Birmingham City Football Club

Birmingham City Football Club (pronounced /ˈbɜrmɪŋɡəm ˈsɪti/) is a professional football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.^[3] At the end of the 2008–09 season, they were promoted from the Football League Championship to spend their sixth season in the Premier League.

As Small Heath, they were founder members and first ever champions of the Football League Second Division. The most successful period in their history was in the 1950s and early 1960s. They achieved their highest finishing position of sixth in the First Division in the 1955–56 season1956 FA Cup Final, progressed to the final of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 19601961, and won their only major trophy, the League Cup, in 1963, beating Aston Villa 3–1 on aggregate. They have played in the top tier of English football for the majority of their history.^[4]Football League Trophy. and reached the and Their longest period spent outside the top division, between 1986 and 2002, included two brief spells in the third tier of the English League, during which time they twice won the

St Andrew's has been their home ground since 1906. They have a long-standing and fierce rivalry with Aston Villa, their nearest neighbours, with whom they play the Birmingham derby. The club's nickname is Blues, due to the colour of their kit, and their fans are known as Bluenoses.