Birmingham City: Familiar faces set to face off in the Indian Super League this season - View | OneFootball

Two former Birmingham City players are set to meet each other in the Indian Super League later this season

It's an exciting time to be a Birmingham City supporter with a talented squad and ambitious owners giving the club a new lease of life, despite being relegated to League One at the end of the 2023/24 season.

The Blues had spent 13 consecutive seasons in the Championship prior to relegation, and while they would have rather been promoted to the Premier League then relegated to League One, a change of divisions has helped to freshen things up at St Andrew's and given the club a new lease of life.

Given the time they spent in the Championship, plenty of players donned their famous royal blue strip in the second tier, and two of those have gone head-to-head this season in the Indian Super League, not a scenario too many Blues supporters would have expected.

Jon Toral and Greg Stewart now ply their trade for Mumbai City and Mohun Bagan respectively, and the former Birmingham duo will be looking to get one over on each other, with Mumbai City actually beating Mohun Bagan in last season's final.

Jon Toral and Greg Stewart are competing against each other in the Indian Super League

Toral left Blues in 2021, where he joined Greek side OFI Crete, and after three years there he made the move to India in the summer, joining Mumbai City, who are part of the City Group and owned by Khaldoon Al Mubarak.

As mentioned above, Mumbai City beat Mohun Bagan in the final of the Indian Super League last season, so they are two of the biggest clubs in the country, and have looked to the European market to strengthen their side.

Meanwhile, this is Stewart's third spell in India, and he has split his time between Scotland and India since leaving St Andrew's in 2019.

Stewart joined Rangers in 2019, before playing for the likes of Jamshedpur and Mumbai City until he returned to Kilmarnock earlier this year.

After his short-term deal at Rugby Park came to an end in the summer, Stewart returned to India, this time joining Mohun Bagan on a one-year deal.

The pair have already faced off this season, with Mohun Bagan hosting Mumbai on the 13th September in a game that finished 2-2, with Stewart playing the full 90 for his side, while Toral played 41 minutes from the bench in what was his only outing for Mumbai City so far.

Stewart actually registered an assist as the shares were spoiled, and the two sides look set to fight it out for the title yet again this season.

Birmingham City supporters may be shocked to hear that two of their former players are now battling it out in the Indian Super League, and the reverse fixture, which will be played some time after Christmas, could be a decent watch for any interested Blues supporters.

Toral had two spells at Blues, a loan spell from Arsenal during the 2015/16 season where he impressed, playing 38 games, scoring eight times and registering six assists, and another spell on a permanent basis a couple of seasons later.

The midfielder wasn't as impressive when he joined on a permanent basis for the 2020/21 season, scoring just twice, both coming in the same game against Reading in December 2020, and he registered just two assists in his 16 games before leaving in the summer of 2021.

While Toral didn't set the world alight, particularly in his permanent season at the club, it was a far more fruitful spell than Stewart's, who played just 22 games as a Birmingham City player, despite being on their books for three years, and failed to score a goal, never a nice stat for a striker.

Stewart couldn't quite adjust to the English game and has enjoyed far more success in both Scotland and India, helping Rangers win the Scottish Premiership title under Steven Gerrard in 2021.