The Hotel End

Will it sell out? Are the boxes open? Will it be 8k+ attendance? I’ll leave the rest to GPC or OAP

Looking forward to this test and they also have a game tonight so hopefully we’ll be fresher on Saturday.
Luke Mbete played a game today which is a further positive step.
The away leg was a good test for us and despite all their possession we came away with a point following Pinnocks late equaliser which did little to please the locals on the way out.

Thankfully there’s no minutes silence on Saturday!!

Enjoyed the experience of the last time they came to Northampton in the league, March 20th, 1990. Lively Tuesday night at the County Ground in a 2-2 draw.

I’d settle for that again on Saturday but pragmatic on the likelihood of a positive result.

We are 1 of only 3 teams to come away with a point from Birmingham, the others are Blackpool (and they are yet to play the reverse fixture) and Reading who drew 1-1 (as we did) and at Reading it was a 0-0 draw could that be an omen?

Northampton Town FC (First Team) v Birmingham City F C (First Team)
Football League 1   
Referee: Joyce, Ross
Assistant Referee: Guest, Danny
Assistant Referee: Block, Jonathon
Fourth Official: Hair, Neil

I have a very bad feeling about this game.

Free hit. Birmingham have the league won so maybe they'll take it easy. The result of this game is not going to decide our season.

For a team that's running away with the league their recent form is nothing special - comfortably beaten at Bolton and scraping past Lincoln and Stevenage in their most recent home games. Having said that I have a sneaky feeling we might get hammered on Saturday.

Looking forward to it either way and it's a nice little excuse to look back at this... I doubt their fans will be any less arrogant this time ;)

https://vimeo.com/1028243039

100% Marvo

What I've noticed about Birmingham is that they get a lot of penalties (already into double figures) and they rarely win big. They have only scored more than 2 goals in 6 games and only won by more than 2 goals twice, Cambridge at home 4-0 (the only time they have scored 4) and Wigan away 3-0. the other 4 games are 3-1 home to Wrexham, 3-2 home to Peterborough, 3-2 away to Wycombe and 3-1 away to Lincoln.

Not much on their forum so far, apart from talks of resting players and one poster calling for revenge !!!!!

As there is no mention anywhere and it's already Wednesday, I take it the boxes in the East will still be empty this weekend? It has all gone a little quiet, are they still having problems with the safety certificate being granted?

I thought they would be opening for the Blackpool game?

I this is obviously one of those games where we're expected to get comprehensively beaten.

It's not unheard of for teams take a win for granted, just not give the opposition enough credit and that paves the way for an upset - we can hope right!

The test event? I was under the impression they can't all be open at one time and it needs to be staggered, so if it is the Blackpool game only a limited number will be open. I wonder why the test event wasn't this weekend with a view to have it at full capacity next weekend. 

Not heard about the boxes but they are certainly selling the additional rows of seats (L,M,N) in the East Stand for this one. That in itself should mean a record crowd for Sixfields on Saturday.

Revenge  :D

Birmingham fans are morons.

Marc Leonard is fit again and came on as a sub last night.

So pulling together some of the above, here is my preview for the game against Birmingham on Saturday.

The Blues come to us with a 14 point lead atop the table looking for an immediate return to The Championship following their relegation last season. Mathematically they only need five wins from their 11 remaining games to seal the deal.

Birmingham City only became Birmingham City in 1943, founded as Small Heath Alliance in 1875 before dropping the Alliance bit in 1888. They then became plain old Birmingham in 1905 before adding the City bit on in the war. They have spent roughly half their existence in the top flight although more recent times the second tier has predominantly been their level. With four second-tier titles to their name (1893/1921/1948 and 1955) and a third division title in 1995 they will be looking to add to their silverware, a haul which also includes the League Cup in 1963 and 2011 as well as the League Trophy in 1991 and 1995.

After seven consecutive 17th place or lower finishes in the Championship they finished 22nd last year and found themselves back in the third tier for the first time since 1995, during which time they had tasted life in the Premier League too with seven seasons at the top table between 2002 and 2011. Under the stewardship of Tom Wagner they want to get back to that level, Tom Brady is also in the background and they have big plans for a new ground in Birmingham capable of holding up to 62000 fans.

