Meet the opposition | Birmingham City
As Swansea City prepare to take on Birmingham City at St Andrew's, we take a closer look at the Blues.
WHAT'S THEIR STORY?
Initially formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, the club became Small Heath and then Birmingham, before finally settling on its current name in 1943.
Small Heath are listed as one of the founding members of the Football League Second Division, and were the first champions of that league.
The Blues have played home matches at their St. Andrew’s ground for 116 years.
The highest league finish in the Blues 147-year history came in the 1955-56 season where they finished sixth in the First Division. They also reached the FA Cup final that year – their joint best performance in that competition, having also finished as runners-up 1931.
Birmingham are two-time winners of the EFL Cup (1963 and 2011) and were runners-up in 2001. They are currently in their 13th straight season at Championship level, the longest continuous period of any club in the second tier this campaign.
HOW'S THEIR FORM?
Birmingham have won just two games since beating West Bromwich Albion on October 6, and that run has seem them drop from being in the play-off places down to 20th in the division.
Five of their seven league wins so far this term have come on home soil, however.
WHO'S THE GAFFER?
Experienced former Blackburn and Sunderland manager Tony Mowbray took charge of the Blues earlier this week, succeeding Wayne Rooney in the hot seat at St Andrew's.
Yorkshireman Mowbray has over 20 years of management experience at the likes of Celtic, West Bromwich Albion, Coventry City and Blackburn Rovers, leaving the latter for Sunderland at the end of the 2021-22 season after five years in charge at Ewood Park where he led them back to the second tier.
He took the Black Cats to the play-offs last season having taken over from Alex Neil, but left his post last month before being handed the reins at Birmingham.
A tough-tackling defender as a player, Mowbray amassed over 550 career appearances for Middlesborough, Celtic and Ipswich, scoring 36 league goals.
WHO'S THE CAPTAIN?
Defender Dion Sanderson has had the armband since his arrival from Wolverhampton Wanderers during the summer, with Troy Deeney having left the Blues at the end of last season.
The 23-year-old defender came through the ranks at Wolves and had loans at Cardiff City, Sunderland, Queens Park Rangers and two spells at the Blues before joining Birmingham City on a permanent basis in July.
Over those two spells at the Blues, he made over 54 appearances with the majority of those (34) coming last term. He was their seventh signing of a busy summer.
Despite being relatively young, Sanderson emerged as one of the vocal leaders at St Andrew’s last term and became a popular figure among supporters.
He has made 28 appearances in all competitions so far this season.
WHO ARE THE KEY MEN?
Forward Jay Stansfield is Birmingham's topscorer with seven goals so far this term.
The 21-year-old, on loan from Fulham, is the son of former Exeter striker Adam, he came through the Grecians' academy before moving to the Cottagers in 2019.
The England Under-21 international had a productive spell on loan at his boyhood club last season, netting nine goals for Exeter, and he has impressed in making the step up to Championship level.
Wales international Jordan James, 19, has five goals to his name this season, and has quickly become an important player for club and country, producing an outstanding display in Wales' win over Croatia.
James joined Birmingham at pre-academy level and progressed through the ranks to make his senior debut at the age of 17.
Despite his tender years, he already has 84 senior club appearances to his name, and has played a part in 24 of Birmingham's Championship 26 fixtures so far this term.
Midfielder Juninho Bacuna has been the main creative force for Birmingham this season; no Blues player has more than the four assists he has got to his name.
The 26-year-old has also created six goals last term, and has found the net four time this time round.
The Dutch-born Curacao international first emerged at Groningen, and went on to have stints with Huddersfield Town and Rangers before moving to St Andrew's in January 2022.