The English soccer team that NFL legend Tom Brady is part owner of, Birmingham City, were one of three teams relegated from the Championship, England’s second division, on Saturday.
The Blues defeated Norwich, 1-0, but needed help from one of three games in order to stay up. But with Plymouth, Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn winning their games, Birmingham City couldn’t stop their fall to England’s third tier, a division they will play in for the first time since 1995.
Rotherham and Huddersfield Town and will join Birmingham in League One next season.
Thank you for your support in a tough first year Bluenoses. We have a long way to go but it’s because of all of you that we’ll achieve great things in the future 💙 https://t.co/Bn4TRE6czK
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) May 4, 2024
Saturday was the end of a bumpy first season for Birmingham’s American ownership. The team used three head coaches during the 2023-24 season, including Manchester United and England legend Wayne Rooney. At the time they replaced John Eustace with Rooney in October, they were in sixth place out of 24 teams.
Eustace moved on to Blackburn, who defeated league champion Leicester City to retain their Championship status for another season.
Brady joined the Birmingham City ownership group in August after partnering with the club’s holding company, Knighthead Capital Management. Brady has teamed up with Knighthead Capital in the past on other ventures and chairman Tom Wagner was eager to bring the seven-time Super Bowl champion’s winning mentality to the club.
“Tom Brady joining the Birmingham team is a statement of intent. We are setting the bar at world class,” Wagner said in August.”Tom is both investing and committing his time and extensive expertise.”
Brady was not in attendance at St. Andrew’s on Saturday. He was in Miami on Friday for this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix and will head to Los Angeles to be roasted by a celebrity lineup, which includes his former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, as part of a Netflix special.