This season they have won 25 of their 35 games, losing only three. Those defeats came at Charlton, Shrewsbury and a week or so ago at Bolton. With 9 wins and four draws in the league away from home they sit second to Wycombe in away form. They have only one one of their last four away league games though (clutching at straws here!)
An early League Cup exit at Fulham has been complimented by a run in the FA Cup to the fourth round, bowing out to Newcastle, and they have also reached the final of the Trophy where they will meet Peterborough at Wembley in the middle of next month.

£15m man Jay Stansfield is their leading scorer. After a successful loan spell from Fulham last season Brum splashed the cash to make him the record third tier signing and he has obliged with 21 goals in all competitions so far this season. He has though picked up five bookings in his last eight games and did miss a couple of games through injury recently. He has been ably assisted by Alfie May who has 11 to his name this term, the former Cheltenham and Charlton man has not found the net since early January though, a barren spell of fifteen games. Former Celtic man Tomoki Iwata is a threat in midfield with seven goals to his name, alongside Kieran Dowell who is on loan from Rangers and has scored in the last two games.
Keshi Anderson is also in and around the team, a former Cobblers loanee in 2017 Anderson joined the Blues from Blackpool in 2023. Marc Leonard is also on the books of City of course, our player of the season from last year was injured in the Cup game against Newcastle but returned in midweek against Stevenage and should make the squad on Saturday.

Manager-wise Chris Davies is at the helm and with 35 wins from 48 games so far he isn't doing too badly! Davies took over in the Summer after Gary Rowett made his second exit. Before that Tony Mowbray had an illness affected spell in charge following the failed Wayne Rooney experiment and the controversial sacking of John Eustace.

Not too much of a head to head between Birmingham and The Cobblers, this will be only the sixth meeting between the two clubs, Blues have two wins to our one with two draws. This will be the first time Birmingham have played a competitive match at Sixfields, their last trip to Northampton was back in 1990 when we fought out a 2-2 draw, prior to that a 1966 Division 2 meeting when The Cobblers won 2-1. There are not many teams you can say have never won in Northampton but Birmingham fit that billing at the moment!!
Earlier this season the two sides drew 1-1 at St Andrews, 27485 fans witnessed Mitch Pinnock's 90th minute leveller as we became only one of three teams who have avoided defeat at Birmingham in their 19 home games this season.

Ross Joyce joined the League referees list in 2015, his first ever EFL game was at Sixfields as he handled our 3-0 win over Exeter in August of that year. Our latest encounter with him took place only a couple of months ago as he was the man in charge of our win at Burton. He's sent off two and booked 94 in his 23 games this season, 11 of those yellows came in one game between Blackpool and Exeter. We seem to have met him numerous times over the years including "that" last game of the season at Barrow in 2022, and our home win over Carlisle last season which is the last game he didn't feel the need to show a yellow card to anyone (29 games since then).
Having reffed almost exclusively in League 1 and 2 I can't see an game where he has ever reffed Birmingham in those 10 years on the League list.

Havent we played them about 3 times in pre season games?
BTP should be busy on Saturday as well. I may just be in town centre pre match, as it will get a bit busy in the Tavern. Does the Bear still have a lunchtime happy hour?  ;D

Every hour is happy hour in The Bear.

Fun fact - ex Birmingham City Centre Half Darren Purse was working at Malcolm Arnold Academy (aka Trinity) until a couple of years ago.

Amended....just for you!!

Yeah, will be a busy day on the rails on Saturday.....sort of glad I only work M-F!

No critiscism was intended mate. Excellent preview as always. (https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/styles/smilies/thumb.gif)

I assume this is revenge for what they saw as "Cobblers fans disrupting the remembrance day silence" at St Andrews in November? I think their fans got more upset about that than the actual result on the day!

Team news wise, not a lot out of the club yet other than Mbete's return in the U21 game. Of course Tyler Roberts will miss out on Saturday as per the loan arrangements between ourselves and the Blues.

Oh yes, the unfortunate incident that occurred during the minutes silence. They don't seem to understand it wasn't a deliberate act, just very bad timing.

The noise was NOT disrespectful during the minutes silence it was people coming through the turnstiles knowing nothing about the minutes silence,!

