The Champions

After 111 points and a Wembley final, Ryan Deeney reflects on Birmingham City’s record-breaking season

May 08, 2025

Thursday 8 May 2025

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NEXT HOME GAME: Leyton Orient – Wednesday 14 May, 8pm

NEXT AWAY GAME: Leyton Orient – Saturday 10 May, 12.30pm

Dear County fans, Stopfordians, Birmingham supporters, and anyone else from The Football Family joining us today, a very warm welcome to your Thursday edition of The Scarf My Father Wore.

Our great big review of the 2024-25 season featured one of League One’s relegated clubs yesterday in Crawley Town. Today, we’re at the other end of the division, taking a look at the champions: Birmingham City. There’s no guarantee that money equals success in football, but after spending roughly the GDP of Japan last summer, the Blues have gone on to pick up more points in a season than any other team in the history of English football. Fair play to them, especially Chris Davies in his first season as a manager. Plenty to unpick from the last ten months with our regular St. Andrew’s correspondent, Ryan Deeney.

Both of County’s games against Birmingham were extremely wet and windy this season, either side of Christmas. I was at both, as you can see from the photos above. In fact, for the first time in my life, I’ve been to every single County game this season – all 54 of them! That number will increase to 56 this month with two games against Leyton Orient, and hopefully 57 if we can reach Wembley for the seventh time in our history. I’ve written a book about my adventures this season. If you’d like to support the publication by having your name printed in the book (along with a signed copy and a ticket to the book launch) drop me an email.

Today’s edition is sponsored by BGM Decorators. A big thank you to Ben.

Thanks also to Two Fat Blokes who sponsor our Birmingham City content on the website.

Finally, I’m currently walking every street in Stockport to raise money for mental health charity Mentell. If you’d like to make a donation to help me reach my target, please click here.

Total distance so far: 253.75 miles

Total steps so far: 418,084

Total raised so far: £2,302

Total completed streets so far: 474 (Click here for the full list, which includes reports and photos from every day of the walk.)

Further information on the walk can be found by clicking here.

Des Junior

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Birmingham reached an incredible 111 points with victory at Cambridge on the final day of the season (Photo credit: Birmingham City FC)

Best moment of 2024-25?

A ridiculous amount to choose from and there are several that rank as more important. But Lukas Jutkiewicz scoring what would be his final goal for the club at home against Barnsley in front of a packed St. Andrew’s crowd, with fans celebrating like it was a last minute winner in a play-off final rather than the sixth goal in a 6-2 win, was beautiful. What a man.

Worst moment of 2024-25?

Wembley. An absolute gutter of a Sunday afternoon at the end of what had otherwise been a perfect week as we celebrated promotion and the title. I think emotionally, we had pushed that little too much and just couldn't find it in us on the day.

Funniest moment of 2024-25?

For once, we've been a serious football club so there are no stories of Wayne Rooney or Xuandong Ren or Paul Richardson or anything of that nature.

One thing that sticks out having discussed it amongst fans is the time goalkeeper Joe Whitworth touched the bar at Exeter after fans goaded him with "Warwick Davis, he's taller than you" amongst other small human related jokes.

Otherwise, a lot of our fun has been cashing in receipts for those poor sods who thought we might fail this season.

Reform have been making a lot of noise recently. Based on this season, what’s in most need of reform at Birmingham, on or off the pitch?

A new stadium with a sports quarter and better transport links in and out of Birmingham would be a dream. I wish our owner would be having regular conversations with the government about it...

Four Four Two had you down to finish 1st, EFL pundit Gabriel Sutton thought you’d finish 1st, while the Opta supercomputer predicted you’d be 2nd. You finished 1st. Discuss.

Well, the supercomputer got it wrong.

It's funny. Our fans told everybody last summer that we would spend big, break the transfer record, win the league and break the points record. Far too many people wanted to tell us that it doesn't work like that, that we were in for a shock, that we're no different to Leeds, Sunderland, Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton etc. And then we did exactly what our fans and owner told people we would do and we received no praise for it. I thought we were in for a shock?!

The Stansfield deal was big dick-swinging for sure, and there's no denying we had the biggest budget in the division. But beyond that headline signing late in the window, we were pretty sensible in our recruitment against the budget we had available. And more importantly, we used it to bring in both quality footballers and quality characters. Davies spoke of how the dressing room leaders have dished out fewer fines than he's ever known in football and reasons such as that, with the character and quality of the group, have helped us navigate 60 matches, reach a cup final and collect 111 league points, breaking all sorts of records along the way.

Birmingham 2 County 0 in December. County 1 Birmingham 1 in January. Thoughts?

I think County, Charlton and Reading were the three best teams we faced this season. Three of few that went into a game with Blues attempting to beat us and each got a well-earned result (or two in Reading’s case) against us.

