The 2001–02 season was Birmingham City Football Club's 99th in the Football League. They finished in 5th position in the 24-team Football League First Division, thus qualifying for the play-offs, and were successful in the final, beating Norwich City in a penalty shootout to gain promotion to the Premier League. Birmingham entered the 2001–02 FA Cup at the third round and lost to Liverpool in that round, and after entering the League Cup in the first round, lost to Manchester City in the third.

Trevor Francis was dismissed as manager in October with Birmingham mid-table in the First Division. Mick Mills and Jim Barron acted as caretakers until December, when former Crystal Palace manager Steve Bruce was appointed. French manufacturers Le Coq Sportif supplied Birmingham's kit for the fourth consecutive season, and mobile phone retailer Phones4U were the new shirt sponsors. Tommy Mooney was top scorer with 15 goals, of which 13 were scored in the league.

Football League First Division

Trevor Francis was dismissed as manager in October with Birmingham mid-table in the First Division. Mick Mills and Jim Barron acted as caretakers until December, when former Crystal Palace manager Steve Bruce was appointed. Under his management Birmingham improved to finish fifth in the First Division for the third season running, qualifying for the play-offs yet again. This season, however, Birmingham finally tasted success: after beating Millwall 2–1 on aggregate in the semi-final, they faced Norwich City in the play-off final at the Millennium Stadium. After normal time ended goalless, the match went to extra time, only for Norwich's Iwan Roberts to score in the first minute of extra time. However, Geoff Horsfield equalised 11 minutes later and, with no further goals, the match went to a penalty shoot-out. Birmingham won 4–2 to finally gain promotion to the Premier League, 16 seasons after their previous top-flight campaign.

Match details

DateLeaguepositionOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceReport11 August 200119thWimbledonAL1–3B. Hughes 87'9,142 Individual match reports are linked from this page.19 August 20018thMillwallHW4–0B. Hughes 22', 27', Horsfield 30', Eaden 45'19,09125 August 20017thWalsallAW2–1Mooney 20', Horsfield 41'7,24527 August 20013rdStockport CountyHW2–1Grainger 2', Mooney 21' pen.18,4788 September 20013rdSheffield WednesdayHW2–0A. Johnson 43', B. Hughes 63'19,42115 September 20017thManchester CityAL0–331,71418 September 20019thBurnleyHL2–3A. Johnson (2) 19', 40'18,42623 September 200114thPreston North EndHL0–123,00426 September 200114thWatfordAD3–3B. Hughes 4', Horsfield 47', Grainger 85'13,09129 September 200114thCrewe AlexandraAD0–07,31413 October 200112thBarnsleyAW3–1Marcelo 36', Horsfield 55', Furlong 83'11,91018 October 200110thNottingham ForestAD0–018,21020 October 20016thBradford CityHW4–0Marcelo (3) 37', 45', 48', Sonner 39'25,01123 October 20015thGillinghamHW2–1Horsfield (2) 36', 47'27,10126 October 20016thGrimsby TownAL1–3Marcelo 49'5,41930 October 20016thPortsmouthAD1–1Marcelo 25'15,6124 November 200110thRotherham UnitedHD2–2Branston 45' o.g., Horsfield 51'28,4367 November 200110thWest Bromwich AlbionHL0–123,55417 November 200112thSheffield UnitedAL0–415,68625 November 200111thCoventry CityHW2–0Marcelo (2) 17', 61'18,27930 November 200111thGillinghamAD1–1Marcelo 63'8,5758 December 200110thNorwich CityHW4–0Mooney (3) 30', 45', 58' pen., Marcelo 46'17,31011 December 20019thCrystal PalaceHW1–0Mooney 64' pen.20,11916 December 200110thWolverhampton WanderersAL1–2Marcelo 40'21,48222 December 20017thWalsallHW1–0Purse 14' pen.20,12726 December 20018thSheffield WednesdayAW1–0Horsfield 77'24,33529 December 20016thStockport CountyAW3–0Vickers 18', Marcelo 49', Mooney 76'5,8271 January 20027thNottingham ForestHD1–1Mooney 4'19,77010 January 20026thMillwallAD1–1Mooney 45'11,85619 January 20028thWimbledonHL0–217,76629 January 20028thWest Bromwich AlbionAL0–125,26616 February 20029thBarnsleyHW1–0John 51'19,20823 February 20029thWatfordHW3–2Purse 21', Mooney (2) 42', 53' pen.18,05926 February 20028thBurnleyAW1–0Mooney 25'13,5042 March 20029thPreston North EndAL0–115,5435 March 20029thManchester CityHL1–2M. Johnson 4'24,1609 March 200210thWolverhampton WanderersHD2–2John 36', Devlin 45'22,10412 March 20027thBradford CityAW3–1Purse 6', John 31', Horsfield 82'13,10515 March 20027thNorwich CityAW1–0John 22'18,25824 March 20027thCoventry CityAD1–1Horsfield 81'17,94530 March 20026thGrimsby TownHW4–0B. Hughes (2) 22', 31', John 50', D. Johnson 64'23,2491 April 20026thCrystal PalaceAD0–019,5987 April 20026thPortsmouthHD1–1John 2'25,03010 April 20024thCrewe AlexandraHW3–1John 30', Carter 45', Mooney 49'28,61513 April 20024thRotherham UnitedAD2–2Grainger 38', Beech 70' o.g.10,53621 April 20025thSheffield UnitedHW2–0Horsfield 61', Grainger 63'29,178

