Birmingham City is a club in the midst of a remarkable transformation. More than 20,000 season tickets have already been sold ahead of the upcoming Championship campaign, with a further 14,000 fans on the waiting list. Fan parks now spring up around St Andrew's, and the sense of momentum around the club is unmistakable.
There are ambitious plans afoot to reconnect England's second city with the club carrying its name, tapping into potential that has long gone unrealised. Supporters' groups are forming across the globe, partly thanks to Tom Brady's involvement, and the conversation everywhere is about becoming Premier League ready.
Given that backdrop - an ownership with big ambitions and a fanbase hungry for success - it's little wonder Birmingham feel a sense of urgency. Excitement generates expectation, both from within the club and from outside observers. There's a genuine belief this is a club heading somewhere. But these things take time.
Looking back, perhaps last season should be viewed as a period of consolidation rather than stalled progress. You have to go all the way back to 2011/12, when Birmingham were competing in Europe, to find a season that bettered their 10th-place finish in 2025/26.
Birmingham manager Chris Davies, speaking to Sky Sports, reflected on the challenges of that first season back among the second tier.
It was our first season back, which people found hard to remember at times.
He isn't referring to the supporters here - he's quick to praise them - but to everyone connected with the club. This is a manager shouldering considerable hopes and expectations.
One thing I did learn was that I can handle it. I can handle the ups and downs.
There hadn't been too many downs during Birmingham's League One title triumph, a campaign in which they racked up a record-breaking 111 points, according to BBC Sport, which also notes the club suffered just three defeats all season on their way to that title, with their possession-based approach proving almost unstoppable.
Last season, in the Championship, proved a far sterner test.
You can know about the Championship but to feel it is something different.
England's second tier posed different problems, and Davies admits his side didn't always find the right answers. Their original game plan only worked some of the time.
We came up from League One playing total football, having 80 per cent possession with a lot of circulating the ball, a lot of dominating the ball. It was really effective for us because we just controlled games pretty much the whole way through.
In the Championship we were very technical in our recruitment of some smaller players, more technical players, and we tried to use that style. It had really good days and it had days where we just didn't have enough punch, especially away from home.
Against that backdrop, a hard-fought Carabao Cup victory at Swansea to open this season - Birmingham winning 1-0 despite having just 39 per cent of the possession - carried extra significance. It hinted that Davies' side have broadened their tactical range.
The goalscorer, August Priske, is a physically imposing young target man signed in January who appears to have grown from that half-season of Championship experience. The 22-year-old Dane also found the net against Barcelona in front of a packed St Andrew's last month.
Jhon Solis, Carlos Vicente and August came in at the same time and that little six months that they did have is their initiation to what English football is like, what the Championship is like, and now they are ready to go. They have all done very well.
Vicente, an energetic Spanish winger, teed up Priske's goal at Swansea. Solis also scored against Barcelona and has already become a fan favourite, with the Colombian bringing the same kind of presence to midfield that Priske offers up front.
When I reflected on the season, I thought for us to take the next step and progress, physicality is going to be really important. The game now is a lot of man-to-man pressing, a lot of set-piece emphasis. You need the physical capacity to deal with it.
That philosophy has informed Birmingham's summer transfer business too. Building on those January signings, the club has added Dael Fry, a 6ft 4in centre-back with close to 300 Championship appearances under his belt, who is expected to settle in quickly.
Davies is keen to stress this is about evolution rather than a wholesale change of identity.
As a team that can keep the ball, it is a lot easier to then move into a more pragmatic or direct style than being a team that only knows how to play pragmatic or direct football.
That shift in approach actually took root before the season even ended. With Birmingham sitting 17th in mid-April, Davies used a brief international break to tweak the team's style, pushing them towards a more direct approach.
I started thinking about being a little bit more flexible with the shape we were using and how we were positioning ourselves, but focusing more on more direct play, more transitions and more set-pieces if possible. So we sort of finished the season that way.
