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Blues set their sights on another promotion

Birmingham City — the club owned by the American investment firm Knighthead that counts Tom Brady among its minority shareholders — sealed promotion from England’s third tier into the Championship, one rung below the Premier League, thanks to a 2-1 away win against Peterborough United.

Anything other than automatic promotion would have pointed to deeper problems at Birmingham, given the £25million-plus ($32m) investment on signing players who many observers believe would have formed a competitive squad a division above in the Championship.

The involvement of NFL great Brady also ensured that Birmingham received a level of publicity in the third tier that only Wrexham, owned by Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, can match.

The former NFL quarterback has no day-to-day involvement in the club and holds only a 3.3 per cent stake with no voting rights. He is the chairman of an advisory board, working with Birmingham’s directors and leadership team. The club have also said that he offers assistance to the sports science department on health, nutrition and recovery programmes, with their players also using Brady’s body coach, Alex Guerrero.

Birmingham believe they have already laid the groundwork to target another promotion next season, taking them back to the Premier League for the first time since 2011.   Plans are in hand for a new stadium.

The Championship is a very competitive league but the partnerships that have already been struck and the increased revenues they should generate will allow Birmingham to continue spending in the summer transfer window. Once again, the recruitment drive will be aggressive, as it has to be if they are to fulfil Knighthead co-founder Tom Wagner’s prediction that they have the potential to be a top 10 Premier League team.

One fan commented: ‘The despair this club and fans have had to go through over the past 15 years cannot be understated. Even though they’re back where they feel they belong, this promotion feels more than that.’

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