What Happened to Birmingham City?

Amidst the excitement and fireworks of Tuesday's night Champions League semifinal in Munich, there were 2 big matches in the Championship which were just as important for the clubs involved.

Charlton sealed their 2nd tier status with a 3-1 win over Watford while Wigan Athletic booked their place in the playoffs with a 1-0 win at Birmingham City - the result also left the 2011 Carling Cup winners in danger of playing in England's 3rd tier for the first time in 23 years.

Birmingham City celebrating their shock Carling Cup success in 2011 - they got relegated 9 weeks later

Remember, only 3 seasons ago, Birmingham City were playing the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool and of course, fellow city rivals, Aston Villa in the Premier League.

However, Blues fans will almost certainly have to start planning weekend trips to the likes of Rochdale and Milton Keynes, should Birmingham City fail to beat Bolton - even if they win, they will be reliant on Millwall, Doncaster and/or Blackpool losing on Saturday afternoon.

A remarkable and sad decline for a club that has seen its fair share of ups and downs in its history. However, it was hoped that following promotion to the Premier League in 2002, the club was set for brighter things and a stint in the top flight that ended in 2006, followed by swift returns in 2007 and 2009 was a start of better things for the blue half of the 2nd city.

Ironically, in an era where more English clubs are going under foreign ownership in search of glory, it appears that quest has led Birmingham City down the gurgler. Fears from fans regarding Carson Yeung already surfaced when his name was first mentioned towards the end of the 2007/08 season and they appear to have come to fruition, with Yeung sentenced to prison in March for money laundering back in Hong Kong.

As a result, it has left the club - owned by the company Carson Yeung set up, Birmingham International Holdings - on the brink of financial ruin and the parlous nature of the club's finances has seen it plummet down the Championship table this season as top players have moved on to other clubs.

Carson Yeung - what a crook

Birmingham City is sadly a club with an image problem. While it has many proud fans, it has sadly got the air of being a second-rate runt to its more illustrious brother across town - and across the region. In the Premier League era, it has used the riches from staying up to buy goal-scoring talent in a hope to establish itself as a top flight club, e.g. Christophe Duggary back in 2003 to Nicola Zigic in 2011.

While Duggary was a one-off success that hardly cost the club a buck, Zigic whose hefty 5-year contract was designed to benefit himself, has been a flop and his presence has definitely helped to run the coffers dry at a time when the Blues couldn't afford it.

Alex McLeish - a mixed success at St Andrews

The type of football Birmingham City plays is hardly attractive and conducive for scoring goals - under Bruce or McLeish, the Blues were hardly the most free-flowing team to watch but they were effective for a couple of seasons and that kept them up in the top flight.

Alas, with all that quality gone to other clubs, Birmingham City have the fight but just don't have the quality anymore to be a competitive team.

Perhaps League One football will be the best thing for the club as it has been for former Premier League sides like Norwich City, Southampton and this season, Wolves - the former two were promoted from League One to the Premier League in the space of two seasons having spent their League One campaigns rebuilding their team on their youth academies. Hopefully, Birmingham keep Lee Clark for this big rebuilding campaign - Clark was a brilliant manager at Huddersfield before being unfairly let go.

For now though, the gloom must preside over St Andrews as another dark chapter in the dark history of this club draws to a close.