Birmingham’s US backers are falling for the typical new-owner tropes

Wayne Rooney’s most memorable contribution as Birmingham City manager was the unforgettable meme that summed up his ill-fated 15-game spell. Captured despondently leaning against a wall in the St Andrew’s tunnel, visibly exasperated after a disappointing match (of which there were many), the picture was never a positive one for the former England and Manchester United striker at the club. His sacking had been coming.

Birmingham City were sixth in the Championship table when Rooney took over in October. Now, 15 matches and just two wins later, they are slumped in 20th place. A season that was shaping up to be a promotion push has become a fight against relegation. Rooney believes he should have been given more time to get it right, but the situation had become unsalvageable. Keeping Rooney for any longer could have caused even more damage, on and off the pitch.

Rooney should never have been given the Birmingham job in the first place. John Eustace had the team heading in the right direction. His final two matches in charge were impressive back-to-back wins over Huddersfield Town and West Brom. Eustace, however, wasn’t a big enough name for Birmingham City’s new owners who include Tom Brady. Rooney isn’t solely to blame for the current mess.

US-based Shelby Companies Limited completed a takeover of the St Andrew’s club last July. Headed by hedge fund manager Tom Wagner, the ownership group (whose name is a reference to the Birmingham-based TV show Peaky Blinders) initially made a good first impression, recruiting well and setting the team up for a positive season.

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By ditching Eustace for Rooney, though, Birmingham City’s new owners highlighted just how much they have to learn about football – particularly the Championship. England’s second tier isn’t so much a soccer league, but a bareknuckle fighting ring where reputation counts for very little. It is an endurance test that requires a different sort of personality to succeed. Some managers have that personality. Others don’t.

At Derby County, Rooney’s personality helped forge a siege mentality in difficult circumstances. As Birmingham City boss, though, his combative nature and willingness to publicly call out his own players reportedly rankled. At no point did it feel like the dressing room, and the support, was behind Rooney.

Fans were against Rooney from the start. If Shelby believed the 38-year-old’s legendary status in the game would be enough to win over supporters, they demonstrated a fundamental understanding of how English soccer fandom works. If anything, Rooney’s achievements for rival clubs made it harder for him to earn the trust of the Birmingham City support. Were fans meant to feel grateful that someone as famous as Rooney was their club’s manager?

Not all American club owners do a bad job. In fact, three of the current top four clubs in the Premier League are US-owned while an American investment group owns 18% of Manchester City. Americans generally own soccer clubs to turn a profit and this can align well with the sporting objectives of a team - look at how Liverpool’s valuation has ballooned as the team has won English and European titles under Fenway Sports Group’s control. Financial and sporting ambition can sit side by side.

Wrexham are another good example. The Welsh club ended its 15-year exile from the EFL after being bought by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in November 2020. Of course, Wrexham have embraced the glamour that comes with being the focus of an internationally popular TV docu-series, but it hasn’t affected their decision-making on the soccer side. When Reynolds and McElhenney had to hire a manager for the first time, they turned to lower-league specialist Phil Parkinson rather than a big-name.

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Shelby face a long process to earn back the faith of the Birmingham City support. Having only arrived at St Andrew’s last summer, they are perpetuating every negative stereotype held against American club owners. Chasing a big-name star in the dugout and then ejecting on that plan within a couple of months fits all the familiar tropes. The Peaky Blinders reference in the ownership group’s name now feels gimmicky, as does Brady’s involvement - is the seven-time Super Bowl winner really watching Championship matches every Saturday? Is his investment purely a financial one?

American ownership groups are not uniquely unqualified or tempestuous. Fresh owners, in any sport, typically fall prey to ‘new owner syndrome’, as they figure out the idiosyncrasies of big-time sports. It’s just that the English pyramid is now so drenched in American-backed investment funds and US stars that their naivety screams loudest.

Birmingham City has huge potential. They play in England’s second city and surely see Aston Villa’s recent success in the Premier League as a tantalising hint of what they could also achieve with the right leadership and investment. “The city is young, dynamic and a destination of choice for businesses large and small looking to tap into everything it has to offer,” wrote Wagner in an open letter last summer. “It is now time for the football club that carries its name to step forward to play its role in adding both economic and reputational value.” The Rooney calamity certainly hasn’t helped achieve that.

The best decision Shelby could now make might be to give Eustace his job back. By holding up their hands and admitting their mistake, the owners might be able to get fans back on side and put Birmingham City back on the upward trajectory they appeared to be on under the previous manager. Wagner also wrote in his letter that the club would experience some “bumps in the road.” Rooney, however, was a bigger bump than they anticipated.