# 1986–87 Birmingham City F.C. season

The 1986–87 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 84th in the Football League and their 34th in the Second Division, to which they were relegated in 1985–86. They finished in 19th position in the 22-team division, and avoided a second successive relegation only by two points. They entered the 1986–87 FA Cup in the third round proper and lost to Walsall in the fourth, and were eliminated from the League Cup in the third round by Tottenham Hotspur. They entered the second season of the Full Members' Cup, a competition created for teams in the top two divisions after English clubs were banned from UEFA competitions following the Heysel disaster, and lost in the second round away to Charlton Athletic in front of a crowd of less than a thousand.
The top scorer was Wayne Clarke with 19 goals, of which 16 were scored in league matches. The average attendance, of under 7,500, was a record low for a season at St Andrew's.

## Football League Second Division

| Date | League position | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 23 August 1986 | 1st | Stoke City | A | W | 2–0 | Hemming og, Whitton | 11,548 |
| 25 August 1986 | 1st | Bradford City | H | W | 2–1 | Mortimer 2 | 7,003 |
| 30 August 1986 | 1st | Derby County | H | D | 1–1 | Clarke | 12,209 |
| 3 September 1986 | 3rd | Brighton & Hove Albion | A | L | 0–2 | | 9,955 |
| 6 September 1986 | 5th | Sheffield United | A | D | 1–1 | Bremner | 10,297 |
| 13 September 1986 | 7th | Huddersfield Town | H | D | 1–1 | Clarke | 6,934 |
| 20 September 1986 | 11th | Hull City | A | L | 2–3 | Clarke 2 | 6,851 |
| 27 September 1986 | 12th | Ipswich Town | H | D | 2–2 | Clarke 2 | 7,227 |
| 4 October 1986 | 12th | Barnsley | H | D | 1–1 | Kennedy | 6,427 |
| 11 October 1986 | 17th | Portsmouth | A | L | 0–2 | | 11,252 |
| 18 October 1986 | 12th | Crystal Palace | H | W | 4–1 | Bremner, Overson, Whitton, Clarke | 5,987 |
| 25 October 1986 | 14th | Sunderland | A | L | 0–2 | | 15,553 |
| 1 November 1986 | 17th | West Bromwich Albion | A | L | 2–3 | Lynex, Clarke | 15,029 |
| 8 November 1986 | 18th | Oldham Athletic | H | L | 1–3 | Clarke pen | 6,082 |
| 15 November 1986 | 16th | Millwall | A | W | 2–0 | Clarke, Rees | 4,795 |
| 22 November 1986 | 11th | Leeds United | H | W | 2–1 | Clarke, Bremner | 7,863 |
| 29 November 1986 | 9th | Grimsby Town | A | W | 1–0 | Whitton | 4,734 |
| 6 December 1986 | 10th | Blackburn Rovers | H | D | 1–1 | Clarke | 6,428 |
| 13 December 1986 | 13th | Shrewsbury Town | A | L | 0–1 | | 4,797 |
| 19 December 1986 | 9th | Sheffield United | H | W | 2–1 | Clarke 2 (1 pen) | 5,007 |
| 26 December 1986 | 12th | Reading | A | D | 2–2 | Lynex, Clarke | 7,662 |
| 29 December 1986 | 13th | Millwall | H | D | 1–1 | Mortimer | 8,006 |
| 1 January 1987 | 11th | Plymouth Argyle | H | W | 3–2 | Kuhl, Clarke, Mortimer | 8,696 |
| 3 January 1987 | 11th | Bradford City | A | D | 0–0 | | 8,679 |
| 24 January 1987 | 11th | Stoke City | H | D | 0–0 | | 10,643 |
| 7 February 1987 | 10th | Derby County | A | D | 2–2 | Bremner, Whitton | 16,836 |
| 14 February 1987 | 8th | Brighton & Hove Albion | H | W | 2–0 | Rees 2 | 6,439 |
| 21 February 1987 | 9th | Ipswich Town | A | L | 0–3 | | 10,169 |
| 28 February 1987 | 11th | Hull City | H | D | 0–0 | | 6,858 |
| 3 March 1987 | 9th | Huddersfield Town | A | D | 2–2 | Whitton, Rees | 5,177 |
| 14 March 1987 | 13th | Crystal Palace | A | L | 0–6 | | 6,171 |
| 21 March 1987 | 13th | Portsmouth | H | L | 0–1 | | 9,823 |
| 28 March 1987 | 13th | Barnsley | A | D | 2–2 | Whitton, Wigley | 4,688 |
| 31 March 1987 | 10th | Sunderland | H | W | 2–0 | North, Whitton | 5,563 |
| 4 April 1987 | 10th | Oldham Athletic | A | D | 2–2 | Whitton, Linighan og | 6,555 |
| 11 April 1987 | 11th | West Bromwich Albion | H | L | 0–1 | | 11,158 |
| 18 April 1987 | 12th | Plymouth Argyle | A | D | 0–0 | | 13,372 |
| 20 April 1987 | 12th | Reading | H | D | 1–1 | Frain | 5,427 |
| 25 April 1987 | 15th | Leeds United | A | L | 0–4 | | 19,133 |
| 2 May 1987 | 15th | Grimsby Town | H | W | 1–0 | Whitton | 4,457 |
| 5 May 1987 | 16th | Blackburn Rovers | A | L | 0–1 | | 5,622 |
| 9 May 1987 | 19th | Shrewsbury Town | H | L | 0–2 | | 7,724 |

