The Second City Derby

Lore & Background

The clubs first met on 27 September 1879, when Birmingham City were called Small Heath Alliance. The game, on a pitch at Small Heath's Muntz Street ground described by the Villa players as 'only suitable for pot-holing', finished 1–0 – recorded as 'one goal and a disputed goal to nil' – to the home side. Villa won the first competitive game between the clubs, in the Second Round of the FA Cup at Wellington Road in 1887, by four goals to nil. The last pre-league FA Cup campaign saw the first competitive 'Second City derby' occur on 5 November 1887.

Villa beat Small Heath 4–0 in the fifth round. Tommy Green scored a brace before half-time with Albert Brown and Albert Allen adding to the score in the second half. This was their first meeting with modern rivals Birmingham City. The first league encounter, in the First Division in the 1894–95 season, saw Villa win 2–1. after Birmingham had been promoted to the first division for a two year stint.

Small Heath F.C. took part in the 1900–01 FA Cup, losing in the third round to First division Aston Villa after a replay, Villa's Billy Garraty being the sole scorer over the two fixtures. That season Small Heath finished runners-up in Second Division, so were promoted to the First Division for 1901–02. Villa won 2–0 at Coventry Road Muntz Street with goals by Jack Devey and Joe Bache. In the 1901 Boxing Day fixture, Villa's Jasper McLuckie was the only scorer.

At the end of the season Birmingham were relegated back to the Second Division. Birmingham were promoted to the First Division in 1903–04 and Second City derbies were played up to 1907–08 when they were relegated. The teams would not meet again in top flight competition until fifteen years later when Birmingham were again promoted to the first division for 1921–22. The derbies continued until Aston Villa were relegated in 1935–36.

The two teams have engaged in several hotly contested matches. In the 1925 league game at Villa Park, with the home side 3–0 ahead with eleven minutes to go, Blues scored three times in a dramatic final spell to draw the match. The following year, Aston Villa made headlines with the signing of Tom 'Pongo' Waring, and his first appearance was for the reserves against Birmingham City's reserves, which famously drew a crowd of 23,000. Waring scored three times in the match. Villa were promoted for the 1938–39 season.

Reader's Guide

The history above covers the key matches and context.

Did You Know?

• The 1963 League Cup final was the most significant clash, with Blues winning 3–1 on aggregate to claim their first major domestic honour.
• In the 2002–03 season, Blues fans sarcastically named Villa goalkeeper Peter Enckelman runner-up in their player of the year vote after his errors in both derbies.