Birmingham derby, West Midlands derby | |
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City or region | Birmingham |
First contested | 27 September 1879 |
Teams involved | Aston Villa Birmingham City |
Most wins | Aston Villa (51) |
Most recent meeting | 16 January 2011 |
In English football, the Second City derby[1] is the local derby between the two major clubs in the city of Birmingham, England – Aston Villa and Birmingham City.
The two clubs are generally regarded as each other's most fierce rivals, though this was perhaps less true between 1988 and 2002, when the two clubs were in different divisions and as a result did not play each other. During this time, Villa's biggest local rivalry was with Coventry City, while Birmingham's key local rivals were Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Bromwich Albion.
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The clubs first met on 27 September 1879, when Birmingham City were called Small Heath Alliance. The game, on a pitch at Small Heath's Muntz Street ground described by the Villa players as "only suitable for pot-holing",[2] finished 1–0 – recorded as "one goal and a disputed goal to nil"[3] – to the home side.[4] Villa won the first competitive game between the clubs, in the Second Round of the FA Cup at Wellington Road in 1887, by four goals to nil,[5] and their first league encounter, in the First Division in the 1894–95 season, 2–1.[6]
The two teams have engaged in several hotly contested matches. In the 1925 league game at Villa Park, with the home side 3–0 ahead with eleven minutes to go, Birmingham scored three times in a dramatic final spell to draw the match.[7] The following year, Aston Villa made headlines with the signing of Tom 'Pongo' Waring, and his first appearance was for the reserves against Birmingham City's reserves, which famously drew a crowd of 23,000. Waring scored three times in the match.
The most significant clash was the final of the 1963 League Cup, which was staged not long after Aston Villa had beaten Birmingham City 4–0 in the league. Birmingham won 3–1 on aggregate over the two-legged final to claim their first major domestic honour.[8]
During the late 1970s to early 1980s both Villa and Birmingham met regularly in the First Division and both teams had some memorable successes in the fixture. In 1980-81 Villa did the double over Birmingham and went on to win the First Division title. Birmingham scored a memorable 3-0 victory at St Andrew's in the first meeting following Villa's European Cup triumph in 1982. Both teams promptly went into decline. Birmingham racked up a 3-0 win in a relegation battle at Villa Park in March 1986 but were relegated at the end of that season. Villa would be demoted the following campaign. The next time Villa met Blues in a league fixture at Villa Park again was in the Second Division and saw a 2–1 Birmingham victory. The reverse fixture at St Andrew's was a 2-1 Villa victory with both goals coming from Garry Thompson. The two sides would only meet again in the 1980s in cup competitions. Villa won 7-0 on aggregrate when they clashed twice in the 1988-89 League Cup. The same season Villa also won a Simod Cup clash 6-0.
Following the creation of the Premier League, Aston Villa and Birmingham met twice in the Second Round of the 1993-94 League Cup. Villa won both matches 1–0. The game at St Andrew's was settled by a Kevin Richardson goal after his keeper Mark Bosnich had saved a penalty from John Frain to keep the game at 0–0. The second leg at Villa Park was notable for a winning goal from Villa's Dean Saunders and a red card for Birmingham's Paul Tait. Villa went on to win the trophy.
Birmingham's promotion to the Premier League in 2002 saw fans eagerly anticipating the first league derbies in 15 years. Birmingham won both derbies 3–0 and 2–0, respectively. Both matches saw goalkeeping errors by Villa goalkeeper Peter Enckelman, including a goal scored directly from an Olof Mellberg throw-in. Violence between both sets of fans occurred before both matches as evening kick-off times had allowed fans to get drunk over the course of the day. In March 2003, during the game at Villa Park, two Villa players were sent off, Dion Dublin for a head-butt on Birmingham's Robbie Savage and Joey Guðjónsson for a reckless two-footed tackle on Matthew Upson. Trouble also took place following the game on Witton Lane outside Villa Park, where missiles were hurled at police who were attempting to keep both sets of fans apart.
