In advance of our League meeting at St. Andrews on Saturday, YNWA looks at the careers of some of those who have represented both Birmingham City and the reds.
Current double agents
Jermaine Pennant signed from relegated City for £6.7m in July 2006, and has so far hit the target three times in 75 reds games, with two of those strikes coming in his last five outings. He had joined the Blues on loan from Arsenal in January 2005, signing on permanently five months later. He bagged a total of three goals in sixty games while at St. Andrews.
Birmingham was Steve Finnan's first professional club, as he joined them for £100,000 from Welling United in June 1995. He only made 22 appearances in sixteen months at St. Andrews before he moved to Second Division Notts County. Finn has so far made 214 reds appearances, and notched his only goal for us to date against West Bromwich Albion in September 2004. Fellow double agents Gary Ablett and Mike Newell played alongside Finnan at Birmingham.
At the back
Gary Ablett won two League titles and the FA Cup during a 147-game Anfield career. After a spell across Stanley Park, he made 124 appearances for Birmingham City in the late 1990's, appearing with fellow double agent Mike Newell in his first season there. Midlands-born David Burrows played 193 reds games, helping us to a League title and the FA Cup in his five years at Anfield. He later had two seasons with Birmingham, playing thirty times, mostly under Trevor Francis.
Julian Dicks started his professional career at St. Andrews, playing 102 times in just two years, as they struggled in the old Second Division. He arrived at Anfield after more than five years at Upton Park, making 28 appearances in his one year with the reds, having been signed as part of the deal that took fellow Birmingham double agent Burrows to West Ham United. Keeper Mark Prudhoe joined Birmingham from Sunderland for £22,000 in September 1984, remaining there for seventeen months when he joined Walsall for the same fee after five games for the Blues. He spent a month on loan at Anfield at the end of 1994, without getting off the bench.
Short-lived strikers
Tony Hateley struck 27 goals in his first season at Anfield, after arriving from Chelsea for £96,000 in June 1967. He joined Coventry City after just two years with the reds, and a total of 28 goals in 56 games. He bagged six goals in 28 League games for Birmingham City later on in his career. Howard Gayle became the first black player to appear for our first-team in modern times, but never established himself as a regular, making only five senior appearances. He moved to Birmingham for £75,000 in January 1983, scoring nine times in 46 League games, and winning England Under-21 honours while at St. Andrews.
David Speedie was signed from Coventry City by Kenny Dalglish for £700,000 in January 1991, getting off to a blistering start by scoring on his debut at Manchester United, and then grabbing a brace against Everton six days later. In total he netted eight times in fourteen reds games before moving to Blackburn Rovers in August of the same year. He was loaned to the Blues by Southampton during the 1992/93 season, grabbing two goals in ten League games while at St. Andrews.
Welsh inside-right Tony Rowley struck 38 times in 61 reds games, after arriving from St. Andrews in October 1953, where he had started his professional career. He left Anfield to join Tranmere Rovers in March 1958. Ex-reds reserve forward Mike Newell spent a year with First Division Birmingham, arriving for £775,000 from Blackburn Rovers in July 1996. He only managed to notch three times in just twenty games, before moving on to Aberdeen.
Double agents of yore
Full-back John Glover played 59 times for the reds before joining Small Heath for £250 in 1903, as Birmingham were then known. He played 124 times for the Blues. Archie Goldie also appeared at full-back at Anfield, turning out 149 times in total in the late 1890's, helping us to promotion back to the top flight in his first season. He ended his career with Small Heath.
Other double agents
Emile Heskey signed from Leicester City for £10.5m in March 2000 and struck sixty goals in 223 reds games, helping us to claim the UEFA Cup, FA Cup, two League Cups and the UEFA Super Cup in his four years at Anfield. He moved to St. Andrews for a fee of up to £6.25m in May 2004 and netted sixteen times in 78 games for City before joining Wigan Athletic for £5.5m in July 2006.
Salif Diao spent the second half of the 2004/05 season on loan at St. Andrews. However, he only managed two games for the Blues due to injury, a home defeat by Fulham and a reverse at West Bromwich Albion. He made 61 reds appearances, nearly half of them from the bench, netting three times for us, and is now with Stoke City after a successful loan spell there. Right-back Willie Steel left Anfield for Birmingham City in March 1935 for £5,000 after 128 reds games, without scoring. Reds reserves midfielder Mick Halsall moved to the Midlands in 1982, and struck three times in 46 games for the Blues. He is now Head of Youth at Walsall. Birmingham was Scottish inside-right Tom Devlin's first English club. He never broke into our first-team, unlike his brother William, after signing from Preston North End in May 1927, moving on to Swindon Town ten months later.
