The English football team that NFL legend Tom Brady co-owns, Birmingham City, was one of three teams relegated from the Championship, England’s second division, on Saturday.
The Blues beat Norwich 1-0 but needed help in one of the three games to stay in position. But with Plymouth, Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn all winning their games, Birmingham City were unable to prevent their slide into England’s third tier, the division in which they will play for the first time since 1995.
Rotherham and Huddersfield Town and will join Birmingham in League One next season.
Saturday was the end of a turbulent first season for Birmingham’s American owners. The team used three head coaches during the 2023-24 season, including Manchester United and England legend Wayne Rooney. By the time they replaced John Eustace with Rooney in October, they were sixth out of 24 teams.
Eustace moved to Blackburn, who defeated league champions Leicester City to retain Championship status for another season.
Brady joined Birmingham City’s ownership group in August after partnering with the club’s holding company, Knighthead Capital Management. Brady has partnered with Knighthead Capital in the past on other ventures and president 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 a world-class standard,” Wagner said in August. “Tom is investing and committing his time and extensive knowledge.”
Brady did not attend 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 cheered on by a celebrity lineup that includes his former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick as part of a Netflix special.
