Burton Albion 1 v Birmingham City 2 - Bass Charity Vase (PSF)

Saturday 16th July 2022

Bass Charity Vase (Pre Season Friendly)

at the Pirelli Stadium

Burton Albion (0) 1

Tom Hamer 74

Birmingham City (1) 2

George Hall 37

Sam Cosgrove 87

Attendance: 2,588 (inc. 1,716 away fans)

Man of the match trophy winner: Ryan Woods

Point and hope picture gallery: Click HERE

Burton Albion: 

Ben Garratt (Viljami Sinisalo 46), Cameron Borthwick-Jackson (Charlie Lakin 55), Deji Oshilaja, Sam Hughes (C), Gassan Ahadme (Louis Moult 64), Davis Keillor-Dunn (William Kokolo 67), Jonny Smith (Terry Taylor 46), Trialist A ( Quevin Castro 46), Trialist B (Ciaran Gilligan 67), Frazer Blake-Tracy, Tom Hamer.

Unused sub - Ben Radcliffe.

Birmingham City:

Neil Etheridge (Zack Jeacock 71), Dion Sanderson (Marcel Oakley 70), Marc Roberts (Tate Campbell 70), Maxime Colin (Mitchell Roberts 70), Jordan Graham (Josh Williams 70), Ryan Woods (Alfie Chang 70), Juninho Bacuna (Odin Bailey 70), George Hall (Jordan James 60), Przemyslaw Placheta, Scott Hogan (Jobe Bellingham 70), Troy Deeney (C) (Sam Cosgrove 70).

On 2nd July 2022, with ever more fanciful rumours of an impending takeover at St. Andrew's building up a head of steam (of sorts); head coach: Lee Bowyer, was relieved of his duties after what had become an increasingly uncomfortable tenure, that had lasted all of sixteen months (which actually represents some kind of longevity under Birmingham City's hiring and firing policy of recent years) and was replaced the following day by John Eustace, who has joined Blues on a three year contract. 

You may ask...why leave it until July, a whole two months after last season ended? The most likely answer to that seems to be: a pre-determined activation of a contract loop-hole, so whoever actually owns the club could pay Bowyer less severance (allegedly) than if he'd gone straight after the home defeat against Blackburn Rovers on the final day of the lacklustre 2021-22 campaign.

Image usurped from eBay

Either way, as per usual, there are always infinitely more questions than answers pertaining to all things Birmingham City related. And as regards any of the takeover guff (seeing is believing), ground repair updates, or any kind of assurances to allay the manifold and ever growing list of concerns that supporters have, the silence is deafening. I've had this long held belief that if Birmingham City was a television soap opera, people would've switched it off years ago for being too far-fetched.

But hey! Cheer up all of you over-thinking things and prevaricating Blues fans, because today, right here, right now, in all of it's splendorous glory, there is that all-important and pressing matter of the Bass Charity Vase to play for at the Pirelli Stadium.

Eagerly anticipated (sort of).

This eagerly anticipated event, is even being streamed live on the internet n' all that. And after the game the players from both teams received medals while spectators were urged not to go on the pitch during the post-match presentation ceremony, in case they should have become overwhelmed by the gleeful exuberance of the occasion and behave inappropriately. Most people adhered to the guidance, but a few Blues fans ran onto the pitch to celebrate at the end a sweltering afternoon. Boys will be boys!

I don't know about you, but the excitement of the pre-match build up had been making me feel quite giddy all week and I'd even booked on a later train home, just in case the game needed to be decided by means of a penalty shoot-out.

At the roundabout go straight on (Stretton)

Okay you've sussed me out... in truth, delaying my journey home by forty-five minutes saved me fourteen quid on the fare, which when added to the fiver I refused to pay for a programme (covering three games, two of which I have bugger all interest in), probably puts me in line for this week's 'Martin Lewis of football anorak bloggers' award. Or at least earned me the moniker of: 'you tight bastard', which was  bestowed upon me by my pals who caught the earlier train back. 

You've got more bloody money than sense you lot!

Maik Taylor, popular ex-Blues keeper.
Back at St. Andrew's as goalkeeper coach.

Even though the match ticket only had Pre Season Friendly printed on it, with no mention of any kind of silverware (prestigious or otherwise), any port in a storm will do, when all that's been gathering in the Blues trophy cabinet for far too long now, is a layer of dust.

On the yomp back to the station after the match, my friend joked how great it would be to wind-up certain  opposition fans with the raucous and heartfelt strains of: "Bass Charity Vase winners, you'll never sing that!". The sentiment behind his mirth was "Step aside all you Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest fans whose teams conquered Europe, back in the days when football was still televised in black and white and you lot weren't even born".

