What Tom Wagner first said when Knighthead took over at Birmingham City | OneFootball

Football League World takes a look back at Tom Wagner's first words following his takeover of Birmingham City.

It's been an extraordinary season for Birmingham City, and while they were not able to complete the double after losing in the Vertu Trophy final, they did pick up the League One title in superb fashion.

The 2024/25 campaign will be one to remember for Blues fans, and the heartbreak and misery of last year's relegation will already have been forgotten about as they prepare for life back in the Championship.

Under the watchful eye of owner Tom Wagner, the West Midlands outfit have been excellent both on the pitch and off it, with Chris Davies' first season in management going exactly the way he wanted it to.

Birmingham are already preparing to go big in the summer transfer window, as they did when they started to get ready for the third tier, and Football League World has taken a look back at Wagner's first words when he purchased the club.

Wagner's first words as the owner of Birmingham

Under the previous ownership, Blues were a club going backwards, with repairs to St. Andrew's taking longer than they should have, meaning that certain sections of the stadium were closed.

However, hope was renewed when the American businessman became interested in buying a stake in the then Championship team and his first purchase eventually went through in May 2023 as he took control of the day-to-day running of the club.

After buying a 45.64% stake in Birmingham, Wagner detailed his vision for the coming years: "This is an exciting opportunity for a number of reasons.

"We are incredibly excited to be a part of the broader Birmingham City community and we believe that a transformation of Birmingham City Football Club can help lead further transformation of the city itself.

"We are really committed long-term to helping grow not only the team but all it can bring to the community."

While the Knighthead group have not officially completed their full takeover of the club, they did detail back in November 2024 that they are hoping to purchase 100% of Birmingham in 2025, and this will only increase their expenditure on the soon-to-be Championship side.

Knighthead have made very few mistakes, but one did prove costly

Wagner has been excellent for Blues, and while they are technically still a League One club until the season comes to an end, he has helped return them to the division that they were in at the first time of asking.

He spent big ahead of the campaign as he looked to right the wrongs of 2023/24, in which Birmingham suffered relegation to the third tier. A decision that was made early on proved costly, as John Eustace was sacked in order to bring Wayne Rooney in as head coach.

The current Derby County boss had Blues fighting for a play-off spot in the Championship, but when another ex-Rams manager took over, they started to struggle and fell towards the relegation battle - a situation that could not be fixed by Tony Mowbray and Gary Rowett.

However, Wagner has learned his lesson, and Davies has been given time from the off to build a team that suits him and Birmingham are all the stronger for it.