The latest club to secure promotion from League One to the Premier League in successive seasons were ill-prepared for their sudden rise to the summit of English football; it was merely a happy accident of an excellent managerial feat. So it is no surprise that Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich are back in the Championship at the first opportunity.
Should Birmingham emulate Friday night’s opponents, they have no intentions of following the same path. Every bold statement to emerge from the club over the summer makes it abundantly clear that this period in the second tier is expected to be brief. Sights have been set high and, on the basis of this performance against opposition that took points off clubs such as Chelsea, Tottenham and Aston Villa last season, it is easy to see why.
There is, if not a swagger, then a visible belief in the way Birmingham’s players go about their business. That they were denied victory by a cruel added-time penalty decision should do little to detract from the dominance they showed for the majority of a fiery encounter.
When Jay Stansfield smashed home from close range 10 minutes into the second half it was just rewards for the home side’s assured display, which looked set to earn them all three points. Alas, five minutes into the eight added on, an Ipswich corner was headed on to the arm of the substitute Lyndon Dykes, who knew nothing about it. George Hirst did not waste the opportunity to equalise from the penalty spot with the visitors’ only shot on target all night.
“I thought it was really, really harsh,” said Birmingham head coach, Chris Davies, of the penalty decision. “He’s gone up, his arms are raised – you have to raise your arms to jump. It’s really harsh. That’s happened now and we have to take it. It had a huge impact on the game but it’s football. It can happen.”
Nonetheless, Davies was delighted with his side’s performance: “I thought we were the better team, we dominated the match and deserved to win the match, but for the misfortune of a decision.
“There was a lot to like. The players, it should give them confidence. We have retained the spirit, fight and determination we showed last season.”
A fiercely contested match frequently boiled over into numerous melees involving multiple players from both teams. Footage from one of those immediately after Hirst’s converted penalty seemed to show a Birmingham fan attempt to strike the Ipswich midfielder Jack Taylor.
“Jack’s alright,” said McKenna. “Somebody just showed me it. It’s obviously not ideal. The authorities will deal with it.”
It is an intoxicating time to be a Birmingham supporter after watching their team set a Football League record for points (111) and wins (34) when romping to the League One title last season. There have been signings aplenty, bullish proclamations and a documentary that their American chair, Tom Wagner, boasted is one of “Amazon Prime’s top performing shows”.
No surprise, then, that St Andrew’s was bouncing long before kick-off. If the only trade-off local fans must make for such delirium is the slightly odd sight of a United States flag flying above their home stadium then it is one they will likely stomach happily.
It took 55 minutes for the deadlock to be broken, but it seemed inevitable that it would be the hosts to do so, such was their casual dominance of the ball. Kyogo Furuhashi’s chip over the onrushing Alex Palmer rebounded off the far post and straight into the path of Stansfield, who had all the time in the world to rifle the follow-up past the defender Dara O’Shea on the line.
Birmingham did not lose a single home league game last season and only one side who fell behind at St Andrew’s departed with a point.
It looked for a long time as if Ipswich would not add to that tally, until the Dykes handball. Hirst struck his penalty low and firm down the middle.
It was not the only decision that went against Birmingham. The hosts were unlucky not to take the lead after seven minutes, when the former Celtic forward Furuhashi – one of four summer signings in Birmingham’s starting XI – produced a wonderful lob over Palmer, only for the referee, Andrew Kitchen, to rule that he had fouled Jacob Greaves to win the ball. It was a soft decision, to say the least, prompting the home fans to voice their disdain.
They would do so again when denied all three points at the death, but there was plenty elsewhere to hearten them.
