Vital Statistics
Founded: 1875
Owner: Carson Yeung
Last Season: Premier League - 18th (Relegated)
Nickname: The Blues
Rivals: Aston Villa
Major Honours
League Cup: 1963, 2011
Scheduled Matches
Birmingham vs Portsmouth: Tuesday, November 29th (7:45pm)
Portsmouth vs Birmingham: Tuesday, March 20th (7:45pm)
Transfers In
Chris Burke (Cardiff - Free)
Marlon King (Coventry - Free)
Magaro Gomis (Dundee United - Free)
Adam Rooney (Inverness CT - Free)
Steven Caldwell (Wigan - Free)
Boaz Myhill (West Brom - Loan)
Transfers Out
Craig Gardner (Sunderland - Undisclosed)
Roger Johnson (Wolves - £7 million)
Sebastien Larsson (Sunderland - Free)
Ben Foster (West Brom - Loan)
Martin Jiranek (FC Krasnodar - Free)
Kevin Phillips (Blackpool - Free)
Barry Ferguson (Blackpool - Free)
Lee Bowyer (Ipswich - Free)
Maik Taylor (Released)
Stuart Parnaby (Released)
Marcus Bent (Released)
Probable Starting XI
GK: Boaz MYHILL
RB: Stephen CARR
CB: Curtis DAVIES
CB: Steven CALDWELL
LB: Liam RIDGEWELL
RM: Chris BURKE
CM: Jordan MUTCH
CM: Morgaro GOMIS
LM: Keith FAHEY
CF: Marlon KING
CF: Adam ROONEY
The Manager: Chris Hughton
Known in his playing days as a left back for Tottenham Hotspur, Hughton made his name in management at Newcastle United after being named their permanent manager following a successful spell in charge as caretaker.
Hughton guided the Magpies back to the Premier League in record time but was then dubiously sacked earlier last season despite the good start Newcastle had made back in the top flight.
After a short break, Hughton finds himself as Alex McLeish's successor and is expected to take Birmingham back to the Premier League immediately.
The Fans
Most Brummies I have spoken to are decent enough folk but there seem to be a few Blues who are still bitter about Pompey surviving in the Premiership at their expense back in 2006 and also denying them a place in the FA Cup semi-final by beating them last year.
Having said that, they have been to Wembley since then and have celebrated one of, if not the biggest achievements in the club's history.
Birmingham don't have too many famous fans with arguably the biggest name being comedian Jasper Carrott. ELO frontman Jeff Lynne and Wizard guitarist Roy Wood also support the Blues.
Birmingham fan Dan Anderson on the upcoming season:
Two weeks ago I'd have said that I'd still be hoping for play-offs as a minimum, but the events of the past ten days or so have certainly changed that and as it stands I'll be quite happy with survival. There'll be more key players on the way out and the replacements won't be up to much as we can't afford much.
If we can finish in the top half it'll be a very good achievement, it'll also be nice to see a few of the youngers players - Jordon Mutch and Nathan Redmond especially - get a good run in the side.
The Ground: St. Andrew's (Capacity: 30,000)
I seem to have lost the photos I took of St. Andrews when Pompey played there back in 2007. I expect I'll be going there for the night game in November so I will take some then.
St. Andrews is a ground that has mixed old with the modern fairly well. I've not seen the stadium at anywhere near full capacity and therefore the atmosphere hasn't been fantastic but there are a few traditions worth noting.
The teams always come out to the instrumental of "Can You Feel It?" with the tannoy announcer always fending substitute announcements with "sponsored by [insert generic company name here]" in a slightly sarcastic tone.
When it comes to opposition subs the home crowd love to shout "Who!?" as the names of the player being replaced is being announced, no matter who it is.
They then greet the replacement with another "Who!?" followed by "Who are ya? Who are ya?" That player then occasionally shows them who he is by putting the ball into the back of the Birmingham net.