The 2003–04 Premiership season saw games ending in 0–0 and 2–2 draws. The 2–2 draw saw Birmingham recover a two goal deficit thanks to a 90th minute equalizer from Stern John. Both games were lunchtime kick-offs to avoid drunken behaviour, which was achieved although the games lost none of their passionate edge. The following season Birmingham got back to winning ways, with 2–1 victory at Villa Park just before Christmas and 2–0 at home in March, Villa keeper Thomas Sørensen making mistakes in both matches, though it's debatable if his errors directly affected the respective results. In the 2005–06 Premiership Season, Aston Villa finally beat City in the Premiership, thanks to a Kevin Phillips goal. This was followed up by another Villa victory on 16 April 2006, Easter Sunday, with Aston Villa winning 3–1 thanks to two goals from Milan Baros and a bicycle kick from Gary Cahill. Birmingham were relegated in 2006 but subsequently promoted in 2007. In November 2007, Villa won their third consecutive derby match with a 2–1 victory at St Andrew's. Former Villa defender Liam Ridgewell scored an own goal to put Villa 1–0 up, Blues equalized through Mikael Forssell only for Gabriel Agbonlahor to clinch it with a late header for Villa, having cleared off his own line seconds before. Violent clashes took place outside the ground after the game in which over 20 police officers were hurt.[9][10] The derby on 20 April 2008 between the two sides ended in a 5–1 win for Aston Villa at Villa Park, the biggest winning margin for either side in a league match for 40 years. Villa continued their winning ways in the derby, when they won both of the meetings between the clubs in the 2009–10 Premier League season. The first took place on 13 September 2009 at St Andrew's, and ended 1-0 to Aston Villa, with Agbonlahor scoring the winner in the 85th minute. Villa then went onto beat Birmingham 1-0 at Villa Park thanks to a penalty from James Milner in the 82nd minute. This was the 3rd time in 4 derbies that Villa had scored the winning goal in the final 10 minutes of the game. Villa also possess the record of six straight wins from 1987–93, including five cup matches. This record was then achieved in the Premier League after Villa beat Brimigham 1-0 on 25 April 2010, setting a record of six straight league wins from 2005-10. Thie record was finally ended at the next derby match on 31 October 2010, which resulted in a 0-0 draw at Villa Park. The return match at St Andrew's also ended in a draw, with it finishing 1-1.
In those games in October and December 2010 where Aston Villa played Birmingham City, at Villa Park (Premier League, 31 October) and St Andrew's (League Cup, 1 December, which was the first mid-week game between the two sides since 2003) violence between the two sets of supporters and hooligan firms occurred, with many fans being arrested. In the first game, there were scenes of violence outside Villa Park and there were a small amount of arrests including a Birmingham City club chef.[11] In the second of the two games (and larger scale violence) after Birmingham had beaten Villa 2-1, Birmingham supporters came onto the pitch and confronted the visiting Villa fans, this resulted in flares, ripped out seats and other missiles being hurled by Villa fans into the Birmingham supporters, there were also flash points before and after the game including the attack on a Birmingham supporters pub by Villa hooligans, the events were described as a "warzone" by a supporter who attended the game.[12] Birmingham City were later fined £40,000 by the Football Association for failing to control their fans. [3]
On 10 April 2011, an episode of Police Academy UK, a TV show aired on BBC Three which documents overseas police officers' introduction to British crime and policing, was set in Birmingham and covered the violence that occurred at the game between Birmingham City and Aston Villa on 1 December 2010.[13]
On 17 June 2011, Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish swapped Birmingham City for Aston Villa in a move that shocked the football world.[14] The reaction from both sets of supporters was one of anger, Birmingham City supporters were angry at McLeish, who guided them to only their second ever major trophy win in February 2011, for betraying them to join bitter rivals Villa and Villa fans were un-happy with the appointment of a former Birmingham manager. Several hundred Villa supporters protested at Villa Park when it emerged that Villa owner Randy Lerner has begun talks with McLeish. McLeish received death threats from followers of both teams following his appointment as Aston Villa manager.[15] This controversial move only increased tension and hostility between the players, supporters and owners of both clubs even more as Birmingham City directors threatened legal action against Villa for allegedly "tapping up" McLeish, who resigned as Birmingham City manager on 12 June 2011, while he was still under contract at Birmingham City.[16] McLeish's appointment marked the first time in history that a manager had moved directly from Birmingham City to Aston Villa.[17]
As of the end of the 2010–11 season, there have been 120 meetings in major competition between the two teams since the first FA Cup meeting in 1887, of which Aston Villa have won 51 and Birmingham 38.[18] The most goals in one game were scored in a league game on 7 July 1895, in the First Division, as Small Heath lost to Aston Villa 7–3.[18][19] The biggest winning margin was 6–0 to Aston Villa on 9 November 1988, in a Simod Cup fixture.[18][20] The last Birmingham league victory over Aston Villa was on 20 March 2005, when Birmingham won 2–0 at St Andrew's. Villa won six encounters in a row, most recently on 25 April 2010 (2005–2010). The two teams drew for the first time in over six years in the next match (the first of three in the 2010-11 season), with the match finishing 0-0 (the other Premier League match of the season also finished as a draw). The second match of the season resulted in the first Birmingham win since 2005, as they beat Villa 2-1 in the 2010-11 League Cup Quarter Final on 1 December 2010.
Aston Villa in the league at home
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Birmingham in the league at home
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Date | Venue | Home team | Score | Competition | Round | Attendance |
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5 November 1887 | Wellington Road | Aston Villa |
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FA Cup | 2nd Round | |
23 March 1901 | Muntz Street | Small Heath |
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FA Cup | Quarter Final | |
27 March 1901 | Villa Park | Aston Villa |
|
FA Cup | Quarter Final replay | |
23 May 1963 | St. Andrew's | Birmingham City |
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League Cup | Final 1st leg | 31,850 |
27 May 1963 | Villa Park | Aston Villa |
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League Cup | Final 2nd leg | 37,921 |
27 September 1988 | St. Andrew's | Birmingham City |
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League Cup | 2nd Round 1st leg | |
12 October 1988 | Villa Park | Aston Villa |
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League Cup | 2nd Round 2nd leg | |
12 October 1988 | Villa Park | Aston Villa |
|
Simod Cup | 1st Round | 8,234 |
21 September 1993 | St. Andrew's | Birmingham City |
|
League Cup | 2nd Round 1st leg | 27,815 |
6 October 1993 | Villa Park | Aston Villa |
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League Cup | 2nd Round 2nd leg | 35,856 |
1 December 2010 | St. Andrew's | Birmingham City |
|
League Cup | Quarter Final | 27,679 |
Stats correct as of 16 January 2011.