In December, the first half was very comfortable and having tried to sit off and play in the first half, you changed the midfield two and made yourself bigger and stronger for the second. We defended our box brilliantly, but it was rare to see us put under consistent pressure like that and we had to work for the clean sheet.

On New Year’s Day, we played you fourth in a run of five games in 12 days, a run that cost us eight players to injury in various forms. We started bright but our legs tired and your fans and players smelt blood and you proved that there is real quality in this division. Norwood dragged off early again so you could be more direct. The cross and header for the equaliser was a beauty and we did well to escape with a point. Wigan battered us in the first half three days later and we somehow wound up leading 2-0. Shows that you had the quality to make us pay for not being at it.

Macca’s late equaliser against Birmingham generated one of the loudest EP roars of the season (Photo credit: Mike Petch)

Best and worst away days of 2024-25?

I'm one of those unfortunate sods that hasn't been able to get to an away game – lack of tickets, lack of time.

From what I gather having spoken to people, Reading was pants (isn't it always) while our second trip to Shrewsbury this season wasn't exactly a delight. I also had a friend tell me Stockport was crap because "terrible weather, terrible away end and I got shat on by a bird". One assumes of the avian variety.

As for good away days, most have seemed pretty decent. But the promotion party at Peterborough, after club legend Barry Fry ensured we were given more tickets to enjoy the occasion, is the standout.

Which Birmingham player is most deserving of his couple of weeks on the beach this summer?

Alex Cochrane. He's played 54 matches this season, including a stretch of 20 games in 74 days of which he missed just four minutes (at the end of the game at your place). He may have a cushy enough role as a left-back that forms part of a back three, but the physical and mental toll must have hit him hard.

Never mind Welcome to Wrexham on Disney+, a TV production company have just made Birmingham City: The Story of 2024-25. Which channel would it be most suited for?

Have you seen the trailer for Welcome to Wrexham? Might as well give us title credits.

I reckon Amazon Prime should take it, personally. Oh, wait…

And finally, apologies for darkening the mood, but you’ve only got 30 seconds to live. Putin’s pressed the red button and we’re all about to die. You can have one last moment of pleasure, watching a single Birmingham goal from this season. What you sticking on?

Nooooo. There's way too many to choose from. It's got to be a moment, right, rather than just a pure strike. It's one of three:

Scott Wright at home to Wigan (injury time winner limbs!)
Tomoki Iwata against Newcastle in the FA Cup (shooooooooooooot… yeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaah)
Lukas Jutkiewicz v Barnsley (beautiful stuff)

➡️ Any Birmingham fans joining us today? As stated above, I’ve written a book having watched every County game home and away this season. There’s obviously two big chapters on Birmingham included (home and away). Also, as I celebrated my 40th birthday this season, I’ve written about my four decades as a County fan as well, which I’m hoping will be an enjoyable read for anyone who supports a lower league club. There’s memories of beating four Premier League clubs as County reached the Coca-Cola Cup semi-finals in 1996-97, the club’s rise from the National League North to the brink of the Championship over the last few years, and the tale of a trip to Blackpool 20 years ago when me and my mates had a run-in with armed police after a day on the ale…

If you’d like to support the book, click on the link below to become a paid subscriber and I’ll post you a signed copy with your name printed inside once it’s published.

5 questions with Ben from BGM Decorators

What was the best moment with your business in April?

Definitely the Easter break – it was well needed!

What’s your plans for the business in May?

I'm continuing an exciting project that I'm looking forward to sharing soon.

What would you like to promote The Scarf My Father Wore readers this month?

My diary is open from mid July onwards as it stands. So get booked in whilst you can!

County are aiming to reach Wembley for the seventh time this month. How many times have you been, either for sport or music or anything else?

I've been to Wembley seven times (I think) to watch Manchester United. Mostly been successful visits bar a couple of FA Cup final defeats.

I’ve got Eddie Fortune headlining my next Desmond’s Comedy Club at the end of this month. If you won a fortune on the lottery, what would you spent it on?

A decent striker for Man United!

➡️ Give Ben a call on 07816 589989 or email bgm.decorators@yahoo.co.uk.

A cracking birthday gift idea for Birmingham and County fans!

If you’re looking for a special birthday gift for the Birmingham or County fan in your life, how about one of these classic road signs from Two Fat Blokes.

The 50cm x 11cm road signs are made of 3mm metal composite, printed in high resolution directly onto the face for indoor and outdoor use.

You can also personalise the signs by replacing the road name, post code and chant with your choice of text.

There’s lots of other teams featured on the website too, from City and United to Liverpool and Everton.

➡️ Click here to purchase the Birmingham road sign.

