This may sound harsh for Birmingham City but the comparison between the club and their new minority owner Tom Brady is staggering, like day and night or chalk and cheese.
Brady is a serial winner, he has the most Superbowl of any individual and even has more rings than any other single team in the NFL, seven to the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots’ six.
He even has more than 17 teams put together in a career spanning from 2001 to 2022.
Consider all his individual awards which include three Most Valuable Player trophies and five Superbowl MVP trophies, the most wins of any players, and a passer rating better than any other quarterback ever.
He is one of the greatest sportsmen of all time.
On the other hand, there’s the Blues, a team that has failed to win anything of note except for two League Cups in 148 years of existence.
They could use Brady’s winning mentality and change it all.
With that in mind let’s look at what Birmingham City were up to the years Brady won the Superbowl to compare the history of the two sporting entities.
Tom Brady: Superbowl XXXVI 2001-02 New England Patriots 20-17 Saint Louis Rams
Birmingham City: 2001-02 First Division 5th with 76 points, win playoffs – promoted.
Brady won his first Superbowl and his first Superbowl MVP in a shocking season where he rode all the way to playoffs with the Patriots, helping the franchise to their first-ever title.
Birmingham had a good season, they forced themselves into the playoffs, beating Millwall to reach the finals.
They beat Norwich City on penalties after a 1-1 draw to gain promotion back to the top division for the first time since 1986.
This was despite a poor start to the season meant that Trevor Francis left the club as manager in October replaced by Steve Bruce in December.
The top scorer was Tommy Mooney who scored 15 goals in all competitions.
The Blues were dumped out of the League Cup by Manchester City and the FA Cup by holders Liverpool.
Birmingham was promoted with Manchester City and local rivals West Bromwich Albion.
The weekend of the Superbowl Birmingham didn’t have a game funnily enough so the players could sit back relax and take in the spectacle watching, unbeknownst to them, the future G.O.A.T.
TB: Superbowl XXXVIII 2003-04 New England Patriots 32-29 Carolina Panthers
BCFC: 2003-2004 Premier League 10th with 50 points.
Brady cemented his place as a great quarterback with this win, yet another Superbowl MVP to boot, whilst the Patriots made it difficult for themselves in the final quarter.
Birmingham City were enjoying life in the Prem, the second consecutive season going steadily along with Steve Bruce still the manager.
Christophe Dugarry was introduced to the squad the previous summer, the French World Cup winner from 1998 gracing St Andrews.
They earned two draws against arch-rivals Aston Villa 0-0 at home and 2-2 away to keep their undefeated record against the Villans in the Prem.
They would have a respectable record of 12 wins and 14 draws for only 12 losses, Arsenal finished champions as the Invincibles and Birmingham City would draw their game against them.
Mikael Forssell would finish highest scorer with 19 goals across all competitions, the Finn having a good season for the Blues.
They would lose in the Fifth round of the FA Cup to Sunderland in a replay and be humiliated in the League Cup to lowly Blackpool.
The weekend of the Superbowl, City would draw at home to Newcastle United 0-0 a summary of this season.
The Californian: Superbowl XXXIX 2004-05 New England Patriots 24-21 Philadelphia Eagles
The Brummies: 2004-05 Premier League 12th with 45 points.
Brady once again helped the Pats squeeze a victory this time over the Eagles in another close encounter for his third Superbowl ring.
Birmingham City regressed after two good seasons it was starting to slide, the cracks were showing but had not opened completely.
Steve Bruce in his third full season in charge had taken them to only 11 wins for 12 draws and 15 losses this season.
They did manage another double over Aston Villa however, 2-1 at Villa Park and 2-0 at home to register their second double over the Villans in three seasons and still undefeated against them.
Chelsea would win the title for the first time in 50 years under Jose Mourinho and Birmingham would earn a draw against them as well.
Emile Heskey was the top scorer with a low 11 goals across all competitions not ideal for attempting a push up the table.
Birmingham’s failure to score would affect them in the cups with a defeat to Chelsea in the FA Cup fourth round and a defeat against Fulham in the third round of the League Cup.
A 2-0 loss against Manchester United on the weekend of the Superbowl seems inevitable so not much of a dampener.
Birmingham City would be relegated next season, before yo-yoing in between Prem and Championship, conceding two more relegations in the next five years.
Tommy Brady and the Patriots: Superbowl XLIX 2014-15 New England Patriots 28-24 Seattle Seahawks
Tommy Shelby and the Peaky Blinders: 2014-15 Championship 10th with 63 points.
