Town get their 2025/26 Championship campaign under way against Birmingham City at St Andrew’s on Friday night in a high-profile opener screened live by Sky Sports (KO 8pm).

Much is expected of both teams in the season ahead with the Blues relegated from the Premier League after one season and Birmingham having been promoted from League One as champions with a record 111 points, an ownership which features American football legend Tom Brady and an Amazon Prime documentary, Built in Birmingham: Brady & the Blues, following their every move.

Town are the bookies’ favourites to carry off the title at 3-1 with the Midlanders third in the running at 7-1 with Southampton, who are at Portman Road next weekend, between them at 11-2.

Double promotions from League One to the Premier League are rare these days with Kieran McKenna’s Blues the only side to have pulled one off in the last 13 years.

How does the Town manager rate Birmingham’s chances of repeating his side’s exceptional achievement?

“It’s not something I spend too much time thinking about, comparing where the other teams who want to be up at the top end of the division are,” he said.

“From watching them this week and over the last couple of weeks preparing for the game, I expect them to be a very, very strong side in the Championship. I certainly think they’ll be there or thereabouts at the top end of the division or have got a very good chance to be.

“I thought they were a strong side last time they were in the Championship, the season that we competed against them in the Championship, but obviously some decisions and different things went against them, which can happen, and they ended up in League One.

“But from that point they’ve only invested and recruited more, so it’s a very strong team, a big club with a good manager and a very good playing squad, so I think they’ll be very, very competitive this year.

“But other than that, it’s a Championship season. I think for any of us, predictions aren’t always worth a whole lot, it’s about what you bring each week, two times a week and what you bring day-to-day.

“I’m sure [Birmingham manager] Chris [Davies] will be aware of that, as we are as well. I think every game is going to be a hard-fought one and Friday night is certainly going to be the same.”

McKenna knows Davies, 40, who is in his first managerial job having taken charge at St Andrew’s in June last year after leaving his role as an assistant to Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham, having crossed paths with during their similar coaching journeys.

“Through different moments of our careers, really, but probably especially in his time as assistant with Brendan [Rodgers, at Swansea, Liverpool, Celtic and Leicester],” McKenna said.

“Someone I’ve known for a quite a long time, a very, very good coach. Has certainly done the hard yards to get his opportunity at Birmingham and had a really good first year there last year.

“I was very happy to see him get the opportunity at Birmingham and very happy to see him take the opportunity with both hands so far because he’s a good bloke and a really hard worker and he’s earned the opportunities that he’s had.”

Town couldn’t be starting their return to the Championship with a more eye-catching fixture given the expectation around both clubs and additional hype around the Midlanders.

“Amazing coincidence of the draw!” McKenna laughed. “It’s a really good fixture, it’s one we’re really looking forward to.

“I think, for most managers, coaches, staff, you really want an opening fixture that is a really big challenge, what’s going to be a really intense game.

“Two good sides, both with expectations this year to compete at the top of the division, and it’s one to really look forward to.

“These are the type of games that you want embrace, that you want to be part of, no matter what division they’re in. And this one on Friday night is one to really look forward to.

“I know the players are excited, staff are excited and it’s going to be a big challenge but we’re going to go there on Friday night and impose the best of ourselves and hopefully that’s enough to get us off the mark in terms of points.”

This week’s transfer tug of war over Ajax forward Chuba Akpom, which the Blues appear to have won, although with no confirmation of that deal so far, has added extra spice.

A lot has been made of Birmingham taking the momentum of their steamroller League One campaign - they lost only three times - into the Championship, but McKenna believes that sort of impetus can be overstated.

“I’ve probably said it before, I don’t really think it’s as pivotal as is made out,” he continued. “I know Chris won’t be relying on momentum to make them have a successful season because if we go and beat them on Friday night, the momentum’s gone.

“And it was the same for us when got promoted and went to the Championship, you’re not relying on momentum.

“People see it from the outside and it’s like you’re on the crest of a wave but it’s about doing the right things every day to try and get the performances, to try and get the results.

“Momentum can be won and lost quickly. We had momentum at the start of the season, then I think we had a period around Christmas when we didn’t win very much and you lose momentum.

“In the end, it’s about how good your work is, about how good your processes are and how good the performances are.

“That’s the only thing that will ultimately lead to results, not whether we or an opponent have whatever momentum. I don’t think it carries quite as much as people believe because those narratives can change really, really quickly in football.”


The Team

There are several question marks around the team McKenna can pick on Friday, although it’s likely the side will largely be along the lines of the one which started at Auxerre a week ago.

That would see Alex Palmer in goal and new club captain Dara O’Shea and Jacob Greaves the centre-halves.

Ben Johnson will be the right-back with Leif Davis on the left if he is over the hip problem which saw him miss the trip to France. If not, it seems likely Ashley Young, who replaced Conor Townsend against the Ligue 1 side after he suffered what has been confirmed as an ACL injury, will make his Town debut in that role.