League table

Results summary

Play-offs

RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceReportSemifinal 1st leg28 April 2002MillwallHD1–1B. Hughes 56'28,282Semifinal 2nd leg2 May 2002MillwallAW1–02–1 agg.John 90'16,391

Final

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceReportThird round5 January 2002LiverpoolAL0–340,875

League Cup

RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceReportFirst round22 August 2001Southend UnitedHW3–0Mooney (2) 7', 90' pen., Whelan 16' o.g.12,015Second round11 September 2001Bristol RoversAW3–0A. Johnson 45', M. Johnson 62', B. Hughes 68'5,582Third round10 October 2001Manchester CityAL0–613,112

Transfers

In DatePlayerClubFeeRef 18 June 2001 Nico Vaesen Huddersfield Town) Undisclosed 1 July 2001 Tommy Mooney (Watford) Free 1 July 2001 Chris Ward Lancaster City £25,000 8 August 2001 Kevin Poole Unattached Free 17 December 2001 Steve Vickers Middlesbrough £425,000 31 January 2002 Jeff Kenna Blackburn Rovers Free 8 February 2002 Stern John Nottingham Forest £100,000 8 March 2002 Damien Johnson Blackburn Rovers Undisclosed 13 March 2002 Tom Williams Peterborough United Undisclosed 22 March 2002 Olivier Tébily Celtic £700,000 8 May 2002 Paul Devlin Sheffield United

Brackets round club names indicate the player's contract with that club had expired before he joined Birmingham.

Out DatePlayerFeeJoinedRef 13 July 2001 Jon Bass Free Hartlepool United 26 October 2001 Kevin Poole Free Bolton Wanderers 7 February 2002 Marcelo Undisclosed Walsall 7 February 2002 Martyn O'Connor Undisclosed Walsall 8 March 2002 David Burrows Released (Sheffield Wednesday) 8 March 2002 Jacques Williams Released (Scarborough) 8 March 2002 Mickael Sabathier Released 15 March 2002 Ross Diamond Released 30 June 2002 Jon McCarthy Released (Port Vale) 30 June 2002 Dele Adebola Released (Crystal Palace) 30 June 2002 Danny Sonner Released (Walsall) 10 July 2002 David Holdsworth Released (Bolton Wanderers)

Brackets round a club denote the player joined that club after his Birmingham City contract expired.

