Birmingham City Ladies FC 2008-09 Season

National Premier League: 5th
League Cup: 2nd round; Everton a. 1-2
FA Cup: 5th round; Bristol Academy a. lost 4-2 on penalties.

Highlight:
2-1 win away to Leeds Carnegie, 15/3/09

Low Spot:
0-1 home defeat to Liverpool, 19/10/08

Good:
Heather Scheuber
Maintained her excellent form of the previous season and is now the player Birmingham look to first for inspiration. Has all the qualities needed to become a top class midfielder and brings real creativity to her side.
Maz Gauntlett
Most of the Birmingham players pulled their weight during the season but Gauntlett deserves special notice for her good run of goalscoring form in the latter part of the campaign which included some truly spectacular efforts.

In Brief:
Birmingham will be well pleased with their season given that they lost established players to retirement and to Arsenal, patching up their own losses, before the season began. New faces came in and did well, especially in defence where Jemma Connor-Iommi was a find, and the squad was further strengthened as Danni Bird made a swift return from Arsenal and Jo Potter joined from Everton.
With Bird, Potter and Heather Scheuber in the same midfield Birmingham certainly don’t lack creativity and they are almost always good value to watch.
Finishing 5th in the league was a more than respectable effort but the FA Cup exit on penalties to Bristol Academy was an undoubted disappointment.

Birmingham City Ladies FC were formed in 1968 by female supporters of Birmingham City FC who wanted to play themselves.

Initially the team played only friendlies but in 1970 they joined the newly formed Heart of England League.

In 1972 the club won that league and in 1974 they joined the West Midland Regional League.

Birmingham City Ladies were champions of that league on five occassions (1975,77,88,89 and 94).

They also made it to two FA Womens Cup semi finals (1974 and 88).

The club had begun to struggle by the early 1990's but the establishment of a junior set up helped them continue and then flourish.

In 1998 Birmingham City Ladies joined the newly formed Midland Combination League and won this competition in its' inaugral season.

In 2000 Birmingham City Ladies FC were promoted to the Premier League North, winning the competition in their second season to progress into the National Premier League proper.

In this season, 2002, the club also made it to the final of the Premier League Cup only to lose 7-1 to the full time professionals of Fulham Ladies.

This remained a fine achievement considering the average age of the team at this time was only 18 and included an exciting 15 year old prospect, Eniola Aluko.

Birmingham City Ladies looked well equipped to progress from this foundation.

In the 2003 European under 19 championships no team provided more England squad members than Birmingham City Ladies and they also provided one quarter of the England squad for the 2005 European Championships.

After that tournament, however, Birmingham City FC pulled out their financial backing of the Ladies team, placing the clubs' immediate future in jeopardy.

The club has managed to stay in business but not before almost all its top players had left for other clubs, leaving the side desperately short for the current campaign.

The club has managed to improve the playing squad since the summers' exodus but face an uphill struggle to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

One player who stayed after the European Championships is the teenage winger Karen Carney, scorer of England's last minute winner against Finland in that tournament.

Birmingham City Ladies FC have bolstered their squad with the acquisition of Danielle Bird, a promising youngster, and possess a gem in former Arsenal forward Ellen Maggs who possesses a wealth of top flight experience despite only being in her early 20's.

They also boast a fine defender in captain Laura Bassett, a woman on the fringe of the England side who was the first player from the club to win a full cap.

The club also have the highest profile manager in the Ladies game in Marcus Bignot, a regular first teamer at QPR.

The club play their home games at Redditch FC and offer an excellent official website, which could be improved by a little player info but is otherwise top notch.