The alternative would be to move Greaves out to left-back, where he played a handful of games at the end of last season, and bring in Cedric Kipre for his debut alongside his old West Brom teammate O’Shea.

In central midfield, Azor Matusiwa, who signed from Rennes in France over the summer, will make his Town bow alongside Jack Taylor.

Ahead of them, Jaden Philogene is a doubt with the ankle injury he suffered at Auxerre. If fit, Philogene will start on the left with Jack Clarke on the right and Sammie Szmodics in the middle.

If the former Aston Villa man doesn’t make it, then Szmodics could move to the left and Conor Chaplin start in the middle or Wrexham target Nathan Broadhead come into the XI, although that seems less likely.

Chieo Ogbene probably won’t be considered ready for a start at this stage having returned from his achilles rupture during pre-season.

George Hirst, Town’s four-goal top scorer in pre-season, will be the out-and-out striker wearing the number nine shirt.

McKenna said at his press conference that Omari Hutchinson would travel if he was over a “medical issue” in time, but the England U21 international seems unlikely to start given the speculation regarding his future - Brentford and Nottingham Forest have both had bids rebuffed - and as he hasn’t long returned to pre-season training, playing only half an hour of the friendlies, against Charlton at Colchester.

Incoming loanees Akpom and Jens Cajuste don’t appear to have had their signings registered by the midday on Thursday deadline. If they had made the cut, then they might have been considered for the bench at most.

The Opposition

Birmingham have been busy over the summer since winning promotion from League One.

They’ve added keeper James Beadle, an England U21s teammate of Hutchinson’s as they won the Euros in Slovakia in the summer, on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion.

Central defender Eiran Cashin, a Town target during his time at Derby County, has also made a loan move from the Seagulls.

Icelandic right-back Alfons Sampsted was signed on a permanent basis from FC Twente having been on loan last season.

Centre-half Phil Neumann has joined on a free transfer from Hannover 96 in Germany, while former QPR full-back Bright Osayi-Samuel has signed from Fenebahce in Turkey.

Midfielder Taylor Gardner-Hickman was signed permanently from Bristol City for around £2 million following a loan spell last season.

Another midfielder, Tommy Doyle, has been recruited on loan from Wolves, while Demari Gray has rejoined his boyhood club from Al-Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia.

Japanese midfielder Kanya Fujimoto has signed from Portuguese side Gil Vicente on a free transfer and has been joined by fellow countryman Kyogo Furuhashi, who came in from Rennes in France, where he was a teammate of Blues new man Matusiwa, the forward having previously been at Celtic.

This morning they made another addition, twice-capped German international striker Marvin Ducksch from SV Werder Bremen.

Birmingham have had an extensive friendly programme, beating Sevilla 3-1 in their opening game in the Algarve on July 12th, before fielding two teams on the same day a week later, losing 1-0 at Burton Albion and 4-0 at Crewe.

They then won 1-0 at home to Solihull Moors, before a 2-0 victory over Port Vale at Vale Park and a 3-0 loss at Northampton.

The Midlanders completed their pre-season fixtures with a 1-0 win against Premier League Nottingham Forest at St Andrew’s last Saturday.

Manager Davies says his team need to show their Championship credentials following their promotion.

“We have to be competitive and we have to prove that we can earn points at Championship level,” he said at his pre-match press conference.

“My style and my approach is one day at a time, one step at a time, one game at a time. That won’t change.

“It was the same last year, but we knew at the start of last year quite clearly where the objectives lied. This year, we have to go and compete, and I’ll find a lot out in those first few weeks.

“It’s a new league for this team, but we have to prove that we can earn points and compete first and foremost and take it one game at a time.”

Regarding Town, he added: “For me, I would look at the continuity they have, the squad they have and the position they are in right now, they would be the favourites to win the title and go straight back up.

“There will be no bigger test opposition-wise to face in your very first game, being what we think are the favourites for the title.

“But we are at home and what I wanted more than anything was a home game for the first game.

“We didn’t lose a game at home last season in the league and we were typically strong there, and hopefully that gives us that extra bit of energy that we need.”

Davies says his squad has suffered no new injuries in pre-season, although Fujimoto is working his way back from a knock he picked up prior to joining the club. Scott Wright is a long-term absentee having undergone knee surgery in March.

History

Historically, the Blues have had the better record in fixtures between the sides, winning 36 times (33 in the league), drawing 19 (19) and losing 30 (24).

However, Town are without a win in seven against Birmingham at St Andrew’s (nine in total, if their two games against former lodgers Coventry are also taken into account) since the 1-0 victory in Mick McCarthy’s first game in charge in November 2012, courtesy of a DJ Campbell goal.

The teams last met at Portman Road in February 2024 with the Blues on their way to promotion from the Championship.