I think that's what I was saying  ;D

Revenge? What will they do, attempt to “take” the Hotel End? Say nasty things to people outside the ground? 🤡

Hammer us 6-0, taking away all our confidence that we will remain in League One, ensuring a free fall to the depths of League Two, à la Carlisle and then get consigned to non-league for the rest of our natural lives.

This is a fate worse than death, so I for one am taking this revenge threat seriously. Let's hope for a last minute equaliser that ruins their day and delights ours.

I'm quite happy to admit that I like it when the big clubs come to town. Especially those that have struggled themselves, and sit in the shadows of the clubs like Villa in the echelons above. It always adds a bit of spice to the game and brings a decent atmosphere.

This game also adds another dimension for me, and I'm sure some a lot more than me. It was a mate of mine at the time, who's brother died tragically at the BCFC v LUFC game. It's also a chance to reflect on a life lost so very young.

😁

A sad loss of life 🙏

I remember Ian Hambridge and mixed in similar circles being the same age, although I didn't know him personally. If I remember correctly it was the same day as the Bradford fire and didn't get much coverage other than local press at the time. I believe that both clubs still recognise his passing every year.

Personally I think they maybe looking for "Revenge " because little ole  NorthamptonTown had the nerve to score a last minute equaliser,  sending a number of their fans scurrying to the exits in embarrassment  ;D  

Half of them had already left by the time we scored, they missed the best bit!

I think that unlikely, potential champions Birmingham are hardly prolific in the scoring department. 58 goals in 35 matches.

We've only finished as Champions 4 times, but under Wilder (2015/6) we'd scored 64 goals at this point, under Bowen (1962/3) we'd scored 74, under Herbert Chapman (1908/9) it was 81 and under Carr (1986/7) we'd scored 84 times.

Note: We also finished as Champions of the Northants league in 1898/9 but that only consisted of 9 teams, so just 16 matches. We did manage 49 goals though so just over 3 a game.

That's blown it now Marvo. When the inevitable happens, I know where I will be pointing the accusatory finger of blame.

And it won't be Max Dyche or the Imp.

Although they are 14 points ahead at the top of the table Birmingham's recent results have not been impressive, a 1-3 defeat at Bolton, 1-0 home win against Lincoln with a penalty and a 2-1 home win against Stevenage helped with a very soft penalty for the first goal. As I said in an earlier post the penalties they have been awarded runs into double figures but Saturdays referee Ross Joyce has not awarded a penalty in 24 games this season.
They have scored 2 goals or more 18 times (8 away) and have failed to score 6 times (5 away).
They have conceded 2 goals or more only 4 times (3 away) and have kept an impressive 18 clean sheets (6 away).

With Roberts unable to play will KN recall Fosu or play NGW at left wing back, switch Pinnock to the right and move Hoskins forward? We can call the game a free hit and chances are that we will have to score to get a result as they have scored in 12 of their last 13 games and we have not kept a clean sheet at home in our last 6. Can we spring a surprise? Shrewsbury certainly did when they beat them 3-2.
We were expected to lose at Huddersfield - but we didn't.
We were expected to lose at Birmingham - but we didn't.
We are expected to lose on Saturday - ??????????

Approach it like a cup tie. GET UP IN THEIR STINKING BRUM FACES.

Maybe a few chants about how they are "scared" to let Roberts play against them?

When Leonard comes off the bench do we give him a warm reception or a big Birmingham WHO?

A chant the Birmingham fans that seem to dislike hearing is "Champions of Europe, you'll never sing that".
You wil note we are not making any claims ourselves.

I thought he was injured? Is he fit now?

If he plays he will get a warm reception from me.

Leonard came on as sub on Tuesday against Stevenage.

Only 5 tickets showing as available yet block 138-153 in the east stand is showing as not available and that is usually for home supporters. I hope we haven't given that block (over 200 seats) to Birmingham, away supporters have not had that block before but it is odd that it cannot be booked.

I'm pretty sure that block will be used as segregation, as sometimes happens with higher profile games. So that will knock 100 or so off the attendance.

We usually have that block for home supporters as between that block and the away supporters there are only a few back rows of seats which act as segregation.

It has been used as segregation before. Peterborough last season, for example. No idea how they decide which games require additional segregation - maybe on police advice? Could be wrong though.

The block couldn't have been used for segregation for last seasons Peterborough game as the crowd was 7684 which is only 114 below our capacity. If that block of 212 had been used for segregation the most we could have had would be 7586.

