendtner 23', S. Larsson 90'	20,223
5	26 August 2006	Away	Cardiff City	0–2		20,109
6	8 September 2006	Home	Hull City	2–1	D. Campbell 16', N. Bendtner 53'	19,228
7	12 September 2006	Away	Queens Park Rangers	2–0	B. N'Gotty 23', C. Jerome 90'	10,936
8	16 September 2006	Home	Ipswich Town	2–2	D. Campbell 74', D. Dunn 86'	20,841
9	23 September 2006	Away	Leeds United	2–3	T. Warner og 13', N. Bendtner 74'	18,898
10	30 September 2006	Home	Leicester City	1–1	G. McSheffrey 58'	18,002
11	14 October 2006	Away	Luton Town	2–3	D. Campbell 14', N. Danns 66'	9,275
12	17 October 2006	Home	Norwich City	0–1		20,537
13	21 October 2006	Away, Derby	Derby County	0–1	S. Clemence 84'	25,673
14	28 October 2006	Home	West Bromwich Albion	2–0	G. McSheffrey 19', 90'	21,009
15	31 October 2006	Away	Coventry City	1–0	N. Bendtner 26'	27,212
16	4 November 2006	Away	Plymouth Argyle	1–0	R. Jaïdi 75'	17,008
17	11 November 2006	Home	Barnsley	2–0	G. McSheffrey 35', N. Danns 90'	19,344
18	18 November 2006	Home	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–1	G. McSheffrey 30'	22,256
19	25 November 2006	Away	Burnley	2–1	N. Bendtner 15', D. Campbell 83'	12,889
20	29 November 2006	Away	Southampton	3–4	C. Jerome 68', N. Bendtner 72', R. Jaïdi 90'	21,889
21	2 December 2006	Home	Plymouth Argyle	3–0	N. Bendtner 21', M. Upson 30', G. McSheffrey 41'	22,592
22	9 December 2006	Home	Preston North End	3–1	G. McSheffrey 32', 40', 89'	23,159
23	16 December 2006	Away	Sheffield Wednesday	3–0	S. Clemence 42', G. McSheffrey 65', C. Jerome 90'	26,083}
24	23 December 2006	Away	Southend United	4–0	D. Campbell 8', S. Clemence 38', G. McSheffrey 54', R. Jaïdi 84'	8,781
25	26 December 2006	Home	Queens Park Rangers	2–1	M. Upson 22', C. Jerome 62'	29,431
26	29 December 2006	Home	Luton Town	2–2	G. McSheffrey 31', N. Danns 90'	24,642
27	1 January 2007	Away	Ipswich Town	0–1		22,436
28	30 January 2007	Home	Southend United	1–3	P. Clarke og 9'	19,177
29	3 February 2007	Away	Colchester United	1–1	S. Clemence 66'	5,918
30	11 February 2007	Home	Stoke City	1–0	G. McSheffrey 71'	15,854
31	17 February 2007	Away	Crystal Palace	1–0	C. Jerome 34'	17,233
32	20 February 2007	Home	Sunderland	1–1	D. Campbell 90'	20,941
33	24 February 2007	Away	Hull City	0–2		18,811
34	27 February 2007	Home	Leeds United	1–0	N. Bendtner 15'	18,363
35	4 March 2007	Home	Cardiff City	1–0	S. Larsson 56'	28,223
36	9 March 2007	Home	Derby County	1–0	R. Vine 45'	20,962
37	13 March 2007	Away	Norwich City	0–1		23,504
38	18 March 2007	Away	West Bromwich Albion	1–1	D. Johnson 86'	21,434
39	1 April 2007	Home	Coventry City	3–0	R. Jaïdi 13', D. Campbell 65', 78'	25,424
40	7 April 2007	Home	Burnley	0–1		28,777
41	9 April 2007	Away	Barnsley	0–1		15,857
42	14 April 2007	Home	Southampton	2–1	R. Jaïdi 32', N. Bendtner 79'	19,754
43	17 April 2007	Away	Leicester City	2–1	R. Jaïdi 16', S. Larsson 82'	24,290
44	22 April 2007	Away	Wolverhampton Wanderers	3–2	A. Cole 54', N. Bendtner 77', C. Jerome 88'	22,754
45	28 April 2007	Home	Sheffield Wednesday	2–0	C. Jerome 74', S. Larsson 84'	28,317
46	6 May 2007	Away	Preston North End	0–1		16,837

[edit] Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
46	86	26	8	12	67	42	+25	15	5	3	37	18	+19	11	3	9	30	24	+6

Source: Soccerbase
Pld = Matches played; Pts = Points; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference

Birmingham finished second in The Championship, behind Sunderland, who finished the season on 88 points, and ahead of Derby (84 points), West Bromwich Albion (76 points), Wolverhampton Wanderers (76 points), and Southampton (75 points), who qualified for the play-offs.

[edit] Results by round

Round	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46
Ground	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A
Result	W	W	D	W	L	W	W	D	L	D	L	L	W	W	W	W	W	D	W	L	W	W	W	W	W	D	L	L	D	W	W	D	L	W	W	W	L	D	W	D	L	W	W	W	W	L

Source: Soccerbase
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Lose; W = Win.

[edit] FA Cup

Birmingham reached the fourth round of the FA Cup 2006-07 before losing to Reading of the Premier League.

Birmingham City scores given first

Round	Date	Venue	Opponents	Score	Scorers	Attendance
Third Round	6 January 2007	Home	Newcastle United	2–2	D. Campbell 15', S. Larsson 86'	16,444
Third Round Replay	17 January 2007	Away	Newcastle United	5–1	G. McSheffrey 5', N. Solano og 45', B. N'Gotty 59', S. Larsson 83', D. Campbell 89'	26,099
Fourth Round	27 January 2007	Home	Reading	2–3	Martin Taylor 47', S. Larsson 90'	20,041

[edit] League Cup

Birmingham reached the fourth round of the Football League Cup 2006-07 before losing to Liverpool of the Premier League.

Birmingham City scores given first

Round	Date	Venue	Opponents	Score	Scorers	Attendance
First Round	22 August 2006	Home	Shrewsbury Town	1–0	S. Larsson 83'	12,428
Second Round	19 September 2006	Home	Wrexham	4–1 AET	C. Jerome 41', G. McSheffrey 102', 113', N. Bendtner 117'	10,491
Third Round	24 October 2006	Away	Sheffield United	4–2	D. Campbell 41', N. Bendtner 70', C. Jerome 79', S. Larsson 90'	10,584
Fourth Round	8 November 2006	Home	Liverpool	0–1		23,061