The adjustment paid dividends, with Birmingham finishing the campaign on a five-match unbeaten run to secure that top-10 finish and build some momentum heading into the summer.
It is a fine balance because we don't want to lose what we're good at. What I won't come away from is the pressing. I don't think any team last season in the Championship really played through our press consistently. I thought it was really effective for us.
Once possession is won back, though, there will be changes in how Birmingham use the ball.
I think that hopefully is something that we can have as a weapon that we can use a little bit more. When we get the ball, just to go forward that little bit quicker, hopefully win more set-pieces.
Set-pieces at the heart of the plan
That emphasis explains a notable off-field appointment, with Birmingham bringing in a dedicated set-piece coach, Scott Fry, as Davies looks to turn dead-ball situations into a genuine weapon in the club's promotion push.
The early signs are encouraging. Solis scored from a set-piece against Barcelona, while Priske's winner against Swansea began life from a dead-ball situation before Vicente squared for the striker to finish. Davies has clearly been crunching the numbers behind the scenes.
We have a set-piece coach and the idea is to score more from them. We needed to score 70-odd goals really to be in among those top teams last season.
That 70-goal mark was hit by the Championship's top six last term but not by anyone outside that bracket. Birmingham managed 57 goals across the campaign.
If six or seven of those can come from set-pieces and two or three can come from counter-attacks, then you only need another two or three from your general football. So it is absolutely doable.
Absolutely doable sums up the mood at the club right now. Where last season was about learning the Championship, this one is about applying those lessons.
It was not just me, several players had never played in it before. Now they have 40 games in the bank. They know what it is like away at Millwall.
At the training ground, Davies has stripped away the buzzwords that once decorated the walls, favouring a leaner, more focused approach that mirrors the squad itself. There's a sense of greater continuity now, with the club feeling ready to push forward again.
Craig Gardner has departed as director of football, though the club has downplayed the significance of his exit, with the experienced Mike Rigg taking on greater responsibility. Commercially, Birmingham continue to expand, boasting the highest revenue of any Championship club not propped up by parachute payments.
Historical context: from Championship survival to League One title
Birmingham's current trajectory follows a turbulent few years. According to The Telegraph, the club were relegated to League One despite actually winning their final match of the 2023/24 Championship season, a cruel twist that set the stage for Davies' arrival. The BBC's official Birmingham City profile confirms Davies took charge in July 2024, and the same profile states his stated aim is to turn Birmingham into a "genuine Premier League contender".
Elsewhere in the Championship, other clubs are navigating their own rebuilds. Leicester City, under Russell Martin, are aiming for the League One title this season following their own relegation, having also picked up a Carabao Cup win over Northampton, though questions remain over the depth of their squad after a third relegation in four years.
What happens next for Birmingham
Birmingham's Carabao Cup progress continues after their narrow 1-0 win over Swansea City, in which August Priske scored the only goal, sending Davies' side through to the second round, according to Birmingham City News and confirmed separately by Football Web Pages.
Attention now turns back to the league, with Birmingham's next Championship fixture away at Sheffield United on Saturday 15 August 2026, according to Sky Sports. The same source lists a further away fixture at Wrexham on Friday 28 August 2026, giving Davies' side back-to-back tests on the road as they look to build on last season's late-campaign form.
Fans looking for the latest squad news and match updates in the meantime are being directed to the club's own coverage, with Birmingham City's official website serving as the primary source for developments as the season progresses.
Beyond the men's first team, Birmingham's Women's Super League side also have a notable date on the horizon, hosting Manchester City in the opening fixture of City's title defence, as previously reported in our coverage of the 2026/27 WSL fixture list.
For now, though, the focus remains on Davies' men and their attempt to marry last season's hard-won lessons with a sharper, more direct edge. As he puts it himself:
I am confident that we can keep progressing. That is the big thing. We just need to keep moving forward and getting stronger.