The vast majority of it was segregation as you can see in the screenshot. There's no way the area lost amounts to 212 seats.

According to their forum there'll be a few of 'em in home areas, well 6 or so at least have said they will, probably a few more as well. Hope they keep their mouths shut.

I’ll have em. I’ll have me scarf tied around me wrist tomorrow. Ready for bovver..

There's been a police car down the stadium quite a few times over the past week or 2, most likely liasing over the few high profile games coming up

Thats it then. Riot vans at the station, horses up the Drapery, and chaos in the Bear.  ;D

I do hope they are not in the East Stand areas, we’ve only just done it up you know?

Be careful Terence, you aren't as young as you used to be. And you won't have the might of the Headhunters stood behind you as back up.

I spoke to a couple of them this morning and was shocked when one of them said he come here to die!!!!

Then his mate said he got here yesterday.

Most of us bought up handfuls of tickets in the LCS stand blocks nearest Away end back in Feb knowing we'd only have a tiny allocation.....assume thats the east

PS it’s Frain93 to be precise! I doubt you were there that day 😉

They normally pop off to Aberystwyth to do that.

Probably have worked better if you'd put 'yester die'?  :)

Didn't want to make it to easy.  ;)

Did you offer them a kipper tie?

Works great with a Stan Collymore impression!

I don’t really have a problem with Blues fans, they should never be in this division and are a big club.
After today I hope they win all their remaining games.
I remember the game back in 1990, before St Andrews was redeveloped 😉

Strange how the Wrexham game was sold out on the Tuesday (although there was a lot of empty seats at kick off) and this game isn't.

Two Ronnies ?

Trophies won.
Villa 22.
Wolves 17.
WBA 9.
Blues 2.
They might think they're a big club, but within the West Mids they are not.

Bigger than Walsall.

Daventry will be empty this afternoon  ;)

Sergeant Wilson...

True, but they don't really count.

I’m not overly optimistic about this one.

Looks like eaves 2 week injury has turned into 4 again

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GmFjS4AXIAAWbaI?format=jpg&name=small)

Afternoon

I think Mr Nolan's words were "a few weeks". In my interpretation that's 3 to about 5 or 6. Two would be a couple.

1-0 get in! ffs  ;D

Hurrah!

own goal maybe? dunno

Yes, own goal.

Nolly in!!!

I love it when clubs fuck about at the back, you're always in with a chance.

What a T. Iwata....

Arigato gozaimasu

thats twice that brum have f***ed uo playing from the back

perry down

25% possession yet BBC says we've had 8 shots to their 1

A goal for Barnsley and Rovrum and we could be up to 15th. Mind you, asecond half cave in and we're down to 19th... Volatile....

Zut alors

Doh

1-1 bollox

20th even... Ugh

But no-one below us gaining ground

Nolly out!!

 k anderson one of ours

what is it with former players ? I dont want to see Leonard come on and score

How is Leonard not good enough to start for this team?

A comfortable 20th

7947 attendance

This is becoming hard work

Hmmm Burton score

Could have done without that

Cmon lads, late winner

Tbh Gas and Stags will fall through us. Gas getting pumped 5 nil

eight minutes???

Hmmm saying that Stags score

Hanging on a bit now

1-1 FT im happy tonight!

Take a point tbf

Great point that.

Settle for that  :)

Would have snapped your hand off for a point before the game.

Tbf, we're the only side in the bottom ten who've bucked the form today so can't really moan. Burton winning wasn't exactly a shock

Take the point all day long but what an oddly tepid game it was. Very quiet away support and whilst they pass the ball like there’s no tomorrow I didn’t feel we were going to lose at any point.

Particularly pleasing that it wasn't just smash & grab, we'd had the best chances until the last ten minutes when we were shattered. How Leonard didn't get any game time in that Birmingham midfield is a mystery.

What we lack for in quality we really make up for with our ferocious press under Nolan. To be undefeated against the runaway leaders is remarkable.

This.

