Birmingham fans invade pitch at St Andrews and clash with stewards… as the Blues’ relegation to League One is confirmed despite beating Norwich on the final day of the season
- Birmingham’s relegation was confirmed when Plymouth defeated Hull at Home Park
- Frustrated Blues fans took to the field and clashed with the stewards after full-time
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Birmingham City fans clashed with the stewards after their relegation to League One was sealed despite a 1-0 win against Norwich.
Paik Seung-ho scored a goal in the second half to give the club a glimmer of hope in their bid to escape the fall on the final day of the season.
Going into Saturday’s match, Birmingham had to rely on Plymouth dropping points against play-off chasing Hull, but a 1-0 win for the Pilgrims at Home Park sealed their fate.
Discontent among the fanbase has grown during the campaign and supporters made their feelings clear as the whistle blew as boos rang through St Andrews.
Some fans then made their way onto the pitch, leading to ugly scenes as stewards intervened to restore order.
Birmingham City were relegated despite beating Norwich on the final day of the season
After the match, supporters took to the St. Andrews field to voice their frustrations
After the final whistle, ugly clashes broke out between supporters and stewards on the field
The disastrous end to the campaign marks the club’s relegation to the third tier of English football for the first time since the 1994–95 season.
With John Eustace at the helm, the Blues enjoyed a good start to the season with just three defeats from their opening eleven games, leaving them fifth in the table.
The positive start appeared to mark the start of a new era after American investor Tom Wagner completed a long-term deal to take over a significant stake in the club in July.
The feel-good factor continued when NFL legend Tom Brady joined the new regime and became a minority investor of the club.
However, cracks began to show after Eustace was controversially sacked during the October international break and replaced by former Derby boss Wayne Rooney.
Images from the stands showed numerous incidents between stewards and supporters
Relegation means that the club drops to the third tier for the first time in almost three decades
After just two wins from fifteen Championship games, Rooney became the second manager to be sacked in January, with Steve Spooner, Tony Mowbray and Mark Venus all having brief spells in the top spot in the following weeks.
Gary Rowett rejoined the club as interim boss in March, and although he managed to oversee a slight upturn in fortunes, especially as the season drew to a close, the damage was already done and Birmingham could not reverse the decline vanquish.