Loan in DatePlayerClubReturnRef 10 August 2001 Carlos Ferrari Mirassol 5 March 2002 24 August 2001 Alan Kelly Blackburn Rovers One month 6 September 2001 Bjørn Otto Bragstad Derby County One month 15 November 2001 Curtis Fleming Middlesbrough One month 16 November 2001 Steve Vickers Middlesbrough One month 21 December 2001 Arkadiusz Bąk Polonia Warsaw 18 February 2002 24 December 2001 Jeff Kenna Blackburn Rovers One month 4 February 2002 Paul Devlin Sheffield United Three months 11 March 2002 Tom Williams Peterborough United 13 March 2002 28 March 2002 Michael Hughes Wimbledon End of season

Loan out DatePlayerClubReturnRef 17 August 2001 Graham Hyde Chesterfield Two months 21 September 2001 Tony Capaldi Hereford United 1 January 2002 2 October 2001 Chris Ward Forest Green Rovers One month 18 January 2002 David Holdsworth Walsall End of season 4 February 2002 Paul Furlong Sheffield United One month 20 March 2002 Dele Adebola Oldham Athletic One month 28 March 2002 Jon McCarthy Sheffield Wednesday One month 29 March 2002 Chris Ward Southport One month

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 competitionNameLeagueFA CupLeague CupPlay-offsTotalDisciplineGoalsGoalsGoalsGoalsGoals1 GKIan Bennett190100000200002 DFNicky Eaden25 (5)100300028 (5)0003 DFMartin Grainger40 (1)400303046 (1)41214 MFDanny Sonner10 (5)100300013 (5)1225 DFDarren Purse36 (1)310102040 (1)31116 DFDavid Holdsworth3 (1)00010004 (1)0007 MFJon McCarthy3 (1)00000003 (1)0008 FWMarcelo 17 (5)120 (1)00 (3)00017 (9)12108 FWStern John158000031188009 FWGeoff Horsfield34 (7)1110303141 (7)127010MFBryan Hughes28 (4)70 (1)0213133 (5)94011MFStan Lazaridis23 (10)0001 (1)00 (3)024 (14)01012MFMartyn O'Connor 2400 (1)00 (1)00024 (2)05012MFMichael Hughes *30000000300013MFGraham Hyde1 (4)00000001 (4)01014MFCurtis Woodhouse18 (10)0102 (1)00021 (11)07115DFJerry Gill1401020001702016FWTommy Mooney30 (4)1310123035 (4)152017DFMichael Johnson31 (2)100311035 (2)23018GKNico Vaesen22 (1)000203027 (1)01019FWAndrew Johnson9 (14)310210 (2)012 (16)43020MFTom Williams40000000400021MFTrésor Luntala9 (6)000100010 (6)00022DFDavid Burrows 9 (3)0101 (1)00011 (4)00022MFDamien Johnson5 (3)10000106 (3)12025FWPaul Furlong2 (9)1000 (2)0002 (11)13026DFOlivier Tébily700000301000028DFJoey Hutchinson0 (3)00010001 (3)00029GKClint Davies00000000000030GKKevin Poole 00001000100030DFCurtis Fleming * 60000000601030MFArkadiusz Bąk * 2 (2)01000003 (2)00031FWCarlos Ferrari *0 (4)00000000 (4)00032GKNeil Barnes00000000000032GKAlan Kelly *60000000600033DFBjørn Otto Bragstad *30000000300033MFDarren Carter13 (1)100001 (1)014 (2)10035DFSteve Vickers13 (1)110002016 (1)10036DFJeff Kenna2200000302501037MFPaul Devlin11 (2)100002013 (2)120

+ Players not included in matchday squadsName20MFJacques Williams 23FWChris Ward24FWDele Adebola26MFRoss Diamond 27DFTony Capaldi29MFMickael Sabathier 34FWCraig Fagan

See also List of Birmingham City F.C. seasons

References General

Source for match dates, league positions and results: Source for lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 438–39. Source for goal times: Source for transfers:

Specific