Tom Brady drops brutally honest Birmingham City claim - it 'was terrible' | OneFootball

The Blues investor has been speaking to Salford City chief Gary Neville about developments in B9

Birmingham City's current situation in the Championship has been well-documented, with the West Midlands outfit looking to make a return to the Premier League as quickly as possible.

In recent times, Blues have attracted plenty of attention through the stature of their American ownership group, Knighthead Capital Management, which is fronted by Tom Wagner.

The 56-year-old took control of the club three years ago next month, and has certainly overseen a fair share of ups and downs during said timeframe, even if the mood at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park has been largely positive since then as a result of his investment in multiple areas of the club.

That includes their current and future home, with St. Andrew's previously being the subject of mandatory renovation work at the start of the decade, which left the Kop and Tilton Road stands only half-open for supporters.

Wagner was then in situ by the time they were both fully restored and the stadium could be utilised at full capacity of around 29,000, even though it came just before a dramatic relegation to League One.

Then, amid the club's record-breaking return to the Championship under current boss, Chris Davies, Knighthead, last November, unveiled their initial plans for the upcoming 62,000-seater Powerhouse stadium, which is set to be open in 2031.

Yet, while Birmingham, in the eyes of some, flattered to deceive last season with a 10th-place finish, the ambition in the boardroom is hard to ignore, especially with sporting icon and seven-time NFL Super Bowl winner, Tom Brady, overseeing the role of advisory board chairman.

Tom Brady speaks to Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Ian Wright on Birmingham City involvement

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Brady's high-profile involvement with Blues since the summer of 2023 had been made clear for all to see through the Amazon Prime docuseries which initially aired last year.

Throughout the series, Brady was seen having worries over the costly decision to replace John Eustace with Wayne Rooney months into Knighthead's ownership, as well as his live reactions to goals and events in matches such as a 3-1 success over Wrexham in September 2024 and the EFL Trophy loss to Peterborough United at Wembley Stadium in April 2025.

The 48-year-old is only said to own 3.3% of the club, but has been speaking to Salford City co-owner, Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Ian Wright about his experiences with the Second City outfit, as all four are currently in the United States for the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2026.

When asked by Neville if he was enjoying the experience of EFL football on The Overlap's Stick to Football podcast, Brady responded: "I love it.

"I love the competition. Our first season was terrible. There were four different managerial changes, and I spoke about how I felt about that.

"We hired a very good manager in our second year, Chris Davies, when we were in League One," he added.

"We had an awesome season. But, the Championship is tough.

"We got to the Championship this year, (and there were) lots of player changes, the quality of players have been better. We just couldn't get on a run with the right momentum this year," Brady explained.

"It's a tough league and those environments are tough. What Coventry did this year was amazing.

"They scored so many goals and made it look easy.

"It's just a tough league," he reaffirmed. "I watch lots of Premier League games every Saturday.

"I love sport, I love the competition and I love seeing players perform at the highest level."

Tom Brady will hope Birmingham City can emulate Coventry City's success in 2026/27

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Blues were never really in and amongst the promotion conversation last season despite two major squad reshuffles and continued investment, instead having to watch all of Coventry, Ipswich Town and Hull City achieve promotion instead.

As such, Brady will be hoping that Davies, who has been under pressure at certain times in the past 12 months, can oversee an impressive pre-season which then generates momentum heading into the 46-game campaign.

In some ways, even though the likes of Wolves and West Ham United have already been tipped as pre-season promotion favourites, the expansion of the play-offs could also be of a huge benefit to Blues, with the sides from third to eighth now to be involved, which adds extra spice to several end-of-season fixtures.