Birmingham City need to find a repeat of successful £1.7m transfer deal in January

Birmingham City need to find a repeat of successful £1.7m transfer deal in January

Birmingham City

The late 1990s and early 2000s proved to be a strong period in the history of Birmingham City.

Having dropped into League One, then Division Two, in 1994, the Blues bounced back immediately under the leadership of Barry Fry, finishing as champions with an impressive 89 points.

Over the next four seasons, the club steadily improved in the second tier, climbing from a 15th-place finish in 1995-96 to an impressive fourth place by 1998-99.

Despite falling short in the play-offs that season, chairman David Gold responded by bolstering the squad in the transfer market, with the signing of Stan Lazaridis being their big-money move.

What followed was seven years of service from the Australian and current owners Knighthead may be looking at recreating this brilliant deal.

Stan Lazaridis’ arrival at St Andrew’s

Lazaridis’ initial move to England came in 1995 when Harry Redknapp’s West Ham United picked up the tricky winger from West Adelaide Hellas having been impressed with his performance against the Hammers on a pre-season tour.

Unfortunately, his move to East London didn’t fully go to plan, with injuries marring his early years, as he made just 26 appearances across his first two seasons.

While he did improve in his latter years with the Irons, a move to Birmingham City presented the opportunity to restart his career and in the summer of 1999, at-the-time manager and Blues icon Trevor Francis snapped up the Australian for £1.7 million.

While this was an expensive fee, it was believed that Lazaridis could be the difference maker for Birmingham and send them into the top tier.

During his first two seasons at St Andrew’s, the winger was a constant feature but couldn’t help the Blues shake off that play-off curse with semi-final defeats to Barnsley and Preston North End haunting the Blues.

However, Lazaridis found success in the League Cup, playing a key role in Birmingham’s memorable run to the final, which included impressive victories over Premier League sides such as Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United. Once again though, a familiar pattern of defeat at the last hurdle occurred, as despite a stellar performance against Liverpool and 120 solid minutes from Lazaridis, they lost 6-5 in a penalty shootout with Andy Johnson missing his spot-kick.

Lazaridis earns his chance back in the Premier League

Having not been able to secure Premier League football, Francis eventually departed the club, making way for Steve Bruce.

Under the current Blackpool manager, Lazaridis remained a key player and, at the fourth attempt, played a pivotal role in helping Birmingham secure promotion from the second tier. Although the automatic spots had been the preferred route, the Blues once again faced the unpredictability of the play-offs and a late semi-final victory over Millwall set up ‘the richest game in football’ with Norwich City at the Millennium Stadium.

While this time the Australian started on the bench, he would play his role as he entered the hallowed turf and netted a crucial goal in the shootout as Birmingham took the game 4-2 on penalties following a 1-1 draw after extra time.

Now entering the latter stages of his career, the Blues’ ascension to the top flight would give Lazaridis a chance to once again play against some of England’s greats.

Providing 11 goal contributions over the following four years, his finest moment arguably came in the Second City derby against Aston Villa in 2003. In a 2-0 victory, the winger would get on the end of a Jeff Kenna cross to turn the ball past Peter Enckelman for 1-0.

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