27 September 1879 - The Birth Of The Birmingham Derby

On 27 September 1879, Birmingham City hosted the first Birmingham derby, beating Aston Villa by the score of 1-0. Since then, Villa has gotten the better of their crosstown rivals, winning the greater share of the teams' 117 meetings.

For that first match, Birmingham were still going by their original name, Small Heath Alliance (pictured). The contest was played at their Muntz Street ground, which drew heavy criticism for Villa players as being "only suitable for pot-holing."

The first competitive match in the derby came in the FA Cup in 1887, with Villa taking a 2-1 victory. Out of their 117 total matches, 51 have gone to Villa and 37 to Birmingham City, with 29 draws. The derby's top scorer is Villa's Billy Walker, who found the net 11 times between 1919 and 1934. City's top scorer is Joe Bradford, with 8 goals from 1920 to 1935.

Several players have switched teams over the years, including a few who moved directly from one team to the other. The highest profile switch came in 1986, when Villa great Dennis Mortimer (who won the European Cup with Villa in 1982) joined Birmingham after a season at Brighton & Hove Albion.

Managers have also made the crosstown move, starting in 1982 when Villa manager Ron Saunders joined Birmingham. In 2011, manager Alex McLeish left Birmingham for Aston Villa after Birmingham were relegated from the Premier League. Due to that relegation, there is no derby on the fixture list for the foreseeable future.

11 January 2007 - Birmingham Plucks The Vine

On 11 January 2007, Birmingham City signed striker Rowan Vine from Luton Town. It turned out to be a bad decision for both of them.

At the time Vine made the switch, Birmingham were on the top of the Championship table, but had suffered injuries to their strike force of Cameron Jerome, Nicklas Bendtner, and Mikael Forsell, prompting manager Steve Bruce to look to the transfer window. Vine, then 24 years old, had gotten Bruce's attention by scoring three goals against Birmingham that season, helping Luton taking four points from the teams' two meetings. And he had a scorer's pedigree with 31 league goals for the Hatters from 2004 to 2007. He also sat near the top of the club's assist charts for those seasons.

Luton, who had paid close to £250,000 for Vine, made a generous profit on the move, receiving £3 million from Birmingham, including a £500,000 bonus when Birmingham were promoted to the Premier League at the end of the season. Vine, however, did not share the club's good fortune.

He scored only 1 goal in 17 league appearances for Birmingham and went on loan to QPR in October 2007. The loan became permanent in 2008, but after contrubuting only 9 goals in 69 league appearances for the Londoners, he went on further loans to Hull City and Brentford in 2010. His loan spell at Brentford ended in January 2011, so Vine is back at QPR, though it remains to be seen for how long.

5 May 1956 - Trautmann Puts His Neck On The Line

On 5 May 1956, Manchester City defeated Birmingham City 3-1 in the FA Cup Final before a crowd of over 100,000 at London's Wembley Stadium. It was a remarkable win, considering that the Man City goalkeeper, Bert Trautmann (pictured, center), played the last seventeen minutes with a broken neck.

Although it was Manchester City's second consecutive appearance in the Final, having lost 3-1 to Newcastle the previous year, the English press hailed Birmingham as favorites due to a strong run up to the Final that saw them concede only two goals while scoring eighteen. Man City, on the other hand, had advanced in every round by a mere one-goal margin. But they had an advantage in Trautmann, whom the Football Writers' Association had recently named Footballer of the Year.

Manchester City pressured the Birmingham goal from the opening kickoff, resulting in a third-minute strike from forward Joe Hayes that gave them a 1-0 lead. Birmingham quickly equalized, however, when a 15th-minute shot ricocheted off a Man City defender to wrong-foot Trautmann, then landed in the path of forward Noel Kinsey, who slotted it home.

The two sides were evenly matched to the hour mark, when Man City took advantage of Birmingham's defensive lapses to score two quick goals from forwards Bobby Johnstone (62') and Jack Dyson (64'). Birmingham attacked the Man City goal with renewed fervor when, in the 73rd minute, forward Peter Murphy collided with Trautmann. Murphy's knee rammed into Trautmann's neck, knocking the keeper unconscious.

The rules at the time did not alow for substitutes, so after Trautmann recovered, he insisted on staying on the pitch as Manchester City complete the 3-1 win. Three days later, Trautmann's neck still hurt, so he went to a doctor who confirmed that he had dislodged five vertebrae, one of which was broken in two. Trautmann became a folk hero at Manchester City, for whom he played until 1964, making over 500 appearances.

25 February 2001 - Liverpool Wins The League (Cup)

On 25 February 2001, Liverpool and Birmingham fought a closely-contested League Cup Final, with the Reds getting the win on penalty kicks - the first penalty shootout in the final of a major English tournament.

Playing before a crowd of 73,500 at Cardiff's Millenium Stadium, Liverpool took the lead with a 30th-minute strike from their homegrown hero, forward Robbie Fowler, who deftly beat the Birmingham keeper with a world class shot from 25 yards out. Although Birmingham had plenty of possession throughout the match, they were unable to find the mark, with their best chances coming through a couple of headers that just went wide of the goal.

The trophy appeared to be Liverpool's when Birmingham received a lifeline courtesy of Liverpool center back Stéphane Henchoz, who, in the dying moments of regulation, fouled Birmingham midfielder Martin O'Connor in the box. Center back Darren Purse converted the 90th-minute penalty kick, sending the match into extra time.

The sides swapped chances in extra time, but were unable to score. In penalties, they were even at 4-4 after five shooters, with Liverpool's Sander Westveld and Birmingham's Ian Bennett saving one shot each. Jamie Carragher then put Liverpool ahead 5-4, when Birmingham forward Andy Johnson stepped up to the spot. He sent a timid kick to his right, easily saved by Westerveld to give Liverpool the win - their first major trophy since previously winning the League Cup in 1995.

9 February 1979 - Meet The Million-Pound Man

On 9 February 1979, Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough introduced the press to his newest signing, English striker Trevor Francis--the first player in England to break the £1 million barrier. Clough added to the spectacle by showing up at the press conference in a bright red leather jacket with his squash racket in hand.

When Clough signed Francis from Birmingham City, he was careful to set the transfer fee at £999,999 in order to prevent the "million pound" mark from going to the striker's head. But taxes pushed the total fee over £1.1 million, more than doubling the previous record of £495,000, paid by Manchester United to Middlesbrough for defender Gordon McQueen in February 1978.

With Francis in the side, Forest lost only one league match for the remainder of the season, finishing second in the Division One table, and won the League Cup. The crown jewel in their season, however, was their 1-0 win over over Swedish side Malmö in the 1979 European Cup Final, with Francis heading in the winning goal.

That proved to be the highlight of Francis' career. Injuries hampered his time at Forest, preventing him from playing in their win in the 1980 European Cup Final, and he moved to Manchester City in 1981 for £1.2 million.