Birmingham City struck serious £6m transfer gold - Bluenoses still love him | OneFootball

Nikola Zigic is still a cult figure at St. Andrew's as a result of crucial goals

Throughout their 150 years of existence, Birmingham City and their loyal supporters have seen plenty of cult figures don the royal blue.

It is hard to argue against the fact that the game's first £1m player, the late Trevor Francis, is the greatest-ever player to have done just that, showcased by the fact he is now immortalised in bronze in front of the Kop stand at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park.

Beyond that, though, are a whole host of players who will forever be remembered by Bluenoses for the part they played in achieving relative success across a variety of eras.

It has been well-documented that the club's future plans under the ownership of Knighthead Capital Management are extremely lofty, with plans in place for a new 62,000-seater stadium as part of the upcoming Sports Quarter development set to claim an entire portion of the Birmingham skyline for years to come.

However, just a few short years ago, you'd be hard-pressed to have come across many, if at all, any, Blues supporters who would have predicted that what they are currently experiencing would come to fruition.

As such, there are a handful of players and managers supporters will be in debt to for the part they played in helping steer the club, eventually, out of the abyss.

And, whilst, at times, he proved to be a divisive figure due to a rather astronomical wage by Championship standards, Serbian forward, Nikola Zigic, will certainly be at the top of such lists for the iconic moments he provided Blues with during an extremely testing and chaotic period under Far-Eastern ownership.

Nikola Zigic's mixed first season at St. Andrew's after Birmingham City, Valencia agreement

Zigic was acquired by Alex McLeish in the summer of 2010 for £6m in the hope that the tall striker would help Birmingham build on a ninth-place finish in their first season back in the Premier League, which was also the club's best position since 1959.

Of course, the campaign yielded extremely mixed fortunes for the Second City outfit, as they suffered relegation back to the Championship in May 2011, with Zigic's five goals and four assists in just 25 league appearances unable to prevent a last-day relegation with a 4-2 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur.

However, the 6"7 man would write himself into Blues' folklore for his contributions towards their EFL Cup triumph just months before, in what was the club's second-ever major trophy success, having won the same competition back in 1963.

After netting in a 3-1 victory over MK Dons in the third round, Zigic's second strike of the tournament was enough for him to become a cult hero in its own right, as he bundled home a deflected effort from Cameron Jerome's low cross to score the winner against cross-city rivals, Aston Villa, in front of the Tilton.

That fixture was also the last time Blues defeated Villa in any competition, before the striker was instrumental against Arsenal at Wembley too.

After turning home Roger Johnson's initial flick past Wojciech Szczęsny after 28 minutes to give his side the lead, Zigic's flick-on from Ben Foster's goalkick caused the eventual havoc between the Gunners keeper and Laurent Koscielny, which led to Obafemi Martins' simple winner in the dying embers of the game.

Nikola Zigic remained a Birmingham City cult hero despite Lee Clark controversy

After the man who brought him to St. Andrew's - McLeish - controversially quit for Villa after relegation, Zigic went on to enjoy an extremely fruitful first season in the Championship under Chris Hughton, although Blues went on to suffer play-off heartbreak against Blackpool after a gruelling campaign on three domestic fronts and a valiant effort in the UEFA Europa League group stages.

Despite missing a crucial penalty against SC Braga in Europe, the 44-time international would score 12 goals across 43 games in all competitions - his best season in front of goal for the club - including four goals in one game against Leeds United - before proving to be the subject of controversy under Lee Clark.

With Birmingham's then-owner, Carson Yeung, causing controversy that would eventually see him arrested in March 2014, Blues needed to balance the books, and Zigic was, unsurprisingly, at the top of their priorities to shift due to a reported £60,000 per week wage.

In February 2013, Clark then slammed the forward for what he deemed as “the worst training session I have ever come across," before omitting him from a matchday squad against Watford.

Fast-forward 15 months, though, and Blues would be calling upon Zigic's services in their 30 minutes of need to avoid relegation to League One, with many claiming that the club would have faced significant issues on so many fronts had they been unable to rescue themselves from the brink against Bolton Wanderers.

With Blues 2-0 down in the North West and behind relegation rivals, Doncaster Rovers, by a point, Zigic initially got the ball rolling with a looping header from Mitch Hancox's cross, before also playing a role in Paul Caddis' dramatic 93rd-minute equaliser in front of the Bluenoses.

Despite leaving the club initially, Zigic returned on a free transfer under Gary Rowett to make nine further appearances, with the last of his 159 overall outings coming in March 2015 against Huddersfield Town.

Although Birmingham fans may argue that the £6m fee parted with in 2010 wasn't overly justified, as the club went onto endure financial difficulties, they will always be grateful to the towering Serbian for some iconic stand-alone moments in B9.