Hardly “must win”, but three games into the season and Steve Morison and Cardiff City could do with a positive result from Saturday lunchtime’s visit by Birmingham City who were our last home opponents in 21/22 when a run of high scoring City wins in the fixture ended with a boring 1-1 draw in which we scored from the only penalty we were awarded all season.
While we were once again being embarrassed in the League Cup on Tuesday, Birmingham, fielding a pretty experienced team for their tie at Norwich, came back from two down at half time to force a penalty shoot out which they lost. That result follows a 2-1 home win over Huddersfield last Friday and a creditable goalless draw at Luton on the opening day of the season – it’s not the sort of start you’d expect from one of the three sides almost unanimously tipped to go down from the Championship this season in the predictions videos I was watching around a fortnight ago – I’m not confident of a City win, but if we do manage it, all of the evidence so far suggests it’ll be a low scoring one.
Anyway, here’s the usual quiz with seven Birmingham related question dating back to the sixties – the answers to be posted on here on Sunday.
60s. It was a case of played two, lost two for this Bradford born defender in his encounters with City while playing for Birmingham during this decade. Possessing a surname that would have been familiar to those who were into what may or may not have been called soaps back then, he had a ten year Football League career representing a couple of clubs, but the fact he didn’t even make it to a hundred and thirty league appearances during that time is a testimony to how much time he must have spent in the reserves at Birmingham in particular. Quite why his other club have the nickname they do I don’t know – it’s a sign of my non classical education that I tend to think of an anti aging concoction when I hear it mentioned. That’s by the by though, the player concerned here ended up staying with this team for three years before retiring – who is he?
70s. A poor half by this player in a defeat at Cardiff City had far reaching consequences for Birmingham City. A skilful attacking midfielder born in West Bromwich, the two transfers he was involved in were both unusual ones and he enjoyed a memorable return home with the last of his three Football League clubs towards the end of his career – can you name him?
80s. Head of University’s terror stats lead to Birmingham teenager who earned a move to the top flight during this decade (6,6).
90s. This defender couldn’t have had a briefer Birmingham career, just the one game, before he moved east to another club in blue where, apart from a brief loan at Mansfield, he made the rest of his Football League appearances over a period of six years. Among the most memorable of them was a visit to Ninian Park in which he set what must have been a ground record – albeit an unwanted one. Who am I describing?
00s. He played for Birmingham during this decade and the letter Z appears four times in his name, who?
10s. A question to test your sixties musical knowledge as well as 2010s football – one half of twee Bristol duo (both called Roger) who wanted lovers of the world to unite, teams up with mad, bad musical genius to produce thirty six times capped Birmingham defender, name him.
20s. He was on the books of Barcelona, Hamburg and Milan but never played a game for any of them. He did play at Cardiff City Stadium against us for Birmingham during this decade however – can you name him?
Answers:
60s. Brian Sharples played in both of Birmingham City’s match against Cardiff in 1966/67, suffering a 2-1 defeat at St Andrews in December 1966 and a 3-0 loss at Ninian Park five months later as City gained the win which made sure of Second Division survival. Sharples moved to Exeter City (the Grecians) in 1968 and retired from the game in 1971.
70s. Johnny Vincent’s substitution at half time in Birmingham’s 2-0 defeat at Cardiff in September 1970 paved the way for the introduction of a sixteen year old Trevor Francis who became the driving force behind an improvement that would see Birmingham become First Division regulars for a while and help him become the first ever one million pound player. Not too long after he made way for Francis, Vincent was involved in a swap deal which saw Middlesbrough’s George Smith move the other way, so both players involved were future Cardiff City players. Vincent spent just over a season at Middlesbrough before he signed for City in October 1972, three days before their next game – Middlesbrough at home where Vincent scored the opening goal in a 2-0 win for his new team. In March 1974, City found themselves 2-0 down after just six minutes against West Brom at the Hawthorns, but a couple of goals by Vincent enabled them to come home with a 2-2 draw.
80s. Stuart Storer only played nine times for Birmingham as a teenager before a move to Everton in 1987.
90s. Simon Rea played just the once for Birmingham during his four years with the club. Moving to Peterborough in 1999, Rea played nearly one hundred and sixty matches for them, but wouldn’t want to be reminded about the time he was sent at Ninian Park just fifteen seconds into a match played in November 2002 when his side were beaten 3=0.
00s. Muzzy Izzet.
10s.Jonathan Spector = David and Johnathan were a musical duo from the mid sixties whose biggest hit was Lovers of the World Unite, while Phil Spector was a murderer and all round bad guy who also happened to make some fantastic music.
20s. Alen Halilovic came on as a sub for Birmingham during their 3-2 defeat at Cardiff City Stadium in December 2020.