Chris Davies Targets New Heights As Birmingham City Return To Championship

Birmingham City manager Chris Davies believes his side can find success in the Championship after a record-breaking League One campaign.

Davies guided Birmingham to promotion last season with 111 points – the highest points total in English football history – winning 34 of 46 matches while scoring a league-best 84 goals and conceding just 31.

Now, Davies and Birmingham are back in the Championship, where they meet their first challenge in the form of Premier League-relegated Ipswich Town on Friday.

In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports, Davies laid out what the record-breaking season meant for him and the club.

“It was a rejuvenation of the whole club, really,” Davies said.

“That was so enjoyable after so many years in the doldrums, poor leadership and ownership, and just chaos. To actually have a season to remember, for the fans, it was a long time coming.”

After spending years under Brendan Rodgers as an assistant manager at Swansea City, Liverpool, Celtic, and Leicester City, as well as a season with former Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou, Davies was keen to set out on his own.

“It just felt right with Birmingham. You want to try to make an impact straight away, and I saw that opportunity here.

“I feel better being a manager. It is more consuming but less stressful. You are not second-guessing yourself. I feel more comfortable in this role.”

Davies’ Birmingham side were one of the highlights of League One last season, trailblazing through their campaign with a possession-heavy style of play and high-intensity press.

In fact, Birmingham City in 2024/25 rank just fourth in the list of teams with the most possession across a season in England’s top four tiers since 2013/14, with 67.15%.

The only three teams above them are the Pep Guardiola-led Manchester City teams, who recorded 71.94% possession in 2017/18, 68.21% in 2021/22, and 68.13% in 2018/19.

Despite their record-breaking campaign, Davies recognised that strengthening the squad was still a necessity ahead of a season in the Championship.

“Recruitment and retention. That is the big thing this summer for us,” the Blues’ manager said.

“When you get 111 points, you can say that you are in a great position. But I just felt that we needed to progress, to improve the quality, while keeping the core, the essence of the culture that we have been building.”

Davies also added that Birmingham have no intention of stripping away the style of play that brought them success last season.

“We still want to be very aggressive with the press, but I have been watching a lot of teams and trying to make sure that I am adding more layers to that because we are going to need more layers in the Championship than what we had last season.

“I am looking at working with the boys on how it can look when we are deeper in the pitch, for example, because we are going to come up against some really good teams, especially away from home, that are going to get hold of the ball and really stretch us.”

Birmingham have been active in the transfer market this summer, adding Kyogo Furuhashi from Rennes, Tommy Doyle from Wolves, Bright Osayi-Samuel from Fenerbahce, Marvin Ducksch from SV Werder Bremen, as well as seeing the return of former Birmingham player Demarai Gray from Al-Ettifaq, among others.

But Davies insists that he will still be relying on core players from last season, such as recent Under-21 European champion Jay Stansfield.

“This is an exciting time for Jay. He has everything I love. He is just full of energy, works so hard, has technique and intelligence,” Davies said of the England youth international.

“Having worked with Jamie Vardy, I think Jay is in that mould of striker who can be so dangerous with their movement, cleverness and speed. I am looking forward to seeing him develop.”

Davies knows that the pressure in the Championship will be high, though he refused to make any bold predictions, citing hard work as the key to success.

“I had 60 games last season and was expected to win 58 of them, so I am pretty used to the pressure now,” he joked.

“Ultimately, we are a promoted team. I will continue to remind people of that. Everybody knows how hard the Championship is.

“I am not going to make grand statements. About 20 of the 24 teams will go in feeling this could be their year.

“We have to earn it, we have to prove it. But with the squad that we are putting together, there is great belief that we can kick on with momentum.”