# 1995–96 Birmingham City F.C. season

The 1995–96 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 93rd in the English football league system. They finished in 15th place in the 24-team Football League First Division, to which they were promoted as Division Two champions in 1994–95. They entered the 1995–96 FA Cup at the third round, losing in that round to Wolverhampton Wanderers after a replay, and entered the League Cup in the first round and progressed to the semi-final, in which they lost on aggregate score to Leeds United. They also took part in the last season of the Anglo-Italian Cup, losing in the quarter-final after a penalty shootout.
At the end of the season, club owner David Sullivan dismissed Barry Fry as manager and replaced him with playing legend Trevor Francis.
The season covers the period from 1 July 1995 to 30 June 1996.

## Football League First Division

| Date | League position | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 12 August 1995 | 4th | Ipswich Town | H | W | 3–1 | Tait, Otto, Bowen | 18,910 |
| 19 August 1995 | 9th | Charlton Athletic | A | L | 1–3 | Bowen | 9,710 |
| 26 August 1995 | 4th | Norwich City | H | W | 3–1 | Hunt 3 (1 pen.) | 19,267 |
| 30 August 1995 | 9th | Huddersfield Town | A | L | 2–4 | Ward 2 | 12,305 |
| 2 September 1995 | 6th | Barnsley | A | W | 5–0 | Hunt pen., Claridge, Forsyth, Doherty, Charlery | 11,121 |
| 9 September 1995 | 5th | Crystal Palace | H | D | 0–0 | | 19,403 |
| 12 September 1995 | 6th | Stoke City | H | D | 1–1 | Hunt | 19,005 |
| 17 September 1995 | 11th | West Bromwich Albion | A | L | 0–1 | | 17,854 |
| 23 September 1995 | 13th | Watford | A | D | 1–1 | Finnan | 9,422 |
| 30 September 1995 | 12th | Oldham Athletic | H | D | 0–0 | | 17,289 |
| 8 October 1995 | 6th | Southend United | H | W | 2–0 | Claridge 2 | 17,491 |
| 14 October 1995 | 5th | Portsmouth | A | W | 1–0 | Claridge | 10,009 |
| 21 October 1995 | 3rd | Grimsby Town | H | W | 3–1 | Claridge 2, Charlery | 16,445 |
| 29 October 1995 | 2nd | Port Vale | A | W | 2–1 | Claridge, Tait | 8,875 |
| 4 November 1995 | 2nd | Millwall | H | D | 2–2 | Castle, Charlery | 23,016 |
| 11 November 1995 | 3rd | Reading | A | W | 1–0 | Charlery | 10,203 |
| 18 November 1995 | 3rd | Luton Town | A | D | 0–0 | | 7,920 |
| 21 November 1995 | 3rd | Derby County | H | L | 1–4 | Ward pen. | 19,417 |
| 26 November 1995 | 5th | Leicester City | H | D | 2–2 | Hunt 2 (1 pen.) | 17,350 |
| 2 December 1995 | 5th | Southend United | A | L | 1–3 | Claridge | 7,770 |
| 9 December 1995 | 4th | Watford | H | W | 1–0 | Francis | 16,790 |
| 16 December 1995 | 8th | Oldham Athletic | A | L | 0–4 | | 6,602 |
| 23 December 1995 | 4th | Tranmere Rovers | H | W | 1–0 | Hunt | 18,439 |
| 26 December 1995 | 3rd | Sheffield United | A | D | 1–1 | Francis | 17,668 |
| 14 January 1996 | 7th | Charlton Athletic | H | L | 3–4 | Edwards, Hunt pen., Forsyth | 18,539 |
| 20 January 1996 | 9th | Ipswich Town | A | L | 0–2 | | 12,388 |
| 4 February 1996 | 11th | Norwich City | A | D | 1–1 | Otto | 12,612 |
| 17 February 1996 | 13th | Stoke City | A | L | 0–1 | | 15,709 |
| 20 February 1996 | 13th | Barnsley | H | D | 0–0 | | 14,168 |
| 27 February 1996 | 13th | Crystal Palace | A | L | 2–3 | Bowen 2 | 13,415 |
| 2 March 1996 | 15th | Sheffield United | H | L | 0–1 | | 16,799 |
| 5 March 1996 | 13th | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | W | 2–0 | Devlin 2 (1 pen.) | 22,051 |
| 9 March 1996 | 12th | Tranmere Rovers | A | D | 2–2 | Hunt, Legg | 8,696 |
| 12 March 1996 | 11th | Huddersfield Town | H | W | 2–0 | Devlin, P. Barnes | 15,296 |
| 17 March 1996 | 11th | Sunderland | H | L | 0–2 | | 23,251 |
| 20 March 1996 | 11th | West Bromwich Albion | H | D | 1–1 | Hunt | 19,147 |
| 23 March 1996 | 12th | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | L | 2–3 | Devlin 2 (1 pen.) | 26,256 |
| 30 March 1996 | 13th | Grimsby Town | A | L | 1–2 | P. Barnes | 5,773 |
| 2 April 1996 | 13th | Portsmouth | H | W | 2–0 | Devlin pen., P. Barnes | 14,886 |
| 6 April 1996 | 9th | Port Vale | H | W | 3–1 | Tait, P. Barnes, Peschisolido | 17,469 |
| 10 April 1996 | 10th | Millwall | A | L | 0–2 | | 9,271 |
| 13 April 1996 | 9th | Luton Town | H | W | 4–0 | Francis, Devlin, P. Barnes 2 | 15,426 |
| 16 April 1996 | 9th | Sunderland | A | L | 0–3 | | 19,831 |
| 20 April 1996 | 9th | Derby County | A | D | 1–1 | Breen | 16,757 |
| 27 April 1996 | 12th | Leicester City | A | L | 0–3 | | 19,702 |
| 5 May 1996 | 15th | Reading | H | L | 1–2 | P. Barnes | 16,223 |

### League table (part)

Final First Division table (part) :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 13th | Tranmere Rovers | 46 | 14 | 17 | 15 | 64 | 60 | +4 | 59 |
| 14th | Southend United | 46 | 15 | 14 | 17 | 52 | 61 | -9 | 59 |
| 15th | Birmingham City | 46 | 15 | 13 | 18 | 61 | 64 | -3 | 58 |
| 16th | Norwich City | 46 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 59 | 55 | +4 | 57 |
| 17th | Grimsby Town | 46 | 14 | 14 | 18 | 55 | 69 | -14 | 56 |
Note that goals scored took precedence over goal difference as a tiebreaker in the Football League.

### 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

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| Third round | 6 January 1996 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | D | 1–1 | Poole | 21,349 |
| Third round replay | 17 January 1996 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | L | 1–2 | Hunt | 28,088 |

## League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| First round 1st leg | 15 August 1995 | Plymouth Argyle | H | W | 1–0 | Cooper | 7,964 |
| First round 2nd leg | 22 August 1995 | Plymouth Argyle | A | W | 2–1 3–1 agg. | Edwards, Hunt | 6,529 |
| Second round 1st leg | 20 September 1995 | Grimsby Town | H | W | 3–1 | Daish, Hunt, Claridge | 7,446 |
| Second round 2nd leg | 3 October 1995 | Grimsby Town | A | D | 1–1 4–2 agg. | Bowen | 3,280 |
| Third round | 24 October 1995 | Tranmere Rovers | H | D | 1–1 | McGreal o.g. | 13,752 |
| Third round replay | 8 November 1995 | Tranmere Rovers | A | W | 3–1 a.e.t. | Charlery 2, Rushfeldt | 9,151 |
| Fourth round | 29 November 1995 | Middlesbrough | A | D | 0–0 | | 28,031 |
| Fourth round replay | 20 December 1995 | Middlesbrough | H | W | 2–0 | Francis 2 | 19,878 |
| Fifth round | 10 January 1996 | Norwich City | A | D | 1–1 | Francis | 13,028 |
| Fifth round replay | 24 January 1996 | Norwich City | H | W | 2–1 | Daish, Bowen | 21,097 |
| Semi-final 1st leg | 11 February 1996 | Leeds United | H | L | 1–2 | Francis | 24,781 |
| Semi-final 2nd leg | 25 February 1996 | Leeds United | A | L | 0–3 1–5 agg. | | 35,435 |

## Anglo-Italian Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| Group stage | 5 September 1995 | Genoa | H | L | 2–3 | Bowen 2 | 20,430 |
| Group stage | 11 October 1995 | Perugia | A | W | 1–0 | Castle | 1,200 |
| Group stage | 15 November 1995 | Ancona | A | W | 2–1 | Edwards, Tentoni o.g. | 1,500 |
| Group stage | 12 December 1995 | Cesena | H | W | 3–1 | Hunt, Claridge, Donowa* | 7,813 |
| Quarter-final | 30 January 1996 | West Bromwich Albion | H | D | 2–2 1–4 pens. | Poole, Bull | 9,113 |
* some sources give Tamburini o.g.