➡️ Click here to purchase the County road sign.

Photo(s) of the day

It’s Leyton Orient in the play-offs for County. Ahead of the first leg at their place on Saturday, I’ll be sharing all the photos from my last trip to Brisbane Road in February, when Kyle Wootton’s early goal gave County all three points in the capital.

Today in SK

🎟️ Events

If you fancy doing something a little different tonight, head to The Steelworks (SK6) where you can learn to crochet. 7pm. Free entry, with all supplies included.

🍺 Food and drink

Happy Hour at Covent Garden Café (SK1) between 1.30pm and 2.30pm. If you spend £20 or more you get to roll the dice, and if you roll a 6 your bill is half price!

The Nelson Tavern (SK1) have a great range of offers throughout the week, including £5.50 for drinks off the Doubles Bar, a comprehensive range of shots for £1.50, and 3 for £7 on Jägerbombs. Also, double up for £2 on premium spirits.

Enjoy a coffee and a cake for just £6 at The Dog & Partridge (SK2). The perfect excuse for a catch-up! 12pm - 4pm.

Bitter £2.30 a pint all day at The Cross Keys (SK8). Plus, discounts on certain lagers between 12pm and 6pm.

A number of venues are featured on The Scarf My Father Wore such as The Crown (SK2), The Alexandra (SK3), The Crown Inn (SK6), The Three Tunnes (SK7), Flute & Firkin (SK12) and The Ram’s Head (SK12). Support them this month by popping in for a few drinks and a bite to eat.

Chapter 8: Number One

You know how the big American television dramas chuck in a flashback episode from time to time? Well, our Chat GPT epic is doing the same today. County were just about to take to the Wembley pitch in yesterday’s edition, but before we see how the play-off final unfolds, our artificial intelligence author is giving us some of Ben Hinchliffe’s backstory.

Edgeley Park, Winter 2016

Rain slicked the terrace steps and turned the car park into a puddled grey swamp. The floodlights hummed above the pitch like tired sentinels, their glow dim against the creeping dusk. The stadium was nearly empty now — just a few stewards locking gates, a couple of kids loitering for selfies that wouldn’t come.

Ben Hinchliffe sat on the bench outside the tunnel, boots muddy, gloves still on. Not because he was waiting for anyone. Just… not quite ready to go.

They’d lost 2-0 to Curzon Ashton. Curzon bloody Ashton.

Another Tuesday night. Another defeat. Another half-dozen fans shouting things they probably didn’t mean. Or maybe they did. He couldn’t blame them.

He stared out at the pitch. The nets hung limp. The advertising boards creaked in the wind. There was no music, no chants, no cameras. Just the sound of the rain, and a stadium that had once been proud.

He thought of packing it in, sometimes. Not out loud — never said it to anyone. But it was there, in the corners of his mind, like a draught through a cracked window.

Ben had been 28 then. Good keeper. Not spectacular. Not flashy. Just solid. Dependable. But solid didn’t make headlines. Solid didn’t get you up the leagues. Solid just… stayed.

He’d been at five clubs in seven years. Loans, short-term deals, last-minute calls from managers he barely remembered. Always the next match, the next town, the next chance to prove you weren’t finished.

And now he was here. Stockport County. Once a Championship side. Now mid-table in the National League North, playing in front of a thousand frozen souls and trying to remember what ambition used to feel like.

“Cold night,” came a voice.

It was a lad — maybe ten, eleven — in a blue scarf that looked too big for him. He held a notebook in one hand, pen in the other.

Ben nodded. “Yeah.”

“You’re my favourite,” the boy said. “Even when we lose.”

Ben smiled, the kind that sneaks up on you. “Thanks, mate. What’s your name?”

“Liam.”

Ben took the pen, signed the notebook. Not neatly. Gloves didn’t help.

Liam looked at the signature, then back at Ben. “Are you gonna stay next season?”

“I don’t know yet,” Ben said honestly.

“My dad says everyone leaves.”

Ben looked at him — properly looked. The kid’s eyes were serious, too old for his face. Like he’d already learned not to get too attached to anything.

“I’ll do my best,” Ben said. “Alright?”

Liam nodded. “Alright.”

They shook hands. Glove to glove. Then the boy disappeared into the wet night, skipping down the steps like it wasn’t the worst night of the season.

Ben sat there a little longer. Let the cold settle in. Thought about what it meant to be a number one, when the crowd was thin and the stakes felt small. When nobody watched, but you still gave everything. Because someone might.

Because a lad with a scarf and a notebook might still believe.

That night, he drove home in silence. No radio. No post-match show. Just the hum of tyres on wet tarmac and the quiet echo of something he hadn’t felt in a while.

A reason to stay.