Birmingham is the second biggest city in England, in terms of population and GDP, so why are they so weak in football? Aston Villa had some success in the early 80s, but compared to other countries they are seriously lacking success. In Italy AC Milan / Inter Milan have more European and league titles than Rome teams. In Spain Barcelona has a very good track record, in France Marseille has a richer past than PSG, in Portugal FC Porto has a better european curriculum than Benfica and Sporting combined, so why are Birmingham teams so dreadful?
Birmingham lack of success in English Football
- Thread starter Helder-Carvalho
- Start date
Have you ever gone to Birmingham? That’s why.
my knowledge of Birmigham comes from Peaky Blinders, so no much up to date i'm afraid
If Villa were a London club they'd double the amount of European cups in the city and instantly have the 2nd most league titles.
I get your point though, they've done little for a while now. Birmingham as a city gets bad rep in England. Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool all seem far more desirable for people nowadays.
I get your point though, they've done little for a while now. Birmingham as a city gets bad rep in England. Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool all seem far more desirable for people nowadays.
Wolves?
Birmingham City won a league cup fairly recently and Villa is the final this year. Better than Liverpool as a city domestically for the last 10 years 
.
Alright Pool won a cup too so equal level though.
.Alright Pool won a cup too so equal level though.
Why no China win hevery World Cup, truly baffling
I can't think of anything to do with Birmingham City the club. It's as if they are a non-entity. I remember I hated their badge from the Panini album though.
Manchester is the real second City in England. Why do you think Grealish is looking for a house here?
Out of interest, what's it like?
Industry
It gets a bad rap for some reason, but it's fine - this is coming from someone who has no ties to the city but who lived there for 10 years. Used to be heavily industrial but I think it's trying to reinvent itself as a centre for business and commerce outside of London - not sure how it's going. I've not been there in a while.
League Cup final 2011.
Is Birmingham the shittest 2nd city in Europe?
I mean if you look at Scotland Edinburgh is that capital but Glasgow is the biggest in terms of population, either way they're both big cities in Scotland.
In France you have Paris and Marseille, Germany it's Berlin and Munich, Italy Rome and Milan, Spain Madrid and Barcelona. The list could go on, you have some of the most desirable places to live, work and visit in Europe yet Birmingham pales in comparison.
I mean if you look at Scotland Edinburgh is that capital but Glasgow is the biggest in terms of population, either way they're both big cities in Scotland.
In France you have Paris and Marseille, Germany it's Berlin and Munich, Italy Rome and Milan, Spain Madrid and Barcelona. The list could go on, you have some of the most desirable places to live, work and visit in Europe yet Birmingham pales in comparison.
Both Villa and City have had a terrible time with neglectful owners and management. Villa Park is still one of my favourite stadiums in the country. The Blues ground is like a dirty old metal shed - it's awful.
I haven’t lived there but on my visits, it’s just an industrial town with horrendous motorway traffic.
Was that us? My memory is rubbish.
Is Marseille any better than Birmingham? I have to admit I've never been but I've heard it's a bit shitty.
Depends, if you want a city with nice things to look at its very bad, lots of it is ugly. If you want cool places to eat and drink it's fairly good.
It was. Ben Foster masterclass if I remember rightly.
What's your point with these examples? Rome is a larger City than Milan and Turin or Naples, Lisbon is far bigger than Porto, London is far bigger a City than Manchester, Paris is far bigger than Marseille (or St. Etienne), Berlin is a minnow in football terms, Dortmund or Gladbach are tiny Cities in comparison. It's almost as if population size and club size aren't that strongly correlated and therefore it's no great mystery that Birmingham doesn't have a huge football club
Marseilles is great.
I live close and am in Birmingham regularly. It’s.. fine. It’s a lot better than it was 20 years ago, they’ve been developing it well. But it’s not glamorous. It’s no surprise good players aren’t particularly enticed by living there.
Marseille was pretty bad especially 10 years ago, but it's reinvented itself and it's becoming really nice, especially the centre parts. The northern districts are still quite dodgy, but it's nothing like it used to be. Also, it's in the South of France, on the Mediterranean, I don't think Birmingham can compete with this.
The city-centre is pretty grey, although the town hall and the concert hall up by Victoria Square is very nice. The new library divides opinion but I think it's a pretty striking building, same with the Bullring. It doesn't have as much grand architecture as London, or even smaller places like Oxford or Cambridge, but there are some really pretty industrial era manor houses and buildings outside the city centre which are nice. Bourneville is a lovely place.
He does have a point in that historically many of the biggest clubs were based in large industrial cities rather than more affluent capital cities. In England it was Liverpool and Manchester that had the biggest clubs, although Birmingham was the biggest industrial city and England's second City, in those days at least.What's your point with these examples? Rome is a larger City than Milan and Turin or Naples, Lisbon is far bigger than Porto, London is far bigger a City than Manchester, Paris is far bigger than Marseille (or St. Etienne), Berlin is a minnow in football terms, Dortmund or Gladbach are tiny Cities in comparison. It's almost as if population size and club size aren't that strongly correlated and therefore it's no great mystery that Birmingham doesn't have a huge football club
Blues have had terrible owners for a number of years but they’ve never had sustained level of success.
Villa have been successful and have a great ground but poor owners they’ve spent a lot in the hope of keeping their pl status.
West Midlands football has been dire generally for the past 40 years.
Birmingham is alright really, reminds me of a bigger and better version of Leicester.
There does seem to be some apathy with the football but then again, Villa and Wolves aren't exactly shit (yeah I'm counting Wolves).
There does seem to be some apathy with the football but then again, Villa and Wolves aren't exactly shit (yeah I'm counting Wolves).
Not Birmingham!
I swear people form opinions on places despite never having visited them. Birmingham city centre is getting better and better all the time. Of course it has rough areas like every other city on earth but footballers aren't going to live in Lozells or Handsworth are they?
Bournville is a really fascinating place with the history behind it and so on.
I thought they are in the same metro area. My bad.
Aside from Arsenal London has suffered a crazy lack of success compared to northern cities, when you consider how many teams there are. Chelsea have as many titles as Sunderland and all but one of those are down to Russian money. Nottingham has more European Cups and Birmingham has as many. The Gooners' very respectable league and cup numbers save it from a "London's lack of success in English football" thread.
To be fair, besides London, the UK isn't an exciting place to live. Even London wasn't that exciting when I first went. British people are pretty funny though and know how to have a good time. Nothing is worse than Italy though, and I don't care how beautiful the country is (yes, I am complete biased and basing this on a bad experience)
I mean sure, being based in a big city gives you a nice head start and makes it easier to grow, but it's no guarantee for anything, so the answer to "why does big City X not have a top club?" is almost always: "because clubs in other Cities were better run".
Disagree.
I thought Liverpool was the second largest city in England.