### League table (part)

Final Second Division table (part) :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 17th | Huddersfield Town | 42 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 54 | 61 | −7 | 51 |
| 18th | Shrewsbury Town | 42 | 15 | 6 | 21 | 41 | 53 | −12 | 51 |
| 19th | Birmingham City | 42 | 11 | 17 | 14 | 47 | 59 | −12 | 50 |
| 20th | Sunderland | 42 | 12 | 12 | 18 | 49 | 59 | −10 | 48 |
| 21st | Grimsby Town | 42 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 39 | 59 | −20 | 44 |

### 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 | 10 January 1987 | Ipswich Town | A | W | 1–0 | Mortimer | 11,616 |
| Fourth round | 31 January 1987 | Walsall | A | L | 0–1 | | 14,810 |

## League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| Second round 1st leg | 23 September 1986 | Middlesbrough | A | D | 2–2 | Whitton, Mortimer | 9,412 |
| Second round 2nd leg | 7 October 1986 | Middlesbrough | H | W | 3–2 aet | Clarke 2, Whitton | 4,978 |
| Third round | 29 October 1986 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | L | 0–5 | | 15,542 |

## Full Members' Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| Third round | 1 October 1986 | Brighton & Hove Albion | A | W | 3–0 | Clarke, Kuhl, O'Regan og | 3,794 |
| Fourth round | 4 November 1986 | Charlton Athletic | A | L | 2–3 | Geddis, Shirtliff og | 821 |

## 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 | Full Members' Cup | Full Members' Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Nat. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | ENG | Roger Hansbury | 31 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 0 |
| GK | ENG | Paul Tomlinson * | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Kevin Ashley | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Adrian Bird | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Julian Dicks | 33 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 38 (1) | 0 |
| DF | NIR | Jim Hagan | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 16 (1) | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Paul Hart | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Mark Jones † | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Vince Overson | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 40 | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Ray Ranson | 16 (1) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21 (1) | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Brian Roberts | 23 (1) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 (1) | 0 |
| DF | SCO | Tommy Williams | 29 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 33 (1) | 0 |
| MF | SCO | Des Bremner | 40 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 47 | 4 |
| MF | ENG | Richard Cooke * | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| MF | ENG | John Frain | 2 (1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 (1) | 1 |
| MF | ENG | Ian Handysides | 19 (1) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 (1) | 0 |
| MF | ENG | Robert Hopkins † | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| MF | ENG | Martin Kuhl † | 23 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 (1) | 1 | 29 (1) | 2 |
| MF | ENG | Steve Lynex * | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 2 |
| MF | ENG | Dennis Mortimer | 33 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 6 |
| MF | ENG | Dean Peer | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 |
| MF | IRL | Martin Russell * | 3 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 (2) | 0 |
| MF | ENG | Stuart Storer † | 3 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 (3) | 0 |
| MF | ENG | Steve Wigley | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
| FW | ENG | Wayne Clarke † | 24 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 30 | 19 |
| FW | ENG | David Geddis † | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 (2) | 1 |
| FW | SCO | Andy Kennedy | 5 (4) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 (4) | 1 |
| FW | ENG | Marc North * | 4 (1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 (1) | 1 |
| FW | WAL | Tony Rees | 27 (3) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 31 (4) | 4 |
| FW | ENG | Steve Whitton | 39 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 46 | 11 |