Birmingham City: Chris Hughton did what no Blues coach has done since | OneFootball

Chris Hughton led Birmingham City to the Championship play-offs in 2012, the closest the club have come to returning to the Premier League

Birmingham City's 13-year stay in the Championship came to an end in May when they were relegated to League One, and it's fair to say that they didn't have the most enjoyable of times in English football's second tier.

Blues were relegated from the Premier League in 2011 despite winning the League Cup that same season and while being relegated from the top flight wasn't exactly new for them, they were unable to get back and endured plenty of tough days in the second tier.

It sums up how badly Birmingham struggled in the Championship that they finished in the play-offs just once in 13 years and that came in their first season in the division after relegation.

Chris Hughton was the man in the dugout at St Andrew's when they reached the play-offs in 2012, and while the St Andrew's faithful may have been confident that they were going to be competing at the top end of the division on a regular basis, that was far from the case.

Chris Hughton's 2012 Birmingham City feat is yet to be repeated

Often, when a Premier League side is relegated to the Championship, they're tipped to make an immediate return to the top flight, but that's not how it panned out for Birmingham City.

Alex McLeish made a surprise decision to depart in June despite having made new signings, joining bitter rivals Aston Villa, and club president Carson Yeung was also arrested on suspicion of money laundering, hardly ideal preparation for a new season.

Hughton was the man tasked with replacing McLeish, and while he had a Championship campaign to contend with, he also had the added stress of playing in the Europa League following their League Cup win, putting them in a unique situation and placing huge demands on his squad.

However, his team performed admirably, and an unbeaten run from the middle of March onwards saw them finish fourth, earning a spot in the play-offs.

While Birmingham did have a decent side, the controversy of the summer, qualifying for the Europa League and enjoying a good run in the FA Cup meant that Blues played a whopping 60 competitive games prior to the play-offs, showing how good a job Hughton had done to get his side into the top six.

Blues came up against Blackpool in the play-offs, losing 3-2 on aggregate, and missing out on the final where the Tangerines were defeated by West Ham United.

Hughton would depart for Premier League side Norwich in the summer of 2012, bringing down the curtain on his one-year stay at St Andrew's, and while he may have missed out on promotion, his time in the Second City was a fruitful one in hindsight.

He remains the last manager to lead Birmingham City to the Championship play-offs and deserves credit for his achievements, which were made even more impressive by how the rest of their time in the second tier played out.

Chris Davies could be the man who matches Chris Hughton's 2012 feat

Of course, Birmingham City are currently in League One, so Hughton's feat won't be matched this season, but the club's owners, Knighthead Capital, and supporters will hope that current boss Chris Davies could lead them back to the Championship play-off places soon.

It's been well-documented that Knighthead are very ambitious and have spent ludicrous amounts of money in League One this season, and while reaching the second tier is their short-term ambition, it's clear that they've got very big plans for the club in the future.

It feels as if winning promotion this season is just the first step in the Americans' ambitious plans for the club and should they reach the Championship, it would be a surprise if they weren't competing at the right end of the table next season.

There's a long way to go yet but the former Spurs coach appears to be the man who can lead Blues back to the Premier League in the long term. He'll be hoping he can become the first Birmingham manager to emulate, and better, Hughton in that regard.