Continuing our look at the three new clubs in next season's Barclays Premier League…
Club Name: Birmingham City Football Club
Nickname: Blues
Stadium: St. Andrew's (Capacity: 30,009)
Manager: Alex McLeish
Last Season Finish: Coca-Cola Championship Runners-Up (2nd)
Top Scorer: Kevin Phillips (14)
Distance from Britannia Stadium: 45 miles
Profile
Birmingham City are the second team from the Midlands to have been promoted from the Coca-Cola Championship for next season.
They sealed their promotion back to the top flight at the first attempt on the final day of the season with a 2-1 win over Reading at the Madejski Stadium.
The Blues had managed to keep the majority of their playing staff from the previous Barclays Premier League campaign in their bid for an immediate return.
They were also boosted with the arrivals of Kevin Phillips, Lee Carsley and Marcus Bent from West Bromwich Albion, Everton and Charlton Athletic respectively.
A fantastic start to last season saw three straight victories from their first three opening games and they also went on to pick up at least nine points in each of September, October, November and December.
Alex McLeish's side then endured a bad patch in the first couple of months of 2009 but with the arrival of loan signings such as Lee Bowyer and Scott Sinclair, they pushed on in the latter stages.
They've already been in business this summer with the signing of highly rated Ecuadorian striker Christian Benitez, who joined on a three year contract for an undisclosed club record fee, as well as today's arrival of Coventry City defender Scott Dann.
The Boss
Alex McLeish finished his first full season in charge of the Blues by winning promotion back into the Premier League.
He had replaced Steve Bruce, who left the club for Wigan Athletic, in November 2007 after quitting his job as Scotland boss a few days previously.
He couldn't have started life better in the Birmingham hotseat and won his first game in charge, winning 3-2 away at Tottenham Hotspur.
James McFadden and Mauro Zarate were then recruited in the January transfer window to bolster his attacking options but they only picked up three points until March.
McLeish still had hopes of avoiding the drop but they were indeed relegated despite a 4-1 win over Blackburn Rovers on the final day of the season.
Last summer then saw him rebuild the squad further to stamp his authority on the side. Mikael Foresell, Fabrice Muamba, Olivier Kapo and Daniel de Ridder all left St. Andrew's with Phillips, Carsley and Bent the club's summer signings.
A former manager of Rangers and the Scottish national team, McLeish will be looking to replicate his successes in the other blue shirts by firstly consolidating his team in the top flight.
Star Man
Left back Franck Queudrue scooped the club's player of the season award but you would have to say an in-form Kevin Phillips could still prove to be a problem to Premier League defences.
Now 35, Phillips switched the Hawthorns for St Andrews last summer when it looked like he would be giving the top flight one last crack with West Bromwich Albion.
But he wasn't giving up on one last hurrah at the summit of English football and promptly scored 14 goals to help fire Birmingham back into the big time.
His big break in football was at Watford in the 1990's where he netted 25 goals in 63 games after a move from non-league Baldock Town.
Sunderland snapped him up in the summer of 1997 after a failed moved to Ipswich Town and from there his career really did start to blossom.
A strike partnership with now-Black Cats chairman Niall Quinn helped to coin the nickname "Super Kev" as Phillips fired them to the Premier League, breaking goalscoring records along the way.
He moved to Southampton when they were relegated in 2003 and formed a formidable partnership with City striker James Beattie before the latter moved on to Everton.
Moves to Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion later followed and so have more goals as he looks to get past the 250 senior goals mark in what could well be his last season as a professional.
Connections
The Potters signed Birmingham full back Stephen Kelly on loan for the final few months of last season.
Salif Diao spent a brief loan spell with the Blues in 2005, making two appearances for them while Thomas Sorensen played for their arch rivals Aston Villa.
Lou Macari managed both sides during the 1990's and brought a number of players with him to the Victoria Ground - including the likes of Vince Overson, Nigel Gleghorn, Simon Sturridge and Paul Peschisolido.
Other players to have played for both sides include Jimmy Greenhoff, Howard Kendall, Mark Prudhoe, Dave Regis, Graham Potter, Keith Bertschin and John Gayle.
Head-To-Head
League
Won 37, Drew 18, Lost 27
FA Cup
Won 2, Drew 3, Lost 3
Last Top Flight Meeting
1983/84
In the first game, Noel Blake scores the only goal of the game at St. Andrew's before later signing for the Potters.
The re-match at the Victoria Ground saw Paul Dyson's header and a Steve Bould strike put City 2-0 up before Howard Gayle gave the visitors a late consolation. He also went to have a brief spell with Stoke. Mick Harford saw red after hitting Alan Hudson.
Birmingham City 1 Stoke City 0
6th September 1983
Stoke City 2 Birmingham City 1
17th March 1984
Last Time Out
2006/07
Both sides played out a goalless draw in August of 2006 at the Britannia Stadium before the Potters suffered a 1-0 defeat in an early morning kick off at Birmingham the following February.
Gary McSheffrey scored the only goal of the game in the 71st minute.
Stoke City 0 Birmingham City 0
12th August 2006
Birmingham City 1 Stoke City 0
11th February 2007
Transfers
In: Stephen Carr (free), Christian Benitez (Santos Laguna, undisclosed), Scott Dann (Coventry City, undisclosed)
Out: Medhi Nafti (Aris Thessaloniki, free), Artur Krysiak (released), Radhi Jaidi (released)
bet365 odds
To win the Premier League: 5000/1
To be relegated: 4/5
To finish bottom: 7/2