Reminds me of the season when the Cobblers drew home and away with the mighty Man City

Hello Brummies reading this. Thats twice weve done you this season. Not many other teams will get to say that, so allow us a moment with a team of your "magnitude". There were two sets of strangers in town today, the Rockabilly Bedlam breakout boys n girls, in the Bear prior to going to the Roadmender, and some unruly mob in the Penny Loafer around the pool table.
One of these mentioned, had manners, not attitude. And it was like a Stan Collymore tribute act in the Penny Loafer. Absolutely hysterical accents!
You can play around at the back all day, but youre not as good as you think you are. Remember this, you are a failed Championship team.

https://www.skysports.com/football/northampton-town-vs-birmingham-city/509230

We would have taken a point before the game and fully deserved to get one. Deserved to be ahead at half time and could have gone 2 up before they scored in added time with their first effort on target, 10 shots to their 2 in the first half tells the story of the half. They were better in the second half and wasted 2 decent chances. We defended pretty well and nice to see Magloire back who had a good game and not surprisingly was suffering with cramp late on.

Last seasons 3 promoted teams Portsmouth, Derby and to a lesser extent Oxford have all struggled in the Championship and on that performance so will Birmingham who didn't look as good as Portsmouth or Derby did last season. They will certainly need several additions to the squad if they are going to stay up but looking at their forum some posters say this squad was put together to be ready for the Championship in which case I think they will struggle.

We were expected to lose at Huddersfield - but we didn't.
We were expected to lose at Birmingham - but we didn't.
We are expected to lose on Saturday - BUT WE DIDN'T

A good battling and well deserved point. First half we were excellent and should have been further ahead. I expected Brum to turn it on second half and win comfortably but they didn’t at all. They had chances but so did we. Nolan really has us working hard, making us hard to beat and I like it.
 A record Sixfields crowd, which to be fair was quiet at times, but then loud when the team needed us most. Brum fans very quiet throughout, very poor I thought. Probably think they are too good to be coming to places like this.
Shame Burton won. We can’t quite shake them off although they still have to win two more games than us in the last nine games and I think we will win at least 3. Can they win 5 from their 9?

Great point, a little disappointed it’s not three but that’s being greedy.

Our work rate and application was superb.

They pass it well but it’s pretty toothless and dull, awful away support to for a supposed sleeping giant.

I thought we deserved that point. We were the better team in the first half and could have been two if not three up before their goal. On another day McGeehan would have buried that header and I thought Sammy was unlucky with the shot that just shaved the bar. What Pinnock was doing shooting form his own half though is another matter.

Second half was always going to be a struggle as we have so many players who can't play 90 minutes due to coming back from injuries but to a man they defended as if their lives depended on it. Just one thing though that irked me, we gave the guy on the left wing far too much room to run at us in the second half (no idea who he was), but that is about my only criticism. Stansfield missed a good chance, although the angle may have been tighter than it looked from where I was sitting, and one of their players had a free header which he totally squandered. All in all though whatever you think of Birmingham they were not 14 points clear for no reason and we have done extremely well to remain unbeaten in the two games against them. When you think what they paid for Stansfield is probably more than we have paid for all our players since formation in 1897 it puts things in perspective.

I thought Magloire played well in his first 90 minutes for several years, if only we could keep him fit he would be a great player I think. T.J. looked solid when he came on and young Dyche gets better every game. Mbete could be in the squad soon and surely Eaves can't be much further away to give us more options. On a  lighter note, when Koiki came on I had to look him up in the programme as I had no idea who No 14 was - it has been a long time Ali so forgive me - good idea to play him up front as well. If only Roberts had been able to play and Shaw had been fit I think we may have won that.

Well done lads.

Odd that Birmingham couldn’t sell their allocation of about1450 (without the use of the extra seats) and only brought 1379. They were certainly very quiet for the most part.

Well deserved point, just a shame we weren't two or three up before Brum scored. A two goal lead at half time would have been warranted, their goal must have been the first time they got into our penalty area.
Birmingham improved 2nd half but never looked brilliant, they could only play as well as we let them and in the first half we didn't give them time to breathe.
The work rate of all our players and their refusal to be beaten was fantastic, even though some like Magloire could barely walk by the end.

A special award to the Brum support(?) for being the quietest fans at Sixfields in this or any other season!

With that accent I don’t blame them.

On this, why did the stewards allow at least 50 Bluenoses stand at the front of the south, towards the east corner?

