The (Long and Winding) Road to Wembley

Firsts. I may have mentioned that I'm a Birmingham City fan, not least because the first football match I ever attended was at Fortress St Andrew's in November 1975. My Dad whisked me and my Mum off at the end of the school day to see Blues v Celtic in the BCFC Centenary celebration match. At my tender age I was oblivious to the IRA politics of the match at the time and loved every minute. My Dad therefore takes almost all of the blame for the lifetime of footballing disappointment that has followed me to date (with the occasional exception). My Mum didn't like the swearing, but I couldn't help myself. I said sorry. Anyway, it was her first and last trip to St Andrew's. Peter Withe scored the only goal in that game. I understand that a few years later he scored a goal, in-off the post, for The Villa. Blues have a number of 'firsts' to their name. Aptly, Blues were the first winners of the Football League Second division (we know our place). The firs...

It's the third qualifying round this weekend, so I got to wondering if Birmingham City had ever appeared in this stage of the competition. It turns out that they have, albeit when the Cup was a very different beast, back when Villa were good (we're in Queen Victoria days here) and the mighty Blues went under their original Small Heath Alliance name. Two appearances in the third qualifying round and two wins. Thanks to  the  Football Club History Database, here goes... 1889/90 season - winner, winner chicken dinner against Leek, 4-0 1890/91 season - back of the net, 5-1, against Wednesbury Old Athletic 100% in the third qualifying round! Third Qualifying Round: 5 October 2019 Of course the winners of the FA Cup get to appear in the Charity, now Community Shield. Any club that has appeared in this match has appeared in it more times than Blues. Having never won the FA Cup or been League Champions, Blues have never had the pleasure.  Of course, t...