Chaplin, Jeremy Sarmiento and Hutchinson were on target as Town made it four wins out of four by beating the Midlanders 3-1.

Chaplin gave the Blues the lead with a deft flick from a Sam Morsy shot in the 31st minute as the home side dominated the first half, but Jordan James levelled for the visitors in first-half injury time.

Town had to wait until the 81st minute to go back in front via Sarmiento from an Axel Tuanzebe cutback, then Hutchinson sealed a thoroughly deserved victory with his second injury time goal in two games.

At St Andrew’s in the preceding November, sub Marcus Harness scored twice as the Blues came from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Wayne Rooney’s Birmingham City, extending a club record unbeaten league away run to 16 matches.

The home side took the lead in the 13th minute via one-time Blues target Jay Stansfield and were the better team in the first half, however, Town improved after the break, but went two behind on 51 when Cameron Burgess diverted a cross into his own net.

The Blues looked set for their first away defeat of the season until Harness came off the bench to net on 79 and 89 to claim a point with another sub Dane Scarlett playing a part in both goals.

The teams most recently met on the opening day of a season in August 2017 when the Blues got their Championship campaign up and running with a 1-0 home victory courtesy of a Joe Garner debut goal five minutes after half-time.

Familiar Faces

Town first-team coach Sone Aluko was brought up in Birmingham and came through their academy as a youngster, making one senior appearance, as a sub in a League Cup tie against Hereford in 2007.

Over the summer, Town’s head of operations Rich Carpenter joined Birmingham as director of operations.

Officials

Friday’s referee is Andrew Kitchen from Durham, his assistants Shaun Hudson and Andrew Fox, and the fourth official John Busby.

The Durham-based official showed 101 yellow cards and two red in 32 matches last season.

His last Town match was the Blues’ final away game of 2024/25, the 2-0 defeat at Leicester City, Kitchen’s second Premier League match, in which he booked only one Foxes player.

Prior to that, he was in charge of the 3-3 draw at Hull City in April last year in which he booked Axel Tuanzebe, Massimo Luongo, Wes Burns and one Tigers player.

Before that, he was in the middle for the 2-1 home victory over Coventry at Portman Road in December 2023 when he again yellow-carded Luongo, as well as Brandon Williams and one Sky Blue.

In the summer of that year, he officiated in the 2-1 pre-season victory at Preston North End and before that the 3-2 win at Port Vale in October 2022 in which he kept his cards in his pocket throughout.

Kitchen’s only Town fixture aside from those was the 2-0 win at Fleetwood in March 2022 when he booked Sam Morsy, Luke Woolfenden and one home player.

Squad From

Palmer, Walton, Button, Johnson, Young, Davis, O’Shea (c), Woolfenden, Greaves, Kipre, Matusiwa, Taylor, Humphreys, J Clarke, Ogbene, Szmodics, Chaplin, Philogene, Broadhead, Hutchinson, Hirst, Al-Hamadi.

Photo: TWTD

ruds added 13:07 - Aug 7 The time has come to fully support all of the lads and focus on three points tomorrow! What will happen with the potential transfers will only make us stronger. Lets have a bloody good season!!!!!!
2

ArnieM added 13:25 - Aug 7 COYBSSSSSSSSSS, thats all!
1

flykickingbybgunn added 14:11 - Aug 7 I'm glad KMcK is excited. I confess to being a trifle interested myself.
1

timbousa added 14:18 - Aug 7 Taking a glass half-full approach, it's going to be nice going into games again thinking "we can / should win this" rather than last season which was a bit hiding-behind-the-sofa at times. I'd even take a solid, opening point away against a team expected to be in the promotion places as well.
2

Ianseamark added 15:13 - Aug 7 Richard Kone at Wycombe is available according to Sky Sports News. Worth a punt?
1

oldelsworthyfan added 15:45 - Aug 7 These days there are more comments about our woes in the transfer market than an actual football match!
0

planetblue_2011 added 16:01 - Aug 7 Sorry but where the new signings!! Not that excited for tomorrows opener to be honest
-1

ThaiBlue added 16:09 - Aug 7 Hoping 4 the best but not very optimistic, need new faces soon.
0

algarvefan added 16:24 - Aug 7 Is anyone else confused about the live streaming abroad for those of us with International membership to Town TV? Tomorrow is the first game of the season and I live in rural Portugal, I still don't know from Town TV's website if I can buy a ticket to watch the game live, it's still waiting to update apparently? I'm quite happy to pay 10 euros/pounds to watch the game, is every game going to be like this? Apparently this all depends on which country is showing the game on various TV channels, how do we know or can we find out as each country is different!! We are not a Sky territory so I'd assumed I could buy a ticket. The lack of clear information is awful quite honestly, I appreciate it's an EFL decision but as usual the fans come last. If you know more than me can you please let me know. Thank you & sorry for the rant!!

0

Blogs 298 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls