# 2003–04 Birmingham City F.C. season

The 2003–04 season was Birmingham City Football Club's 101st season in the English football league system, their second season in the Premier League, and their 52nd season in the top tier of English football. They finished 10th in the 20-team league, three places higher than the previous season. They entered the FA Cup at the third round stage and lost to Sunderland in the fifth after a replay, and lost their opening second-round League Cup-tie to Blackpool. Top scorer was loan signing Mikael Forssell with 19 goals, 17 of which were scored in the league.

## Pre-season
### Pre-season friendlies

| Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 19 July 2003 | Burton Albion | A | W | 4–0 | John (2) 3', 56', Dunn (2) 18', 30' (pen) | 1,952 |
| 24 July 2003 | Newcastle United | N | L | 1–2 | Devlin 72' (pen) | 14,600 |
| 26 July 2003 | Malaysia XI | N | W | 4–0 | John (2) 8', 50', Clemence 76', Hughes 82' | 12,000 |
| 30 July 2003 | Port Vale | A | L | 0–2 | | |
| 2 August 2003 | Burnley | A | D | 2–2 | Horsfield 10', Dunn 26' | |
| 5 August 2003 | Walsall | A | W | 3–1 | John 30', Dugarry 50', Carter 80' | 7,451 |
| 9 August 2003 | Real Mallorca | H | D | 0–0 | | 19,148 |
* 1 2 Matches were played as part of the 2003 FA Premier League Asia Cup tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

## Premier League
### Season review

Having avoided relegation in their first season in the Premier League with seven wins from the last eleven games, Birmingham were expected to struggle. They were unbeaten in the league at the end of September, and went into November still in fourth place. During a poor spell in the middle of the season Steve Bruce's side fell as low as tenth, though they rallied again and stood one point off fourth place with eight matches to go. In contrast to the previous season, just one win from the last eleven games gave Birmingham a tenth-place finish, six points behind city rivals Aston Villa, who had been struggling against relegation at the turn of the year.

#### August–September

In Birmingham's first game of the season, they beat Tottenham Hotspur 1–0 at St Andrew's, courtesy of a debut goal by record signing David Dunn, who converted a penalty awarded for Anthony Gardner's foul on Robbie Savage. Tottenham's manager, Glenn Hoddle, said afterwards that Rob Styles should not have been appointed as referee because he had sent off Birmingham's Kenny Cunningham in pre-season and "it's human nature to balance things up." Steve Bruce's side shared what PA Sport's reporter dubbed "a thrilling 0-0" at Southampton the following weekend. Both sides had chances to win the match as James Beattie struck the post and Stern John saw a shot cleared off the line. Birmingham then overcame Newcastle United 1–0 at St James' Park: after Gary Speed brought down Damien Johnson in the penalty area, Dunn's penalty was saved, but he scored from the rebound to give Birmingham a second league win in three games. In the first minute of the match, referee Matt Messias accidentally struck Savage in the face as he signalled a free kick. Their second league win in three games saw Birmingham climb to sixth in the table as they entered September.
Birmingham signed Finland international striker Mikael Forssell on a season-long loan from Chelsea before the transfer window shut. He scored twice on debut in a 2–2 draw with Fulham at St Andrew's, equalising just before half-time after Louis Saha gave the visitors an early lead and then again tying the scores after 82 minutes. Both sides finished with ten men: Sylvain Legwinski received a second yellow card for tripping Dunn and Darren Purse was sent off for "aiming a punch at" Luis Boa Morte after he scored Fulham's second goal. At Elland Road, Leeds United had the upper hand until Roque Júnior fouled Forssell and was sent off. Paul Robinson saved Dunn's penalty but the assistant referee saw an infringement. Savage's retake was successful and Forssell made the score 2–0. A 2–0 win at home to Portsmouth on 27 September with goals from Stephen Clemence and Stan Lazaridis gave Birmingham their best ever start to a league season and moved them fourth in the table.

