With a history dating back to 1875, Birmingham City are one of the oldest football clubs in English football.
They were elected to the newly-formed Second Division 17 years later and have never dropped below the top three tiers of the pyramid since then.
While the bulk of their on-field success came during the 1950s and 1960s, the club still boasts a sizeable fanbase.
Read on as we take a look at the 10 most impressive Birmingham City records of all-time, before assessing some of the key moments in their history.
- Inter-Cities Fairs Cup finalists – 1960, 1961
- League Cup winners – 1962/63, 2010/11
- Lower division double – 1994/95
- Appearance record holder – Gil Merrick – 1946–1959 – 551
- All-time top goalscorer – Joe Bradford – 1920-1935 – 267
- Most goals in a season – Walter Abbott – 1898/99 – 42
- Most goals in competitive match – Will Devey v Nottingham Forest – 1890 – six
- Youngest first-team player – Jude Bellingham v Portsmouth – 2019 – 16 years, 38 days
- Record transfer fee paid – Ivan Sunjic from Dinamo Zagreb – 2019 – £6.3 million
- Record transfer fee received – Jude Bellingham to Borussia Dortmund – 2019 – £25 million
While success has been hard to come by for Birmingham, there have been times when they delivered plenty of winning returns for football punters.
It is fair to say that the best betting sites would have taken a bit of hammering on Birmingham games had they been open for business in the mid-1950s.
They were promoted to the First Division in 1955, before achieving their highest place league finish of sixth position at the end of the following season.
Birmingham are famed for being one of the early pioneers of European football, reaching the final of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in two successive years.
They were beaten by Barcelona (1960) and Roma (1961), but bounced back to lift the League Cup by defeating local rivals Aston Villa in the 1962/63 campaign.
The club had to wait until the 2010/11 season to get their hands on more major silverware, as they upset the Coral online bet odds to beat Arsenal in the League Cup final.
One of their most notable seasons was in 1994/95 when they completed a double of the Division Two title and the Auto Windscreens Trophy.
Aside from winning the League Cup in 2011, the 21st century has not been kind to a club that has the potential to establish itself in the top flight.
City have spent just seven yeas in the Premier League during the new millennium, and have struggled to avoid dropping out of the Championship in recent years.
The emergence of midfielder Jude Bellingham through the club’s ranks was a rare high-point for the club and he remains the youngest player to play for the first-team.
The 19-year-old will be an integral part of the England team at the 2022 World Cup, and Birmingham fans will be watching his performances with pride.
While the current crop of players can only dream of matching up to Bellingham’s achievements, there have been recent signs that the club could be set for a brighter future.
With new owners in place and John Eustace taking the manager’s job in the summer, Birmingham have laid the foundations that could lead to more records being set over the coming years.