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Player | Club | Fee |
| July 1995 | Ken Charlery | Peterborough United | £400,000 |
| July 1995 | Richard Forsyth | Kidderminster Harriers | £50,000 |
| July 1995 | Andy Edwards | Southend United | £450,000 |
| July 1995 | Jae Martin | Southend United | Free |
| July 1995 | Jason Bowen | Swansea City | £275,000 |
| July 1995 | Steve Castle | Plymouth Argyle | £225,000 |
| August 1995 | Ian Richardson | Dagenham & Redbridge | £60,000 |
| September 1995 | Michael Johnson | Notts County | £225,000 |
| September 1995 | Steve Barnes | Welling United | £30,000 |
| October 1995 | Bart Griemink | WK Emmen | Free |
| December 1995 | Gary Bull | Nottingham Forest | Free |
| January 1996 | Fred Barber | Luton Town | Free |
| February 1996 | Gary Breen | Peterborough United | £250,000 |
| February 1996 | Paul Devlin | Notts County | £250,000 |
| February 1996 | Andy Legg | Notts County | £250,000 |
| March 1996 | Paul Barnes | York City | £350,000 |
| March 1996 | Martin Grainger | Brentford | £400,000 |
| May 1996 | Steve Bruce | Manchester United | Free |
| June 1996 | Barry Horne | Everton | £250,000 |
| June 1996 | Gary Ablett | Everton | £390,000 |

### Out

| Date | Player | Fee | Joined† |
| July 1995 | Andy Saville | £100,000 | Preston North End |
| September 1995 | Ryan Price | £20,000 | Macclesfield Town |
| January 1996 | Ben Sedgemore | Free | Peterborough United |
| December 1995 | Kenny Lowe | Free | (Gateshead) |
| February 1996 | Ken Charlery | * | Peterborough United |
| February 1996 | Liam Daish | £1.5m | Coventry City |
| March 1996 | Steve Claridge | £1.2m | Leicester City |
| March 1996 | Gary Bull | § | York City |
| March 1996 | Chris Whyte | Free | One month |
| March 1996 | Ian Richardson | £150,000 | Notts County |
| March 1996 | Mark Ward | Free | Huddersfield Town |
| March 1996 | Scott Hiley | £200,000 | Manchester City |
| June 1996 | Peter Shearer | Released | (Peterborough United) |
| June 1996 | Gary Cooper | Released | |
| June 1996 | Neil Doherty | Released | (Kidderminster Harriers) |
    † Brackets round a club denote the player joined that club after his Birmingham City contract expired.
    * Part of the deal in which Gary Breen joined Birmingham from Peterborough United for £250,000.
    § Part of the deal in which Paul Barnes joined Birmingham from York City for £350,000.

### Loan in

| Date | Player | Club | Return |
| October 1995 | Sigurd Rushfeldt | Tromsø IL | Three months |
| November 1995 | Dan Sahlin | Hammarby IF | One month |
| November 1995 | Danny Hill | Tottenham Hotspur | One month |
| November 1995 | David Preece | Derby County | One month |
| January 1996 | Paul Sansome | Southend United | One month |
| February 1996 | Vinny Samways | Everton | End of season |
| February 1996 | John Sheridan | Sheffield Wednesday | One month |

### Loan out

| Date | Player | Club | Return |
| September 1995 | Ian Muir | Darlington | One month |
| December 1995 | Chris Whyte | Coventry City | One month |
| January 1996 | Ian Richardson | Notts County | Two months |
| January 1996 | Ken Charlery | Southend United | One month |
| February 1996 | Scott Hiley | Manchester City | One month |
| February 1996 | Neil Doherty | Northampton Town | End of season |
| February 1996 | Steve Castle | Gillingham | End of season |
| March 1996 | Steve Finnan | Notts County | End of season |

