Birmingham City made a shock fixture enquiry about their home match against Wrexham this season.
The former Championship club are arguably the biggest club in the league and will be favourites for League One promotion.
Birmingham have a former Premier League ground with St Andrew’s having a capacity of over 29,000. In the battle for promotion, home form will be a massive factor. Similarly, Wrexham will be looking to make the Racecourse a tough visit for away sides.
Under US-ownership including minority owner Tom Brady, the Midlands club have the fans excited over possible investment into the club’s infrastructure. However, the owners have made a surprising request to the EFL.
According to the Daily Mail, the Birmingham City owners wanted to seek permission to move their home match against the Red Dragons from St Andrews, and instead to play the fixture in America.
This request was immediately rejected by the EFL, but the request has caused many pundits to take issue with the former Premier club.
Carlton Palmer slams Birmingham City owners amid Wrexham fixture controversy
If the US owners had requested to play Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s Wrexham in a pre-season game in the States, there would have been no issue and it would have been an attractive fixture for the growing US fanbase of both clubs.
However, attempting to move a league fixture from the local fans has caused outrage. Former Leeds United player Carlton Palmer is bemused by the request.
Speaking to Football League World, Palmer said: “I mean, this is ludicrous really,
“I find this beyond belief that the American owners of Birmingham City [are] requesting to play their League One match versus Wrexham in the USA next season. It’s just absolutely ludicrous.”
Palmer was upset that the possible request went against the culture of English football and was an idea that neglected the local fans.
The former Southampton star added: “You know, they’ve bought an English Football League club and that’s where the league’s played.
“It’s a non-starter. It was never going to happen. I mean, you’ve never heard Wrexham and their owners, they’ve never come out and mentioned anything like that.
“It’s never going to happen, and it’s just a non-starter. It’s absolute nonsense.
“You know, if you’re looking at this, and you’re a Birmingham City fan, you’d be thinking, ‘Right, are these people really serious, who have come into the football club? Are they really serious, or is this just something for them to promote what they’re doing in the USA or whatever?
“It just really is nonsensical and was never going to happen from day one. Ridiculous request.”
Birmingham City request could spell future upset
It is increasingly likely that owners in the Premier League and EFL will look to move fixtures away from England in the future.
American ownership is increasing throughout English football and they will want to add some of their expertise from the American sports culture.
Many different American sports events are held in the UK across the year. In recent years, NFL games have been played in London.
The issue with attempting to do this in English football is the historic culture.
English football was developed on the local grassroots game. With fans supporting their hometown club. To take the football away from its roots is a cause for concern.
This Birmingham City request has been immediately rejected, but, it is likely that a similar request may appear in years to come.