Aston Villa at home | |||||
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AVFC Wins | Draws | BCFC Wins | AVFC Goals | BCFC Goals | |
League (1st Tier) | 25 | 13 | 12 | 91 | 62 |
League (2nd Tier) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
League (Total) | 26 | 14 | 14 | 94 | 68 |
FA Cup | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
League Cup | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
Birmingham City at home | |||||
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BCFC Wins | Draws | AVFC Wins | BCFC Goals | AVFC Goals | |
League (1st Tier) | 20 | 13 | 16 | 74 | 66 |
League (2nd Tier) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 5 |
League (Total) | 22 | 13 | 18 | 81 | 71 |
FA Cup | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
League Cup | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Total | |||||
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AVFC Wins | Draws | BCFC Wins | AVFC Goals | BCFC Goals | |
League (1st Tier) | 42 | 26 | 32 | 158 | 136 |
League (2nd Tier) | 3 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 13 |
League (Total) | 45 | 27 | 36 | 165 | 149 |
FA Cup | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
League Cup | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 3 |
All competitive games | 51 | 29 | 37 | 182 | 152 |
The following is a list of the top goal scorers for each team in the fixture. Only players who have scored 4 or more goals feature.
Aston Villa
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Birmingham City
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Unlike, for example, the Old Firm derby, there is no shortage of players who have appeared for both clubs. Villa legend Harry Hampton transferred to Birmingham after the First World War and helped the club to the Second Division title. The last established first-team player to make this move was Des Bremner in 1984, though there had been loan signings and movement of youth players during this period. The most recent permanent transfer from Aston Villa to Birmingham City was that of Craig Gardner during the 2009-10 season. The last player to move directly in the other direction was Chris Sutton in 2006.[21][22]
Notable players who have been transferred directly between the clubs are listed below.
Name | Pos | Aston Villa | Birmingham City | ||||
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Career | Apps | Goals | Career | Apps | Goals | ||
Harry Hampton | Forward | 1904–1920 | 341 | 215 | 1920–1922 | 57 | 31 |
Stan Lynn | Right Back | 1950–1961 | 281 | 36 | 1961–1966 | 131 | 26 |
Bobby Thomson | Forward | 1959–1963 | 140 | 56 | 1963–1967 | 114 | 23 |
Ron Wylie | Inside Forward | 1958–1965 | 196 | 16 | 1965–1970 | 128 | 2 |
John Sleeuwenhoek | Centre Half | 1961–1967 | 226 | 1 | 1967–1971 | 30 | 0 |
Noel Blake | Defender | 1979–1982 | 4 | 0 | 1982–1984 | 76 | 5 |
Robert Hopkins | Winger | 1979–1983 | 3 | 1 | 1983–1986 | 123 | 20 |
Des Bremner | Midfielder | 1978–1984 | 174 | 9 | 1984–1989 | 168 | 5 |
Liam Ridgewell | Defender | 2001–2007 | 79 | 7 | 2007– | 139 | 9 |
Craig Gardner | Midfielder | 2005–2010 | 80 | 6 | 2010–2011 | 42 | 9 |
Curtis Davies | Defender | 2008–2011 | 37 | 2 | 2011– | 7 | 1 |
Name | Pos | Birmingham City | Aston Villa | ||||
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Career | Apps | Goals | Career | Apps | Goals | ||
Geoff Vowden | Forward | 1964–1971 | 221 | 79 | 1971–1974 | 97 | 22 |
Alan Curbishley | Midfielder | 1979–1983 | 130 | 11 | 1983–1984 | 36 | 1 |
Chris Sutton* | Striker | 2006 | 10 | 1 | 2006–2007 | 8 | 1 |
Former Aston Villa Manager Ron Saunders, who managed Villa to League Cup success in 1975 and again in 1977 before taking the club to its first Championship success for 70 years in 1981, also moved across to Birmingham City following his resignation in 1982.
Alex McLeish's appointment as Aston Villa manager in June 2011 after resigning from Birmingham City five days before was the first time in history a manager has moved from Birmingham City to Aston Villa. The move shocked the football world and increased tension between the two clubs even more.[23]
Name | Aston Villa | Birmingham City | ||
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Career | Honours | Career | Honours | |
Ron Saunders | 1974–1982 | 1974–75 League Cup 1976–77 League Cup 1980–81 First Division |
1982–1986 |
Name | Birmingham City | Aston Villa | ||
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Career | Honours | Career | Honours | |
Alex McLeish | 2007–2011 | 2010–11 League Cup | 2011–present |
Doug Ellis was a director of Birmingham City in the late 1960s before becoming part of a consortium which took over at Aston Villa in 1968.
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