#### October–December

Manchester United inflicted Birmingham's first league defeat of the season, winning 3–0 at Old Trafford after goalkeeper Maik Taylor was sent off by Mike Dean for fouling Paul Scholes. A goalless draw was enough to take normally free-scoring Chelsea top of the league and Birmingham fourth. Having lost both Second City derbies in 2002–03, Aston Villa held out for a goalless draw at St Andrew's "in a game high on energy but desperately low on quality". A fine save by Taylor from Bolton Wanderers' Kevin Davies helped Birmingham keep another clean sheet and a well-worked goal by Forssell gave them a fifth win of the season. Faced with criticism of his team's style of play, Bruce was pragmatic: "I wanted to assemble a team that was difficult to beat. If I'd gone down the other route and brought in six flair players we’d have ended up bottom of the League."
Having conceded only five league goals in the first three months of the season, Birmingham's defence was unusually fragile against Charlton Athletic. Matt Holland's two goals and Dean Kiely's multiple saves helped them become the first team for nine months to win at St Andrew's. Christophe Dugarry's powerfully headed goal was his first of the season and the last of his Birmingham career. Forssell scored just after half-time in a 1–1 draw at home to local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers, before Birmingham lost 3–0 at home to Arsenal. They had the better of the first half against Liverpool at Anfield, but two spectacular second-half goals gave the hosts a 3–1 victory that left Birmingham in eighth place.
Four goals in the last half hour gave Blackburn Rovers an emphatic win at Birmingham. Dugarry, who had earlier missed from a yard out and whose foul in the build-up caused Forssell's goal to be disallowed, was sent off on 72 minutes after receiving two yellow cards. He was later charged with misconduct by the Football Association over an incident missed by the referee in which Craig Short's nose was broken, and banned for three matches. In Dugarry's absence with a knee injury, Clinton Morrison made his first league start for eight months and scored the opening goal in a match in which two opponents were sent off: Leicester City's captain, Matt Elliott, for an arm in Dunn's face in the first half and their goalkeeper, Ian Walker, after an hour for handling the ball a long way outside his penalty area. Forssell's header completed a 2–0 win, and Maik Taylor ended the match with a black eye and three stitches. Manchester City took an early lead at St Andrew's on Boxing Day, and despite pressure from Birmingham it took two fortunate goals in the last ten minutes – Jeff Kenna headed home the rebound after Savage's free kick struck the goalpost, and Richard Dunne's attempted clearance bounced in off Forssell – to secure the three points. Against Everton at Goodison Park, when Taylor was "jostled" by both Duncan Ferguson and Alan Stubbs, no foul was given, and Wayne Rooney scored the only goal of the match; the defeat left Birmingham ninth in the table.

#### January–February

With a defence disrupted by injury – midfielder Darren Carter, making his first start of the season, was one of three players used at left back in the first 40 minutes – Birmingham conceded three times to Tottenham Hotspur in the first half. Savage's penalty reduced the deficit, but Morrison missed a chance when through on goal, and the match ended 4–1. A goal apiece after 16 minutes, Antti Niemi's goalkeeping kept Southampton in the game, but Kenna scored the winner after an exchange of passes with Morrison; it was his second goal in two weeks and third in 8+1⁄2 years. Moments later, Kenna was having his head stitched after a challenge for which David Prutton was sent off. At Stamford Bridge, PA Sport's reporter highlighted Birmingham's incredible tenacity, Savage and Clemence "excelling in central midfield as they outplayed, let alone outfought, their far more illustrious opponents" to record another goalless draw with Chelsea, helped by Olivier Tebily's acrobatic clearance off the line after a rare error by Maik Taylor. After Newcastle United took a first-half lead at St Andrew's, Birmingham dominated without success. They were awarded a free kick in the second minute of stoppage time, which was moved forward 10 yards after a Newcastle player kicked the ball away. Cunningham took the free kick, and Stern John slid in to score.
Taylor made several fine saves, including a "superlative double reflex save from first Macken and then Sibierski", in a goalless draw with Manchester City at the City of Manchester Stadium. Johnson had and missed a late chance to win the match for Birmingham, which even Bruce thought would have been a injustice. Three days later Birmingham comfortably beat Everton with goals by Johnson, Forssell and Stan Lazaridis: "after collecting a pass from Savage in his own half, the Australian embarked on a speedy, purposeful and unchecked 40-yard (37 m) run before unleashing a fierce cross-shot into the roof of the net" that earned him the club's Goal of the Season award. Birmingham came back from 2–0 down at Villa Park to draw the Second City derby; the equaliser came in the fourth minute of stoppage time when Morrison's shot was parried and Stern John "thrashed the loose ball into the roof of the net". It was Christophe Dugarry's final appearance before his contract was cancelled by mutual consent.

