Birmingham City relegated to League One despite beating Norwich

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Birmingham World reporter Charlie Haffenden's reaction to Birmingham City's relegation to League One, despite a Championship final-day win over Norwich.

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00:00Birmingham City have been relegated to Sky Bet League 1, the first time Blues have been

00:05in the third tier of English football since 1995. A horrendous day for the football club

00:11but actually a very strong result and a strong performance on the pitch against the Norwich

00:14City side that's chasing for promotion to the Premier League. A 1-0 win, Pike Hunksung

00:19Ho's header from a deflected Keshie Anderson cross was enough to seal all three points

00:24today but results elsewhere meant that Blues were relegated. Unfortunately, heading into

00:28this final day, Birmingham were in the bottom three. One point below Plymouth and three

00:33points behind Sheffield Wednesday, three behind Blackburn Rovers. All three of those teams

00:38winning on the final day and a remarkable final day in the Championship. I don't think

00:42anyone would have expected all of the teams to go on and win their matches, especially

00:46with some of the oppositions they had. Plymouth against Hull, Sheffield Wednesday against

00:50Sunderland and Blackburn against Leicester. Three really tough games for them and two

00:55of those being away from home as well. But, as it was, all three of those teams did win

01:00and Birmingham's fate was sealed despite three points being claimed here at St Andrews.

01:05Gary Rourke, his final game in charge in his interim period. Eight matches it was, managed

01:10three home wins here at St Andrews at Nighthead Park but ultimately not enough. I think the

01:15two draws away at Rotherham United and Huddersfield Town will be the ones that people look back

01:19at as the recent failures. Had they won just one of those matches, Blues would still be

01:23in the Championship for next season. But just the whole campaign on the whole really, just

01:28the inconsistency with managers having six different voices through the course of the

01:3346-match campaign. Of course, we couldn't have foreseen what was going to happen with

01:37Tony Mowbray, that was completely unexpected. But some of the earlier decisions at the start

01:42of the campaign could have definitely been helped. So I think that has obviously contributed

01:46to how things have gone. But you can't really deny the fight today against Norwich, a very

01:50good performance. There were times during the first half where maybe Blues were a little

01:55bit passive and they didn't show enough energy. But I think it was just recouping that energy

01:58to try and push on and get that winning goal. And they did, and they did their part. And

02:02I must say the fans here were fantastic from start to finish. Before the game, I don't

02:07think I've ever seen it as loud and proud as it was. Tom Wagner as well, of course,

02:11the owner, he was very present. He could have easily stepped away knowing that Birmingham

02:16could face relegation today. He could have hidden away from it because it's a very difficult

02:21day for him. He's going to face a lot of criticism. But fair play to him. He was here as Birmingham

02:26were relegated and the fans, as I said, were absolutely spectacular. Lucas Djukovic as

02:30well, the club legend, getting on for the final 25 minutes or so. Whether it's definitely

02:35his last game or not awaits to be seen, but it looks likely he put in a hell of a shift.

02:40He had one headed opportunity. I thought, is he going to get that dream goal on his

02:45probably last appearance? He didn't. He put it wide. But nonetheless, some sliding tackles,

02:49putting out all his passion onto the field, as he always does. It was nice to see. But

02:53ultimately, a terrible day for Birmingham and we'll be reflecting on it on BirminghamWorld.uk.

02:59Also the press conference from Gary Rowett, from David Wagner, some nice words from the

03:02Norwich City boss. Make sure to catch it all on the website, BirminghamWorld.uk.

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