Harlee Dean 18 72@50

Captain Harlee dean

Good afternoon and welcome everyone to today’s game against Cardiff City, I hope it is one to enjoy!

Our final home fixture before Christmas coincides with our annual commitment to Rainbow Laces. There is no room for discrimination anywhere in the game, especially not at St. Andrew’s, which should be a safe space for everyone to come and take in a game of football.

I am pleased to see the return of ‘Kids for a Quid’ for the Cardiff game. The support shown throughout the season has been exemplary and it would be wonderful to pack out St. Andrew’s one final time before we head back there for Peterborough United after the big day itself.

The squad have been working hard this week as we look to bounce back from the Millwall result last Saturday. The Den is a notoriously tricky place to go, and we were reminded very quickly that you cannot give a side like Millwall two goals from set-pieces.

Credit the lads, we got back in it with a welltaken goal of our own before the game got away from us towards the end. There were lessons to be learned and we have taken those into training throughout the week building up to this match.

Seven days between fixtures is a good amount of time to reset, reflect and look at where we can improve. It has been a healthy week of training, with plenty of competition as we head into our final home fixture before Christmas.

The Championship table is as tight as ever and we know just a couple of results can turn things back in our favour. Finding a bit of consistency heading into the New Year is important and I look forward to seeing how we navigate the next run of fixtures, which as always, we are confident we can take points from.

I wish to sign off this week’s column in memory of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes.

I know there are ongoing conversations at Birmingham City as to how we can remember Arthur in the most appropriate way possible. The support from the footballing community has been unanimous. He will be in our hearts forever.

Keep Right On,

Harlee Dean

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Half a century on from the glorious 1971/72 season when Freddie Goodwin’s Blues dramatically clinched promotion to the top flight having also reached the FA Cup semi-finals, we turn the Blues News spotlight on recalling one of the finest seasons in Blues’ post-war history.

by ROB MASON

The visit of Sheffield Wednesday marked the half-way point of the season. Blues were yet to impact on the promotion race but had given glimpses of what they were capable of. There had been a couple of 4-1 wins and an outstanding display when drawing away to leaders Norwich City. However, there had been too many draws. Five of the previous eight games had finished all square and the same outcome would be the case in the two matches featured today.

Going into the game with the Owls Blues were unchanged from the previous week’s goalless draw at Middlesbrough. The same team provided the same outcome, another 0-0, with City’s fire-power it was disappointing. Bob Latchford had found the back of the net just once in the past four

IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE BIRMINGHAM CITY FORMER PLAYERS ASSOCIATION

games (including the Wednesday match) after scoring in the previous six fixtures. Trevor Francis had not scored for seven matches while still new signing Bob Hatton was missing as he had been at Boro.

On the plus side, back-to-back clean sheets were welcome as the rearguard remained resolute against a Wednesday side who had won both of their last two outings

The last game before Christmas took place at the Valley where a 1-1 outcome with Charlton Athletic was Blues’ eighth draw from a dozen away games but frustratingly Freddie Goodwin’s side still could not achieve an away win. It was a third successive draw but unlike the previous two goalless games this time there were goals with Hatton on the mark on his return to the side. It was not enough to overcome the Addicks whose goal came from Keith Peacock, incidentally the first player to ever appear in the Football League as a substitute.

The result left Blues in seventh place, the second of a quartet of clubs on 24 points. Effectively this was three wins behind second placed Millwall and four behind leaders Norwich. Like the top two – and third placed QPR – Blues remained unbeaten at home but while the top three had 10 away wins between them Birmingham still had not broken their duck on the road.

As Blues were drawing with Sheffield Wednesday, Port Vale were beating Darlington 1-0 in the FA Cup second round – the Quakers goalkeeper being Jeff Wealands who would later give great service to Birmingham City. The draw for the third round of the cup paired Port Vale with Freddie Goodwin’s side in a tie to be staged at St. Andrew’s. It would not be just the league that would provide thrills and spills in the second-half of the season.

TEAMS

BLUES 0: Kelly, Carroll, Pendrey, Page, Hynd, Harland, Campbell, Francis, Latchford B., Burns, Bowker. WEDNESDAY 0: Grummit, Rodrigues, Clements, Prophet, Holsgrove, Pugh, Sinclair, Craig, Joicey, Prendergast, Sissons. ATTENDANCE: 29,272

CHARLTON ATHLETIC 1: Dunn, Bruck, Warman, Bond, Went, Shipperley, Davies, Treacy, Hunt, Curtis, Peacock. BLUES 1: Latchford, Carroll, Pendrey, Page, Hynd, Harland, Campbell, Francis, Latchford B., Hatton, Taylor. ATTENDANCE: 8,289

ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL

As the Owls were forcing a goalless draw at St. Andrew’s, Jack Whitham was notching a hat-trick for Liverpool as Derby were beaten 3-2 at Anfield. Of more interest to Blues fans was news that top of the division Norwich had been held at home by bottom of the table Watford whose new signing Pat Morrisey equalised in the last minute – it was the only goal the Hornets scored in a sequence of 10 league games. The FA Cup second round saw non-league Boston United and Blyth Spartans progress having beaten league sides Hartlepool United and Stockport County.

In between Birmingham’s matches with Sheffield Wednesday and Charlton, the legendary Gordon Banks made perhaps his second most famous save. It came from a penalty by his World Cup winning teammate Geoff Hurst late in a League Cup semi-final between Stoke City and West Ham.

CLASS OF 71/72

STAN HARLAND Central-defender Stan Harland made his home debut against Sheffield Wednesday having made his bow for Blues at Boro. He went on to made 19 league appearances in the second-half of the season as Birmingham surged to promotion. The chequebook had been opened again to bring in the former Swindon Town captain for £15,000.

Two years earlier, Stan had sensationally skippered Swindon to success in the League Cup final when the third division outfit defeated Arsenal at Wembley, but he had lost his place at Swindon to Dave Mackay when Mackay took over as player/manager. Previously with Carlisle United where he had won the Third Division Championship in 1965 as well as the League Cup, Harland also won promotion and two Anglo-Italian tournaments with Swindon before adding another promotion at St. Andrew’s.

HERE’S A ST AT I BET YOU DIDN’T KN W