Brady finally won the Superbowl again after a decade and two failed attempts against the Giants, his record remains sensational during that time, and he won yet another Superbowl MVP.
Birmingham City have become a mainstay in the Championship during that time, they did win their second League Cup in 2011 but were relegated in the same season.
They even played in Europe whilst in the second tier a first since 1962.
They started poorly under Lee Clark as manager but replaced him with Gary Rowett and started climbing up the table.
Clayton Donaldson finished top scorer that season with 16 goals over the course of the season.
The Blues finished quite well with 16 wins 15 draws and 15 losses a difficult season that gave hope for the future.
They would lose in the FA Cup Fourth round West Bromwich Albion, and they would lose in the second round of the League Cup against Sunderland.
Birmingham City drew with Norwich City 0-0 on Superbowl weekend.
The G.O.A.T: Superbowl LI 2016-17 New England Patriots 34-28 Atlanta Falcons
The Blues: 2016-17 Championship 19th with 53 points.
The most remarkable Superbowl in Brady’s history, the comeback of all comebacks, from 28-3 down he came back to beat the Falcons and win his fourth Superbowl MVP.
Birmingham City had a poor season with a lot of problems off the pitch.
Gary Rowett was sacked halfway through and replaced by Gianfranco Zola but that sparked the downturn for the Blues.
Eventually, Zola resigned, and Harry Redknapp came to salvage the situation.
Birmingham was sitting just outside the playoffs when Rowett was shown the door, but the owners thought now was a good time to shake things up.
They drew at home to Aston Villa but lost 1-0 in the return fixture marking almost a decade since their last victory in the derby.
They relied on the goals of Lukas Jutkiewicz, 12 in total, to keep them up as they looked close to being relegated to the third tier.
Their cup runs never happened either, a loss in the first round of the League Cup to Oxford United and a loss in the Third round of the FA Cup against Newcastle United halted them.
The Superbowl weekend was good, one of only two wins under Zola in the league with a 1-0 victory vs Fulham.
Brady: Superbowl LIII 2018-19 New England Patriots 13-3 Los Angeles Rams
Birmingham: 2018-19 Championship 17th with 52 points*.
Brady’s most boring Superbowl, nothing happened with the defence playing the game, but Brady will take it a sixth Superbowl, more than any other player and the Patriots equal the Steelers.
For Birmingham, this season was equally as eventful as the last we saw.
As you can see there is an asterisk to the points, “Birmingham City were deducted 9 points for failure to comply with the EFL profitability and sustainability rules.”
They would have only finished 14th but those three positions will hurt as it was otherwise an improvement on previous seasons.
They would lose both matches in the Second City derby 4-2 at Villa Park and 1-0 at home against Aston Villa.
Che Adams did score 22 goals a fantastic return for the Scotsman and the most by a player at Birmingham since Steve Claridge scored 25 in 1994-95.
In the Cups, they were knocked straight out once again, with a loss to West Ham United in the FA Cup and a loss to Reading in the League Cup.
A win against Nottingham Forest 2-0 on Superbowl weekend eased pains because of tumultuous off-the-pitch problems at the club that Garry Monk managed fine before being sacked at the end of the season.
Tom Brady: Superbowl LV 2020-21 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-9 Kansas City Chiefs
Birmingham City: 2020-21 Championship 18th with 52 points.
His final Superbowl was probably his easiest even when faced against Patrick Mahomes, it is also his final Superbowl MVP award a fifth also a record.
Birmingham struggled once again a recurring theme in these past few years.
They started the season with Aitor Karanka as manager but finished with Lee Bowyer, the former Real Madrid and Spain international could not move Birmingham up the league table.
They were too inconsistent and creeping closer to the relegation zone before making the change.
Lukas Jutkiewicz scored 8 goals for the Blues a low for the highest scorer, however, he netted four of those in the run-in.
COVID did play a part with no fans allowed inside the stadium and now showing signs that it needs refurbishing.
Two of the lower stands need to be repaired and are deemed too dangerous for spectators.
City would lose in the FA Cup against Manchester City and to Cambridge United in the League Cup keeping with recent results not having reached a final 8 in either since 2011.
They would lose to Bournemouth 3-2 on Superbowl weekend, and without realising they were watching their future owner make more history as one of the greatest sportsmen of all time.
James Shaw Productions 
Leave a comment