#### March–May

Home wins against Middlesbrough, League Cup winners just three days before, in which recent signing Martin Taylor scored his first goal when Forssell's shot struck his shoulder, and League Cup losers Bolton Wanderers, in which Bryan Hughes's first goal of the season and Forssell's fourth in four games took Birmingham fifth in the table. Leicester City prepared for their visit to Birmingham with a "bonding" break in Spain during which nine players were arrested, three of whom were jailed; thanks to Les Ferdinand's goal and their hosts' poor finishing, they put an end to Birmingham's eight-match unbeaten run. The away match with Middlesbrough, played in a howling gale, was described by the Independent as "an eight-goal thriller in which a keeper (Middlesbrough's Mark Schwarzer) was the star and managed to keep the scoring within reasonable bounds" and by the Guardian as "a snatch of comic relief, a red-face day out of the blue"; Birmingham lost 5–3, and the last goal was scored by Szilard Nemeth after Matthew Upson tried to head the ball back to his goalkeeper but could not reach it until he was almost flat on the floor. Birmingham conceded early at home to Leeds United but had a 3–1 lead when a penalty was awarded. Although Forssell was the designated penalty-taker, Hughes had two goals already and wanted to complete his hat-trick; Bruce intervened in favour of Forssell, who duly scored his 18th goal of the season.
Two weeks after Maik Taylor's loan from Fulham was made permanent, his goalkeeping was instrumental in Birmingham's goalless draw with his former club; the result left them in sixth place. Martin Grainger, who had replaced the injured Lazaridis after 14 minutes, opened the scoring against Manchester United after 39 with a free kick. He was himself substituted at half-time because of a patellar tendon torn before he took the free kick, and he never played again. Cristiano Ronaldo and Louis Saha gave United a 2–1 win. Just before half-time at Portsmouth, Yakubu Aiyegbeni gave the hosts the lead. Referee Barry Knight disallowed the goal, sent off Maik Taylor for handling the ball outside his area, and awarded a free kick, from which Dejan Stefanović scored. Portsmouth doubled their lead, and then Stern John made the score 2–1. Knight then awarded a penalty, converted by Yakubu, and disallowed John's second for offside – harshly, according to BBC Sport. Morrison gave Birmingham the lead at Charlton, who promptly equalised; Hughes miskicked in front of an open goal in stoppage time. Away to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Forssell scored his 19th and last goal of the season and played a through ball from which Morrison gave Birmingham a 2–1 lead, but Taylor parried the ball to Carl Cort's feet for the equaliser.
Without Maik Taylor and Forssell, Birmingham secured a goalless draw away to a strong Arsenal side already confirmed as league champions. Had Morrison not failed to control Lazaridis' second-half cross, their unbeaten record might well have been broken. In their last home game of the season, Birmingham lost 3–0 to Liverpool; Emile Heskey, who made the assist for Michael Owen's goal and scored the second, signed for Birmingham ten days later. With Cunningham suspended, Savage captained the team for the visit to Blackburn Rovers; Stern John's late equaliser secured a 1–1 draw away and a tenth-place finish, six points short of European qualification.

