Joys of a European Adventure

Here is another article By Lauren Round, this time focusing on Thursday! 

27 February 2011, thousands of Bluenoses are jumping for joy after watching the Blues do the unthinkable; winning the League Cup at Wembley. At first every Bluenose was lost in happiness and shock that the Blues had actually won something and won something through an outstanding performance, a performance that showed extreme passion and determination that set Wembley alight with Bluenose pride; a day that not one single loyal Bluenose would forget. After the magnitude of the shock died down, the loyal Blues supporters remembered the silver lining that came with winning the League Cup; the first place in Europe. A frenzy of excitement filled the heads of the Bluenoses, it was a realisation that it was finally Birmingham’s time to shine and time to step out of the shadow of our hated rivals across the second city.

22 May 2011, thousands of Bluenose’s heads lay in their hands. Blues had once again done the unthinkable, but this time we had fallen mercy to the shame of relegation, the extreme contrast to the celebrations that had filled Wembley earlier in the year. Now as Bluenoses, the excitement from being in Europe had dulled to a worry that our newly relegated team would not be able to handle both the pressures of Europe and of the Championship, and who would this team who would represent us in Europe be? We all know that Birmingham are not exactly blessed with money and we knew our big stars would flee from the club quicker than someone would flee from a house on fire. It was time to question if the European Adventure was fading from a joy to a sorrow, before we had even started.

18 August 2011, the day has finally arrived; the day Birmingham joined the European Circus. The qualifying match against C.D Nacional away in the sunny climates of Portugal didn’t satisfy Bluenoses with the result, a mere 0-0 draw meant we hadn’t exactly hit the ground running, however Bluenoses were delirious with the feeling of playing in Europe and even though we were not officially in the competition yet, no Bluenose could dismiss the pride and glory it gave them watching their boys go out and play in Europe. The feeling of pride masqueraded into the highest of highs on the 25 August 2011, at home in the haven of St Andrews, the Blues produced the most spectacular of wins – a 3-0 victory over C.D Nacional in the 2^nd leg of the Europa League Qualifiers that saw the Blues soar into Europe with a bang. The young and ever ambitious Nathan Redmond was the star of the night; his beautifully placed opening goal in the first 11 minutes rallied the Blues to the victory we needed. I couldn’t have enjoyed the victory more and as a Bluenose my heart was beating furiously with Bluenose Pride (the victory also was a much welcomed birthday present to me, as my 16^th birthday was the following day.)

Our first match in Europa League ended with disappointment, 3-1 to the 2010 runners up of the competition SC Braga. Despite what the score line may suggest, the Blues did us proud and battled on right to the end. A goal from Marlon King made the defeat less and despite the defeat, the Bluenose support could not be dented. The Second match in Europa League took place in the unfamiliar-to-many Slovenia, when Blues took on the challenge of the virtually unknown to us NK Maribor. The match didn’t get off to the best of starts, an awkward and questionable pass from Jonathan Spector to Colin Doyle caused a howler for Doyle when his attempt at a goal kick failed and left Dalibor Volas the easy task of slotting the ball into the back of the net. A remarkable turnaround occurred in the match and the Blues boys did not let us down with Chris Burke and Wade Elliott giving the score line a complete overhaul and the Bluenoses were once again on cloud nine.

20 October, saw Blues once again do the Bluenoses proud, with the same score line as our last Europa League game in Belgium, when the Blues took on Club Brugge. The game saw us dominate despite letting in an early goal, and in the absence of our loyal captain Stephen Carr through injury, the ever reliable Steven Caldwell stepped up to the plate as Liam Ridgewell had done in the match against NK Maribor. David Murphy through intelligent thinking timed a run well, to header in a confident goal in the 26^th minute. The game saw a darker side nearing the end of the match when Pablo Ibanez was knocked unconscious, shocking and worrying Blues players and fans alike, however the sorrow was overturned when the ever faithful Kiwi loan signing Chris Wood gave us a late, late win that sent the Bluenoses into hysteria.

With a Europa League home tie against Club Brugge approaching on Thursday, the Bluenoses are gearing up for another great match and fingers crossed a magnificent win once again. It is now that I’ve finally realised the answer to my question, that Blues playing in Europe is an ABSOLUTE JOY!