By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
One of football’s most passionate rivalries will be
contested at lunchtime on Sunday afternoon as Aston Villa make the very short
trip to St Andrews’s for the Second City Derby with Birmingham City.
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| Birmingham vs. Aston Villa is one of football's most passionate rivalries |
It will be the first meeting between the sides in league
competition since Birmingham’s relegation from the Premier League in 2011 (sides pictured).
Following Villa’s demise last season, this match is now consigned to the second
tier of English football. That doesn’t mean to say though that the stakes won’t
be as high as they usually are when these rivals in the Midlands meet.
There have been plenty of derby classics between these sides
in recent times and here’s a look back at six of the most memorable encounters
in the past 15 years.
Birmingham
City 3-0 Aston Villa – September 2002
The first league meeting of any kind in 16 years between the sides
ended in joy for the blue half of the city and immense pain for the claret half
of the city. The game will also be remembered for one of the biggest
goalkeeping calamities in Premier League history.
Trailing 1-0 with less than 15 minutes to go, Villa defender
Olof Mellberg threw the ball back to Peter Enckleman, who miscontrolled a
simple pass and the ball rolled embarrassingly into the back of his net. It was
a horrid moment for the Finn and produced sheer joy for the Birmingham faithful
– some who took it too far and invaded the pitch to taunt the sheepish
Enckleman. Geoff Horsfield wrapped it up in the closing stages for the Blues.
Aston
Villa 0-2 Birmingham City – March 2003
This game exploded into life in the second half as
Birmingham looked to complete a famous league double over Villa.
It started when Dion Dublin saw red
and made a rash challenge on Robbie Savage. Savage went to react but as referee
Mark Halsey tried to intervene, Dublin lost the plot completely and head-butted
Savage right infront of Halsey. Quite rightly, he was sent off.
Birmingham pressed forward and Stan Lazaridis opened the
scoring to make their numerical advantage count. Then, Horsfield capitalised on
a dreadful mix-up between Jlloyd Samuel and Enckleman to make it 2-0 and seal
the victory. The home side’s miserable evening was compounded by Joey
Gudjonsson’s reckless challenge on Stephen Clemence which left him with a red
card too.
Birmingham finished their debut Premier League season in 13th
place and three places ahead of Villa. Graham Taylor was sacked shortly after
the campaign ended.
Aston
Villa 2-2 Birmingham City – February 2004
After the relegation battles of the previous season, this
meeting was more of a fight for European qualification spots, with both clubs
solidly in the Premier League’s top eight.
The home side – now managed by David O’Leary bossed the
opening hour of the game and took a 2-0 lead, courtesy of a Darius Vassell
tap-in, followed by a thunderbolt by Thomas Hitzlsperger.
Birmingham showed great character to fightback. Their top
goalscorer Mikael Forssell led the comeback and it was Stern John who scored a
dramatic equaliser in injury time to ensure the points were shared in a
thrilling contest.
Birmingham
City 2-0 Aston Villa – March 2005
Birmingham’s early domination of this clash in the Premier
League years continued in the 2004/2005 season. This match stretched their
unbeaten run over Villa to six games and it brought about more goalkeeping
misery for Aston Villa goalkeepers.
This time, it was Danish international Thomas Sorensen who
produced a glaring howler, allowing Emile Heskey’s weak shot to creep in early
in the second half. Sorensen had also made a big mistake in the earlier clash
at Villa Park in December 2004, so it is a fixture he won’t want to be
remembered for.
Julian Gray sealed the victory in stoppage time for
Birmingham but it the visitors’ who would have the last laugh in the overall season.
They finished 10th, two places above Birmingham in the final table.
Aston Villa
3-1 Birmingham City – April 2006
This was another season where relegation was a real
possibility for both teams. Birmingham began the day just outside the drop
zone, but were coming under severe threat from an in-form Portsmouth. Villa had
just come off the back of a 5-0 thumping at Highbury against Arsenal.
Milan Baros didn’t have the greatest career at Aston Villa
but the £5m summer arrival from Liverpool FC saved his best day in a claret
shirt for this occasion. He scored twice in a 3-1 victory to seal Villa’s first Premier League double over Birmingham.
The match is best remembered for an outstanding overhead
kick from a young Gary Cahill. It was his first goal in the Premier League and
a crucial one for both teams. Villa stayed up although O’Leary parted company
with the club at the end of the season. Birmingham’s campaign never recovered
and they were relegated.
Aston
Villa 1-0 Birmingham City – April 2010
In 2009/2010, both sides had solid campaigns. Birmingham had
managed an impressive 12-game unbeaten run in the Premier League and finished a
fantastic 9th in their first season back in the top-flight after a
second demise in 2008.
Aston Villa were in their best Premier League form under
Martin O’Neill and finished sixth in three consecutive campaigns, including the
2009/2010 season.
This game produced few goalscoring chances, but had the
usual hustle and bustle for a derby battle and was settled on a controversial
penalty decision. Martin Atkinson decided to give a spot-kick after adjudging
Stephen Carr fouled Ashley Young in the penalty area. It looked dubious but
James Milner did the necessary and Villa got the three points.
Current
forecasts
There is extra spice to this fixture on Sunday because Steve
Bruce is returning to his former club, now as manager of Aston Villa.
He has previously received a generous welcome from
Birmingham fans when he took Sunderland and Hull City back to his former
stomping ground. It will be far different this time. The general opinion of
Birmingham fans of Bruce’s legacy has changed with this appointment.
Both clubs are under new ownership and the future might be
looking up for both. Birmingham have one of the brightest talents in English
management at the moment in Gary Rowett. With limited resources, Rowett has
guided the Blues to finishes in the top 10 in the past two seasons and they are
challenging for the play-offs this season again. Victory on Sunday would take
the Blues into the top five in the Championship.
Villa sacked Roberto di Matteo in early October after just
one win in 12 games in all competitions. Bruce has already managed to steady
the rocky ship at Villa Park. A fortunate draw with Wolves has been followed by
plucky victories over Reading and Fulham. He has a talented squad at his
disposal and he might be starting to get his methods across on the players.
Birmingham will start the game as slight favourites because
of their position in the table. However, Villa might just be turning the corner
and this makes Sunday’s Second City derby an enticing encounter to watch.
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