### Match details

Premier League match details :
| Date | League position | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 16 August 2003 | 6th | Tottenham Hotspur | H | W | 1–0 | Dunn 36' pen. | 29,358 |
| 23 August 2003 | 6th | Southampton | A | D | 0–0 | | 31,656 |
| 30 August 2003 | 6th | Newcastle United | A | W | 1–0 | Dunn 61' | 52,006 |
| 14 September 2003 | 8th | Fulham | H | D | 2–2 | Forssell (2) 45', 82' | 27,250 |
| 20 September 2003 | 7th | Leeds United | A | W | 2–0 | Savage 79' pen., Forssell 84' | 34,305 |
| 27 September 2003 | 4th | Portsmouth | H | W | 2–0 | Clemence 21', Lazaridis 50' | 29,057 |
| 4 October 2003 | 5th | Manchester United | A | L | 0–3 | | 67,633 |
| 14 October 2003 | 4th | Chelsea | H | D | 0–0 | | 29,460 |
| 19 October 2003 | 4th | Aston Villa | H | D | 0–0 | | 29,546 |
| 25 October 2003 | 4th | Bolton Wanderers | A | W | 1–0 | Forssell 31' | 25,023 |
| 3 November 2003 | 4th | Charlton Athletic | H | L | 1–2 | Dugarry 64' | 27,225 |
| 8 November 2003 | 5th | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | D | 1–1 | Forssell 49' | 28,831 |
| 22 November 2003 | 5th | Arsenal | H | L | 0–3 | | 29,588 |
| 30 November 2003 | 8th | Liverpool | A | L | 1–3 | Forssell 33' | 42,683 |
| 6 December 2003 | 8th | Blackburn Rovers | H | L | 0–4 | | 29,354 |
| 13 December 2003 | 8th | Leicester City | A | W | 2–0 | Morrison 42', Forssell 66' | 30,639 |
| 26 December 2003 | 8th | Manchester City | H | W | 2–1 | Kenna 81', Forssell 87' | 29,520 |
| 28 December 2003 | 9th | Everton | A | L | 0–1 | | 39,631 |
| 7 January 2004 | 10th | Tottenham Hotspur | A | L | 1–4 | Savage 68' pen. | 30,016 |
| 10 January 2004 | 8th | Southampton | H | W | 2–1 | Clemence 16', Kenna 67' | 29,071 |
| 18 January 2004 | 9th | Chelsea | A | D | 0–0 | | 41,073 |
| 31 January 2004 | 9th | Newcastle United | H | D | 1–1 | John 90' | 29,513 |
| 8 February 2004 | 10th | Manchester City | A | D | 0–0 | | 46,967 |
| 11 February 2004 | 9th | Everton | H | W | 3–0 | Johnson 8', Lazaridis 39', Forssell 49' | 29,004 |
| 22 February 2004 | 8th | Aston Villa | A | D | 2–2 | Forssell 60', John 90' | 40,061 |
| 3 March 2004 | 7th | Middlesbrough | H | W | 3–1 | Martin Taylor 23', Savage 57', Forssell 79' | 29,369 |
| 6 March 2004 | 5th | Bolton Wanderers | H | W | 2–0 | Forssell 24', Hughes 69' | 28,003 |
| 13 March 2004 | 6th | Leicester City | H | L | 0–1 | | 29,491 |
| 20 March 2004 | 7th | Middlesbrough | A | L | 3–5 | Forssell (2) 23', 59', Morrison 45' | 30,244 |
| 27 March 2004 | 6th | Leeds United | H | W | 4–1 | Hughes (2) 12', 67, Forssell (2) 69', 82' pen. | 29,069 |
| 3 April 2004 | 6th | Fulham | A | D | 0–0 | | 14,667 |
| 10 April 2004 | 6th | Manchester United | H | L | 1–2 | Grainger 53' | 29,548 |
| 12 April 2004 | 8th | Portsmouth | A | L | 1–3 | John 67' | 20,104 |
| 17 April 2004 | 8th | Charlton Athletic | A | D | 1–1 | Morrison 84' | 25,206 |
| 25 April 2004 | 9th | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | D | 2–2 | Forssell 34', Morrison 41' | 29,494 |
| 1 May 2004 | 9th | Arsenal | A | D | 0–0 | | 38,061 |
| 8 May 2004 | 10th | Liverpool | H | L | 0–3 | | 29,553 |
| 15 May 2004 | 10th | Blackburn Rovers | A | D | 1–1 | John 83' | 26,070 |

### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 8 | Bolton Wanderers | 38 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 48 | 56 | −8 | 53 | |
| 9 | Fulham | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 52 | 46 | +6 | 52 | |
| 10 | Birmingham City | 38 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 43 | 48 | −5 | 50 | |
| 11 | Middlesbrough | 38 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 44 | 52 | −8 | 48 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 12 | Southampton | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 44 | 45 | −1 | 47 | |
* ↑ Middlesbrough qualified as the 2003–04 Football League Cup winners.

### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source:

## FA Cup

Birmingham reached the fifth round of the 2003–04 FA Cup before losing to Sunderland of Division One after a replay.
FA Cup match details :
| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| Third round | 3 January 2004 | Blackburn Rovers | H | W | 4–0 | Morrison 23', Clemence 36', Forssell 78', Hughes 84' | 18,688 |
| Fourth round | 24 January 2004 | Wimbledon | H | W | 1–0 | Hughes 4' | 22,159 |
| Fifth round | 14 February 2004 | Sunderland | A | D | 1–1 | Forssell 28' | 24,966 |
| Fifth round replay | 25 February 2004 | Sunderland | H | L | 0–2 | | 25,645 |

## League Cup

Birmingham entered the 2003–04 League Cup at the second round. They conceded after six minutes away to Blackpool of the Second Division, and when given a chance from the penalty spot, Clemence's kick cleared the bar.
League Cup match details :
| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| Second round | 23 September 2003 | Blackpool | A | L | 0–1 | | 7,370 |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Player | Club | Fee |
| 1 July 2003 | Christophe Dugarry | Bordeaux | Free |
| 7 July 2003 | David Dunn | Blackburn Rovers | £5.5m |
| 23 July 2003 | Luciano Figueroa | Rosario Central | £2.5m |
| 2 February 2004 | Martin Taylor | Blackburn Rovers | £1.25m |

### Out

| Date | Player | Fee | Joined† |
| 8 July 2003 | Tommy Mooney | Free | Swindon Town |
| 8 August 2003 | Joey Hutchinson | Free | Darlington |
| 14 August 2003 | Michael Johnson | Nominal | Derby County |
| 5 September 2003 | Geoff Horsfield | £500,000 | Wigan Athletic |
| 12 September 2003 | Paul Devlin | £150,000 | Watford |
| 23 December 2003 | Luciano Figueroa | Contract cancelled | (Cruz Azul) |
| 2 February 2004 | Jovan Kirovski | Released | (Los Angeles Galaxy) |
| 11 March 2004 | Christophe Dugarry | Released | (Qatar SC) |
| 12 March 2004 | Jeff Kenna | Free | Derby County |
| 25 March 2004 | Craig Fagan | Free | Colchester United |
| 30 March 2004 | Tom Williams | Released | Peterborough United |
| 18 June 2004 | Darren Purse | £750,000 | West Bromwich Albion |
| 30 June 2004 | Bryan Hughes | Released | (Charlton Athletic) |
    † Brackets round club names denote the player joined that club after his Birmingham City contract expired.

