Aston Villa's Champions League exploits must fuel extra Birmingham City, Tom Wagner motivation: View | OneFootball

Birmingham City will hope to emulate the success Villa have enjoyed in such a short period of time

Aston Villa against Birmingham City is undoubtedly one of the fiercest rivalries in English football.

But, whilst the two clubs are currently levels apart from each other when it comes to on-pitch matters, one thing which cannot be questioned among the two Second City rivals is their shared ambition to make Birmingham a footballing powerhouse.

Both Knighthead - fronted by the likes of Tom Wagner, Tom Brady and Garry Cook, and V Sports - controlled by Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris have publicised their dreams of making the respective clubs compete at the highest level both domestically, and on the continent.

And, if Wednesday night's exploits at Villa Park are anything to go by, it must fuel added motivation for Wagner and et al to fast-track their on-pitch success to match Blues' well-documented future plans.

Aston Villa's short-term journey has been remarkable

Whilst embracing the glitz and glamour of competing in the UEFA Champions League or European Cup for the first time since 1983, many Villa supporters are understandably self-aware that it was only five years since their promotion from the Championship.

It would be fair to say that during their three-year Championship stint, the playing field between themselves and Birmingham was at its highest level for a long, long time, before Villa ended their Premier League exile under Dean Smith with a Wembley success over Derby County in May 2019.

However, prior to the last five-and-a-half years, not many would have predicted that six years to the day after Steve Bruce's final game in charge against Preston North End - in front of just 27,331 supporters - that Jhon Duran's 79th minute strike would see them defeat Bayern Munich in a re-run of the club's greatest night, under the guidance of one of European football's most revered head coaches in Unai Emery.

Not only have Villa spent well in the market on previous EFL talents such as Emiliano Martínez, Ezri Konsa, Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins among others, but there are plans in place to increase the capacity of their grand-old stadium to above 50,000 as they look to become regular features in Europe, after initially reaching the UEFA Conference League semi-finals last season.

And it would be fair to say that their bitter rivals, who currently sit five points clear at the top of League One, are looking to emulate such a story.

Birmingham City will hope to emulate Aston Villa's rapid rise

Although Blues supporters have enjoyed a taste of European football in the 2011/12 campaign after their EFL Cup triumph over Arsenal, the landscape of the club has changed dramatically since.

Many would argue that there is no better ownership group capable of overseeing a return to the Premier League for the first time since 2011, whilst Chris Davies has more-than shown in the early stages of his first job as a manager, that he has the potential to grow with the club.

Davies was tasked with building a "Championship-ready squad" immediately after his June appointment, which has been adhered to so far with the smashing of the club and third-tier transfer record as Jay Stansfield signed on a permanent basis, as well as their best start to a league campaign in 34 years and seven successive wins for the first time since December 1946.

Unquestionably, the short-term goal is to emulate Ipswich Town's recent success after building a side capable of competing for back-to-back promotions, which has already been documented recently by the Telegraph, who state that Blues' aim is to be back in the top flight in 2026.

But looking past that, Wagner has already broadened his horizons with talks of a new 62,000 seater-stadium on the former Birmingham Wheels site, which will centre around a new 'Sports Quarter' complex in the heart of the club's serving community, completed by August 2029.

“We want something that fits in the community and critically it’s important that this doesn’t look like a blight on the skyline of Birmingham and that it fits within the context of the city and more importantly, the neighbourhood," Wagner pledged earlier in the year.

“There’s a lot to be done here but all of this is in keeping with our broader objectives.”

Given recent comments from captain Krystian Bielik on the club's current standpoint and the aforementioned lofty plans, the Blues board will no doubt come under scrutiny if their planned rise doesn't quite go as smoothly as first envisaged.