## Appearances and goals

    Numbers in parentheses denote appearances made as a substitute.
    Players with name in italics and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Birmingham.
    Players marked † left the club during the playing season.
    Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward
Players' appearances and goals by competition :
| Pos. | Nat. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Anglo-Italian Cup | Anglo-Italian Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Nat. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | ENG | Fred Barber | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| GK | ENG | Ian Bennett | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 37 | 0 |
| GK | NED | Bart Griemink | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 25 (1) | 0 |
| GK | ENG | Paul Sansome * † | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Jon Bass | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| DF | IRE | Gary Breen | 17 (1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 (1) | 1 |
| DF | ENG | Gary Cooper | 16 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 (1) | 1 | 2 (1) | 0 | 24 (4) | 1 |
| DF | IRE | Liam Daish † | 16 (1) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 26 (1) | 2 |
| DF | ENG | Andy Edwards | 36 (1) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 54 (1) | 3 |
| DF | ENG | John Frain | 22 (1) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 29 (1) | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Martin Grainger | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Scott Hiley † | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| DF | JAM | Michael Johnson | 31 (2) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 41 (2) | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Gary Poole | 27 (1) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 42 (1) | 2 |
| DF | ENG | Simon Rea | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 1 (2) | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Chris Whyte † | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| MF | ENG | Steve Barnes | 0 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (5) | 0 |
| MF | WAL | Jason Bowen | 16 (7) | 4 | 0 (2) | 0 | 3 (5) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 21 (14) | 8 |
| MF | ENG | Steve Castle | 12 (3) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 23 (3) | 2 |
| MF | WAL | John Cornforth | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| MF | ENG | Louie Donowa | 5 (8) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 (5) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 (14) | 0 |
| MF | IRE | Steve Finnan | 6 (6) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 (2) | 0 | 2 (1) | 0 | 10 (9) | 1 |
| MF | ENG | Richard Forsyth | 12 (14) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 3 (1) | 0 | 24 (15) | 4 |
| MF | ENG | Danny Hill * † | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| MF | ENG | Jonathan Hunt | 43 (2) | 11 | 1 (1) | 1 | 8 (3) | 2 | 5 | 1 | 52 (6) | 15 |
| MF | WAL | Andy Legg | 9 (3) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 (3) | 1 |
| MF | ENG | Kenny Lowe | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 |
| MF | ENG | Ricky Otto | 6 (12) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 (3) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 12 (15) | 2 |
| MF | ENG | David Preece * † | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| MF | ENG | Ian Richardson † | 3 (4) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 (1) | 0 | 1 (2) | 0 | 9 (7) | 0 |
| MF | SWE | Dan Sahlin * † | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 |
| MF | ENG | Vinny Samways * | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| MF | IRE | John Sheridan * † | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 (1) | 0 |
| MF | ENG | Paul Tait | 23 (4) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 (1) | 0 | 2 (1) | 0 | 29 (6) | 3 |
| MF | ENG | Mark Ward | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 (1) | 3 |
| FW | ENG | Paul Barnes | 15 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 7 |
| FW | ENG | Gary Bull † | 3 (3) | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 3 (7) | 0 |
| FW | LCA | Ken Charlery † | 8 (9) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 (1) | 2 | 2 (1) | 0 | 13 (11) | 6 |
| FW | ENG | Steve Claridge † | 28 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 11 (1) | 1 | 2 (1) | 1 | 43 (2) | 10 |
| FW | SCO | Paul Devlin | 16 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 7 |
| FW | ENG | Neil Doherty | 0 (2) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 1 (4) | 1 |
| FW | SKN | Kevin Francis | 11 (8) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 20 (8) | 7 |
| FW | ENG | Jae Martin | 1 (6) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 1 (8) | 0 |
| FW | ENG | Ian Muir | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 |
| FW | CAN | Paul Peschisolido | 7 (2) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 (2) | 1 |
| FW | NOR | Sigurd Rushfeldt * † | 3 (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 (4) | 1 |
Players not included in matchday squads :
| Pos. | Nat. | Name |
| GK | ENG | Ryan Price † |
| MF | ENG | Peter Shearer |