### Loan in

| Date | Player | Club | Return | Ref |
| 8 August 2003 | Maik Taylor | Fulham | End of season | |
| 28 August 2003 | Mikael Forssell | Chelsea | End of season | |

### Loan out

| Date | Player | Club | Return |
| 1 August 2003 | Craig Fagan | Colchester United | 25 March 2004 |
| 10 October 2003 | Andrew Barrowman | Crewe Alexandra | One month |
| 21 November 2003 | Mat Sadler | Northampton Town | Two months |
| 24 December 2003 | Nico Vaesen | Gillingham | One month |
| 1 January 2004 | Tom Williams | Peterborough United | Three months |
| 12 February 2004 | Martin Grainger | Coventry City | 18 March 2004 |
| 13 February 2004 | Nico Vaesen | Bradford City | One month |
| 18 March 2004 | Nico Vaesen | Crystal Palace | End of season |

## Appearances and goals

    Numbers in parentheses denote appearances made as a substitute.
    Players marked † left the club during the playing season.
    Players with names in italics and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Birmingham.
    Players listed with no appearances have been in the matchday squad but only as unused substitutes.
    Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward
Players' appearances and goals by competition :
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total | Discipline | Discipline |
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | | |
| 1 | GK | ENG | Ian Bennett | 4 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | IRE | Jeff Kenna † | 14 (3) | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 (3) | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | ENG | Martin Grainger | 3 (1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 (1) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | IRE | Kenny Cunningham | 36 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 41 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Darren Purse | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | MF | SEN | Aliou Cissé | 5 (10) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 (11) | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| 7 | MF | SCO | Paul Devlin † | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | WAL | Robbie Savage | 31 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 3 | 12 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Geoff Horsfield † | 2 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | FIN | Mikael Forssell * | 32 | 17 | 3 (1) | 2 | 0 (1) | 0 | 35 (2) | 19 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | ENG | Bryan Hughes | 17 (9) | 3 | 3 (1) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 20 (10) | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | AUS | Stan Lazaridis | 25 (5) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 28 (5) | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | GK | NIR | Maik Taylor * | 34 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 13 | GK | IRE | Colin Doyle | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | FW | TRI | Stern John | 7 (22) | 4 | 1 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 (23) | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | FW | USA | Jovan Kirovski † | 0 (6) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (8) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | ENG | Martin Taylor | 11 (1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 (1) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | ENG | David Dunn | 20 (1) | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 24 (1) | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 18 | GK | BEL | Nico Vaesen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | IRE | Clinton Morrison | 19 (13) | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 24 (13) | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 21 | FW | FRA | Christophe Dugarry † | 12 (2) | 1 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 (3) | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| 22 | MF | NIR | Damien Johnson | 35 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | ENG | Jamie Clapham | 22 (3) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 23 (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | ENG | Darren Carter | 1 (4) | 0 | 0 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (7) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | DF | ENG | Matthew Upson | 30 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 26 | DF | CIV | Olivier Tébily | 17 (10) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 (10) | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 27 | FW | SCO | Andrew Barrowman | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | MF | ENG | Carl Motteram | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | MF | ENG | Stephen Clemence | 32 (3) | 2 | 1 (1) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 34 (4) | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| 35 | FW | ARG | Luciano Figueroa † | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* ↑ Soccerbase omits four substitute appearances in the Premier League by Stern John.
* ↑ Soccerbase counts four of Damien Johnson's Premier League starts as substitute appearances.
Players not included in matchday squads :
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name |
| 20 | MF | ENG | Tom Williams † |
| 27 | DF | ENG | Joey Hutchinson † |
| 29 | DF | ENG | Craig Fagan † |
| 30 | DF | ENG | Mat Sadler |
| 34 | MF | ENG | Neil Kilkenny |

## Sources

* Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
* Matthews, Tony (2010). Birmingham City: The Complete Record. Derby: DB Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85983-853-2.