I had a Birmingham fan sit next to me. He never said a word all through the game but everytime Birmingham attacked in the second half and particularly in the second half, when the move broke down he put his head in his hands. He never celebrated their goal. Normally I can engage the person next to me in conversation, but not this one and it took me until deep into the second half to realise why. I didn't have a problem with him, he paid his money and was just quietly supporting his team, but some people may have objected.

Minimum wage probably. Let in by the police rather than have them outside?

Hopefully not - we got relegated that season!

Crowds and expectations 👍

There were a lot of Brummie fans in the Home end, especially Hospitality.

Didn't our Commercial Manager come from Birmingham, sold them to his old customers?

Quite right too, just another human, come to watch a game of footie and not make any fuss about it. Most of us have done it at some point. Bigger Boy Bingers first time was Wrexham away this season.


More in common than in difference.....

More observations from yesterdays game:-

A pity Birmingham couldn't give Leonard a 20 minute cameo against his old club.

On the day I didn't think £20million Stansfield was any better than Costelloe.

While we defended stoutly we continue to make too many hurried clearances for somebody to chase often resulting in the ball coming straight back at us. The stats for the number of completed successful passes tells a damning story, Birmingham 511 out of 624 - 81.9% successful, Cobblers 89 out of 185 - 48.1% successful. We need to try to find a team mate more regularly with our clearances and KN knows this as he has said on more than 1 occasion that we give up possession too cheaply.

Having had a crowd of 7947 yesterday will we top 8000 by the end of the season from our last 5 home games? I think there is only 1 game where this is possible as we would need the away team to sell out their allocation. Blackpool last season only brought 323 but it was a Tuesday night game but I cannot see them bringing 1450 on Saturday. Rotherham is on a Tuesday night so that is unlikely. Shrewsbury last season brought 771 so again unlikely and they will probably be relegated when then come here, Wigan last game of the season will probably be a dead rubber and they only brought 622 last season. This leaves the only possibility being when Reading visit, they brought 1285 last season and could sell out providing they still have a chance of reaching the play offs.

With the scheduled opposition in our last five home games, we are unlikely to surpass last seasons total. Nevertheless it should still be our second highest aggregate, not only at Sixfields but since the 1970/1 season, so over 50 years. What a shame we didn't have the East stand completed a little sooner. Never mind, there is always next season.

Yesterday we became only the second team Birmingham have failed to beat in either fixture this season, as I said in a previous post Reading also drew both games. Birmingham dropped points away to Charlton ,Stockport, Wrexham and Bolton but they all lost at Birmingham. This only leaves another 3 teams who could go unbeaten against them and they are Blackpool who drew away but still have to play them at home, Mansfield who drew at home but still have to play them away and Shrewsbury who beat them at home but still have to play them away.

I agree, I thought Stansfield was poor throughout the game, although he should have scored. I think Burnley have a gem on their hands with young Costelloe but will he be good enough for the Prem if they get there? Hopefully they will loan him to us again and maybe even sell him although that seems unlikely as I believe he has signed a new contract. I would love us to sign Taylor too, we will miss him when we play Charlton.

Surely the only way we could top 8,000 is if the away team only had the South Stand, otherwise we have to leave empty seats between home and away in the East.

Our new capacity is supposed to 8203.

Tall
Northampton are absolutely garbage, gifted them a draw at home, our own fault for not being 4-0 up, which we should have been

^^^ This ^^^

They had a one on one which Allsop saved with their 1st attack of the game ,then a little purple patch sort of the last 5 minutes of normal time which we managed .In between that we mullered them. We should have been 4 or 5 nil up.

The ref then decides there is 7 mins OT mostly from their goalie holding on to the ball .Though he hilariously gave Allsop a yellow for time wasting.

We gifted them a chance from a big up and under which Klarer and Iwata failed to deal with( i thought it was a foul on the big man) . Which Pinnock who spent both games kicking people up in the air finished well tbf in the 7th minute of OT with virtually the last kick of the game.

I don't think some of their fans like us very much, rubbish little Northampton Town refusing to lose  :-*

Take from the Small Heath Alliance forum

I wish I had been there, I don't think I have ever seen Pinnock make a tackle, let alone kick people up in the air. Sean Dyche and Jason Taylor maybe, but Pinnock! My word he is rejuvenated in his new role as midfield enforcer.

