Birmingham City played two Premier League seasons in these nine, 2009/10 and 2010/11, then seven outside it. Against City they were hard to beat: three draws and one defeat in four league games, three points in all. Take City out and all three come off, and in both seasons that cancels the free place, the one every club below City gets.
In 2009/10 the 0–0 at St Andrew’s goes, and the 5–1 defeat at City takes nothing with it. 50 becomes 49: ninth either way. Joe Hart had joined them on loan from City that summer.
2010/11
A goal behind Wolves
In February Birmingham beat Arsenal 2–1 in the League Cup final, Martins scoring in the 89th minute: their first major trophy since 1963. On the last day they went down, beaten at Tottenham by a Pavlyuchenko goal in injury time.
Without City they still go down. The 0–0 at City in November and the 2–2 at St Andrew’s in February come off. 39 becomes 37: 18th of 19, level on points with Wolves but a goal behind them, and two short of Blackpool in 16th.
No reported fee changed hands between Birmingham and City in the nine seasons. Two more City players, Albert Rusnák and Emyr Huws, arrived on loan in January 2014, when Birmingham were outside the Premier League.