What Birmingham City's owners wanted to do with Wrexham that the EFL wouldn't allow | OneFootball

The EFL blocked a proposal from Birmingham City and Wrexham to play a competitive fixture abroad during 2024/25

Knighthead Capital have made a big impact since first becoming involved as part of the ownership at Birmingham City in July 2023.

The group led by Tom Wagner have been quite involved from the very top, investing heavily in both the infrastructure and the first team squad.

Blues have not competed in the Premier League since 2011, suffering relegation just a few months after their impressive EFL Cup triumph at Wembley Stadium.

And the club even fell into League One under Knighthead Capital’s control in their first year at the helm, but are now back competing in the Championship, where their ambition is a top flight return.

Knighthead Capital’s investment in Birmingham City

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Most notably, on the pitch, Birmingham broke the record for a fee spent signing a player in League One following their relegation in 2024.

The signing of Jay Stansfield was reportedly worth £15 million, with the Blues securing a permanent move for the forward after he spent the prior campaign on loan from Fulham.

And the Midlands outfit are also working on building a brand new 62,000 seater stadium to replace St. Andrew’s as part of Wagner’s plans.

This new home for the team will also include a brand new training facility as part of an ambitious sports quarter, which has also required significant investment from the owners.

Birmingham’s plans with Wrexham were blocked by the EFL

However, Wagner’s plans for Birmingham to play a league game abroad against Wrexham didn’t go as planned.

The two sides were both competing in League One in 2024/25, and they ultimately sealed automatic promotion together.

The Birmingham owner wanted to work together with the Red Dragons’ famous owners, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, to have the two sides play against each other in the United States.

But the plan was blocked by the EFL, who did not want to see two of their clubs host a competitive fixture on foreign soil.

How Birmingham and Wrexham concocted United States plan

It’s believed that the connection between Reynolds and Birmingham’s minority owner Tom Brady was crucial to putting together the plan to play against each other in the US.

The Hollywood actor has been quite involved in his co-ownership of the Red Dragons, and has overseen their rise from the National League to the Championship in quick time.

And he has built a relationship with Brady through Knighthead Capital since becoming a minority investor in the Blues.

It remains to be seen whether this plan will be revisited in the future, but it will require the EFL to soften on their stance regarding competitive games being played outside the United Kingdom.

How Birmingham City supporters reacted to Wrexham fixture plan

When the plans to play abroad emerged, chair of Birmingham City’s supporters’ trust Neil Cotterel responded to the idea by claiming that it risked alienating matchgoing fans.

He believed that the Blues should engage with the supporters regarding any such plans, suggesting that a pre-season friendly between the two clubs abroad would be a much more welcome outcome.

"While I can see an idea like this could have commercial benefits and increase the profile of the club, there is a risk of alienating regular match-going fans and it could also have wider implications for the Football League,” said Cotterell, via the Mirror.

"It seems to me that any such idea would be at an early stage and hopefully the club would engage with fans before pursuing further.

“I think of much more interest to supporters could be a pre-season friendly in the US which could still have commercial benefits."

Birmingham and Wrexham are not the first clubs to propose playing a league fixture abroad, with teams in La Liga and Serie A both concocting the same plan.

Barcelona’s proposed clash against Villarreal in Miami in 2025 was blocked by the Spanish top flight, while Como also sought a clash against AC Milan in Australia.