Let’s hope we can continue in league one, as in all honesty that is our ceiling at the moment. And they can stay in the championship which is most definitely their ceiling.

It amuses me that they seem to think Pinnock is some sort of hard man rather than a mercurial winger who always jibbed out of challenges (until he started being played out of position as a wing back!)

Looks like there was more singing in Long Buckby, that there was in the ground.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh0lPGeLZ5c

Oh my giddy aunt!

Birmingham are MASSIVE!!

TBF they had won a trophy more recently than Newcastle, were the first English club to get to a major European final and named after the second biggest city in the country.

One of the biggest under achievers in the country with the worst accent. Their biggest saving grace is that Adrian Chiles supports WBA.

It must be very galling for them to turn up at small clubs and not win.

Especially whilst Villa are playing in Paris in the Champions League Semi quarters

That would sting!

Grounds man needs sacking. He's fixed the bobbly pitch but made it sticky now!

https://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/sport/football/birmingham-city-boss-blames-sticky-sixfields-pitch-for-unfortunate-own-goal-against-cobblers-5036220

Quarters.
Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

They are such an entitled bunch of @rsewipes who cant seem to grasp reality. Welcome to League One, a division that you are in for a reason.
In a way they remind me of when we had Leeds down here. Except that Leeds had a margionally less hysterical accent.

I don't think we watered the pitch before the game or during half time which is unusual.

"Home team in trying to give themselves as much of an advantage as possible shocker"

It was definitely being watered about an hour before kick off

A blues fan I know booked hospitality for the game. We really do sell hospitality far too cheap! Think he said it was about £200 cheaper than buying the equivalent at St Andrews.

Exactly, whatever next home fans in a home stand.

I think that includes a Balti pie and compulsory meet and greet with Jasper Carrott.

I suppose thats an upgrade from Bob Carolgees and Spit the dog.
Was Sandy from Crossroads in the wheelchair section?   :D

I've met Jasper a couple of times, he's a good guy.

Should have played Funky Moped before kick off.

It is certainly possible to have a crowd of over 8000 with away supporters still in the east stand when their total allocation is just over 1450. On Saturday strangely Birmingham didn't sell out and brought 1379 but if they had brought 1432 the crowd would have been 8000.
The home support on Saturday was 6568 when Mansfield came they brought 1435 so with a similar home support the crowd would have been 8003.
                                                            when Peterborough came they brought 1465 so with a similar home support the crowd would have been 8033.
Also the away support in the east increases with the extra seating now available.
We could still have topped 8000 on Saturday as there was at least the extra 53 vacant seats available for home supporters.

I watched one of the Birmingham vlogs, the guys had tickets but seem to have been told it was unallocated seating and their vid seemed to show stewards directing them to the East. Seemingly they didn't want to go there so just stood in front of the seating.

So any suggestion that the police let fans in without tickets probably isn't accurate.

Regarding unallocated seating, it's fine when we're away at Wigan or Bolton on Tuesday nights with 200 fans in a 2000 seat block but probably not so good when the away following is a sell out.

FWIW, the two Brum vlogs I watched... Yes they were a little cocky but under the circumstances with their backing and runaway leadership, I don't hold that against them, I can remember some of us bigging it up during our Wilder season. Certainly during the Carr promotion season, we thought we were invincible, tho obviously there was nothing like this forum back then to "big it up". Post game, the Brum fans were quite gracious in that they'd failed to beat us over the two games and similarly, acknowledged that we dominated for long periods.

They do need a few more songs tho.... 90 minutes of "all that money and top of the league" must get dull

https://www.bcfc.com/pages/en/media-article/bluenoses-set-to-hit-the-road-again
Smaller allocations now for away fans?
I suppose there might have to be as the away section will have to be kept back from the first gangway underneath the stand as there is no segregated concourse.

Thank you for that GPC. We still ought to be able to top 8000 as the capacity is said to increase to 8203 and as I said in the previous post we only needed our home support to be 53 higher on Saturday to reach 8000 and their were plenty of empty seats.

I am more puzzled now that Birmingham allocation was 1374 because according to the Reading site they have been given the usual 1473.

We don't like them  ;)

In theory it should be higher than 1473 because of the 2 new rows of seats but for some reason we don't seem to be letting people use them - even on Saturday the back 2 rows were mostly off limits in the away section.