Tom Wagner and Tom Brady will already surely have new big Birmingham City target | OneFootball

Birmingham City will be eyeing successive promotions.

Just under a year ago, Birmingham City suffered relegation to League One for the first time since the 1990s season - a dark day in the club’s history for many supporters.

However, it also marked the beginning of a new era under Tom Wagner and Knighthead Capital Management, who seized the opportunity to press the reset button on the club’s fortunes.

Before Wagner’s arrival, Birmingham had spent years teetering on the edge of relegation, enduring season after season of struggles near the foot of the Championship table. That changed in May 2023, when Wagner completed his takeover and soon brought in high-profile investors, including NFL legend Tom Brady, to help steer the club in a new direction.

Yet, their first season in charge was riddled with missteps. The controversial decision to sack John Eustace and replace him with Wayne Rooney backfired spectacularly, leading to a turbulent campaign. But lessons were learned. In their second season, Birmingham’s hierarchy adopted a more subtle approach - spending heavily yet wisely, and most importantly, allowing Chris Davies and his squad to focus on the football while they worked quietly in the background.

That patience has paid off. The Blues have stormed back to the Championship at the first time of asking, securing promotion from League One.

Now, the owners will turn their attention to an even greater challenge: mounting a serious push for promotion to the Premier League.

Birmingham City's League One success

Dropping into the third tier, Birmingham were always expected to be among the frontrunners for promotion. However, that has done little to unsettle Chris Davies and his squad, who have shut out the noise and remained firmly focused on one objective: winning the League One title.

With key signings such as Jay Stansfield, Christoph Klarer, and Tomoki Iwata, a renewed sense of confidence swept through St Andrew’s, and it was not long before that belief translated onto the pitch.

The Blues burst out of the blocks, winning seven of their first eight matches - a blistering start that set the tone for the campaign. That momentum has hardly faltered, with the side suffering just three defeats all season. Rarely have they been outplayed, as Davies’ possession-based, free-flowing attacking style has proved to be the perfect blueprint for success.

In recent months, Wycombe Wanderers and Wrexham emerged as their closest challengers, briefly threatening to turn the title race into a contest. But while their rivals stumbled, Birmingham remained ruthless, capitalising on every opportunity.

On Tuesday evening, their return to the Championship was confirmed in emphatic fashion. A hard-fought 2-1 victory over Peterborough United - secured by goals from Alfie May and Taylor Gardner-Hickman - ensured that the Blues’ resurgence to the second tier was completed at the first time of asking.

Championship promotion is the next aim for Birmingham City

Wagner, Brady, and their team have been pivotal to Birmingham’s League One triumph, but with promotion now secured, their sights are firmly set on the Championship.

Only last season, Ipswich Town achieved back-to-back promotions, climbing from the third tier to the Premier League - becoming just the fifth club to do so in English football. Birmingham will no doubt harbour similar ambitions, and with Wagner’s original target of reaching the top flight by 2026, that dream remains very much within reach.

Of course, this will be reliant on another strong transfer window, with last summer's £25 million-plus investment providing the framework for success in 2024-25.

This foundation will remain in place for the Championship, with only minor additions in key areas needed to elevate Birmingham to the next level.

With second-tier budgets more in line with their own, the challenge will undoubtedly be tougher. However, who’s to say they can’t become the sixth club to achieve successive promotions and reach the Premier League?