View from the South – Birmingham City v Swansea City – Saturday 7 November 2026
The milky mist of Autumn was waiting for us as Nellie and I stepped out for her morning walk through the local woods. It wasn’t too cold and the day was still and quiet in the dewy atmosphere. We followed our familiar path along the woodland path festooned with the amber, wet leaves that had fallen in droves this week. I love this time of the year. There is something about the nip in the air, the smell of the leaf mould and the muffled sounds of the mist. We were soon back indoors and while Nellie tucked into her bowl of food I made coffee for Mrs Bazza and started the process of levering my youngest son, Ben out of bed. Ben is a night owl and can be like a bear with a sore arse in the mornings but in fairness he got up when called but his mother’s promise of scrambled eggs on toast my have provided the motivation!
Everything was going to plan so far it seemed as Ben and I made our way down to Blackwater station. The train was delayed but not by so much that we were going to miss our connection at Reading but it wouldn’t have mattered anyway as the Manchester train was twenty minutes late! The Blackwater train was grossly overcrowded due to a breakdown earlier so our mood was beginning to darken. It was a case of “hurry up and wait” as they used to say when I was in the Army. We go t to Leamington Spa a little late but nevertheless, there was time for a pint in The Old Library with Chris, Jack and Seb. Will and little Will were not able to attend this one. Little Will was playing for his local club originally early doors but the kickoff was moved. He was introducing a mate of his as a new player and felt he couldn’t cry off and let everyone down. This was undoubtedly the right thing to do, endorsed by his dad who told me in the week that he was going to stay and watch his game.
After a couple of pints we made our way back to the station and arrived at Bordesley around half past two. We walked up to the ground from there and took our seats in time to observe the minute silence in respect of the fallen in past conflicts which was beautifully observed. The teams with shirts decorated with poppies lined up and the match got underway. Swansea have had a good season to date and are challenging like us at the top end of the table. This promised to be a tough assignment therefore.
That prophesy nearly came to fruition when the away side started brightly showing plenty of intent. After ten minutes a corner to Swansea from the family stand side at the Tilton end got blown up by the referee for a free kick. Unfortunately, the free kick turned out to be a penalty award. No one in the ground seemed to know what the offence was and even the noisy Welsh contingent didn’t realise until it became obvious. Alex Cochrane was adjudged to have have fouled one of the Swansea players but for the life of me, I couldn’t see anything that merited such a serious award. Penalty it was and we sat back waiting to go 1-0 down. Ryan Allsop had other ideas and dived correctly to his right to save Ross Stewart’s spot kick at the foot of the post. This was as good as a goal and the home crowd was up. Nevertheless, Swansea so nearly took the lead minutes later when from a superb cross Gonçalo-Franco headed against the post. The rebound luckily fell to one of our defenders and was cleared. This seemed to wake Blues up and we started to play with a bit more fluidity. Then came the moment that changed the game. On 26 minutes Marko Stamenic kept in two footed as Ethan Laird was driving forward in midfield. The red card was rightly brandished confirming my view that it was a sending off from the moment I saw it. Three minutes later a flowing move down the right and a lovely pass down the right channel to Max Bird led to a perfect cut back for the oncoming Jay Stansfield to sweep the ball into the far corner giving the keeper no chance. Blues were in complete control now and should have increased their lead. Lawrence Vigouroux, in goal for Swansea saved superbly from Liam Millar and then from the rebound Max Bird was denied twice! Jay Stansfield then hit the post with a header and Liam Millar took the paint off the wrong side of the far post with a curled shot from the left. It was an eventful first half. In a match where Blues could easily have been 2-0 down they could just as easily have been 3-0 or 4-0 to the good.
The second half was more attritional and Blues failed to push home their advantage. They were to pay the price for all those missed opportunities when from a corner on the far side Josh Tymon’s inswinging kick was simply not dealt with. There was a total mix up and poor communication and the ball eventually came off Christoph Klarer and fell into the back of the net. Allsop has to take responsibility for this and gleefully accepting the gift they had been given, the away fans joyfully celebrated being back at 1-1. I thought the game had got away from us to be honest and although Blues went after a winner it didn’t look likely as stubborn defending from the ten men of Swansea looked to have secured an unlikely point. However, with three minutes left of normal time, a corner by substitute Demarai Gray was won in the air by Neumann at the far post back into the danger area where Jay Stansfield was lurking to lash the ball back across the keeper through a forest of bodies to bulge the net. St Andrew’s erupted and there was the little matter of negotiating 8 minutes of time added on. Jay Stansfield had a chance from inside his own half to shoot into an empty net from very long range but the attempt was a tall order from where he was but it signalled the final whistle and we could celebrate being top of the Championship going into the international break!
Stanno’s winner from the corner of the Kop. Happy to credit who’s video it is but it was passed to me so not sure at the moment.
The Good: Swansea’s Chilean international goalkeeper! He kept Swansea in the game in the first half and his performance so nearly forged a point out of a bad situation for his side. He stood no chance with either of Stanno’s goals though. Despite being on the losing side he was the stand out player of the afternoon.
The Bad: Our defending for the goal we conceded. It was a bit of ‘after you Claud’ which meant no one including Ryan Allsop attacked the corner kick when it came in.
The Ugly: The tackle that led to the red card. It was a shocker.
Birmingham City: Ryan Allsop 7, Ethan Laird 7, Phil Neumann 8, Christoph Klarer 7, Alex Cocrane 8, Tomoki Iwata 8, Jhon Solis 6, Max Bird 8 (Marvin Ducksch 70, 6) Patrick Roberts 7 (Carlos Vincente 57, 6) Jay Stansfield 9, Liam Millar 8 (Demarai Gray 71, 7) (Luis Vasquez 85, N/A)
Subs not used: Brett Mayo, Dael Fry, Taylor Gardner-Hickman, Bright Osayi-Samuel.
Goals: Stansfield 29, 87.
Yellow cards: Laird 54, Stansfield 55.
Swansea City: Lawrence Vigouroux 9, Filip Lissah 7, Ben Cabango 7, Jensen Seelt 7, Josh Tymon 8, Gonçalo-Franco 8 (Opoku 86, N/A) Jay Fulton 7 (Melker Widell 81, N/A) Marko Stamenic 4 (sent off 26) Moussa Yeo 7 (Elijah Just 59, 7) Ross Stewart 7 (Zan Vipotnik 59, 7) Eorn Ji-Sung (Josh Key 45, 7)
Subs not used: Adam Idah, Andy Fisher, Tom Iorpenda, Carter Heywood.
Goals: Klarer 65 (og)
Yellow cards: Stewart 42, Fulton 49.
Red card: Stamenic 26
Referee: Anthony Backhouse 2; I try not to denigrate officials because as fans we all have a habit of questioning their eyesight and their parentage but I have to say this official’s performance was by far the worst I have seen in years. The penalty award was a joke and there were far too many basic decisions for both sides that were just plain wrong. In the second half he failed to give us a clear penalty and things were summed up near the end when he awarded a throw in to Swansea when I saw with my own eyes that the Swansea player had had the last touch. A minor issue yes but there was a string of them and it was frustrating for both sets of players. The red card was one of the decisions he did get right. At least he was consistent; consistently poor!
Attendance: 28,005
KRO Bazza
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