But... and I really hate to do this to you pal, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to put some flash on the bones, regarding the history of the Bass Charity Vase and reveal the truth about various inaccuracies pertaining to the words and sentiments of your tongue in cheek, well intended and cheerful ditty.

The Vase was first competed for in 1890, at Peel Croft in Burton-upon-Trent and Derby County won the silverware in it's inaugural year, when they beat Stoke City 3-1. The Rams actually appeared in the first five finals, all played at Peel Croft and in the fifth one of those they drew 2-2, with Aston Villa. The Villans (what an apt nickname) were awarded the win because on of Derby's brace had been an own goal.

So one could say that technically, Villa, who were still based at Perry Barr back then, hadn't actually won the silverware fairly and squarely... not yet anyway. But, twelve months later they saw off Stoke City by four goals to nil, to retain the honour that had been awarded to them the previous year. 

 

As an aside, Peel Croft was then still the home ground of Burton Swifts FC, who merged with Burton Wanderers in 1901 to form Burton United, who played on the aforementioned Derby Road, quite near to where the roundabout depicted above now stands.

Fast forward to as recently as 2018 and Villa beat Burton Albion 4-0 at the Pirelli Stadium, to claim the Vase for a third time. Their last goal that day was netted in the seventy-fifth minute by a certain Gary Gardner. Furthermore, Forest have also won the trophy three times. Today marked Blues second success, having previously won the competition in 1928 when they beat Derby County 3-2, while they were still called Birmingham FC. The City suffix was added in 1943.

To my warped way of thinking, the potted history depicted above, only goes to show that the long established Bass Charity Vase, which has been contested for using numerous formats throughout it's lengthy history, is a trinket worth having at any time, even if the last eighteen finals have been played as part of Burton Albion's pre season preparations. So let the bragging rights begin. 

Moving swiftly on...

When one arrives by train in Burton-upon-Trent, a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire, close to the border with Derbyshire, or the Brewing Capital of the World, to use it's more grandiose title; it is approximately a thirty minute hike to the ground on foot. Turn left as you leave the station and head down the hill, then turn right into Derby Street which becomes Derby Road at a roundabout and keep right on to the end of the road... you'll get there eventually, via Clough Drive, which is named after the current Mansfield Town manager Nigel, and not his slightly more famous dad.

The "nice young man, with a lovely smile" played 227 times for the Brewers and manged them from 1998 to 2008 and 2015 to 2020.  If you don't fell energetic, there are buses (V1, X38, 6) that all drop off near the ground with fares ranging from between £3 to £5, while a taxi weighs in at around £9. 

But it was a nice day for a stroll and if you look after the pennies, the pounds will look after themselves. Incidentally, as you march along the Derby Road towards the ground there are two pubs: one which looks like it hasn't been open since it got a mention in the Domesday Book and another which has been converted into a garage. I'm old enough to remember going into the latter one, when it was still called the Derby Arms, en route to a Burton game, when they still used to play at Eton Park, which was (just about) next door to their current home.

Burton drew last years Vase showpiece against Leicester City, but beat their Premier League visitors from over t'other side of the M1 on penalties, following a goalless ninety minutes.

Today's game got under way just after the scheduled kick-off time of 2PM, in front of a total crowd of 2,588  which officially included 1,716 visiting supporters in the sections of the ground that had been reserved for them, but there were plenty more Blues followers tucked away among the home supporters in their seats too. But everybody was mixing in a friendly and amicable way, although it must be said that the occasion and ambience of the afternoon didn't exactly warrant even a modicum of hostility.

During a lively first-half both teams had chances to open the scoring. Troy Deeney might've done better with a couple of chances, while his strike partner Scott Hogan skimmed a shot just the wrong side of the left hand post from outside the area.

At the other end, Sam Hughes and Davis Keillor-Dunn both caused problems for Neil Etheridge and  the latter even had the ball in the net when Jonny Smith's cross was met by Gassan Ahadme, who's on target header was pushed away Etheridge and pounced upon by Keillor-Dunn but an offside flag denied Albion's number ten his moment of cup final glory.

In the thirty-seventh minute, Blues went ahead of this hitherto evenly matched contest. Juninho Bacuna was unlucky to see a well struck volley glanced narrowly wide from a deflection. 

New signing Przemyslaw Placheta, who looked impressive on the ball this afternoon, took the resulting corner which the Ahadme headed away from the front post, but his clearance only reached Bacuna, who curled the ball back into the mix first time, finding Hogan who planted a bouncing delivery across the face of Ben Garratt's goal that George Hall turned into the net with a stooping header.

Garratt restricted Blues to a single goal interval lead when he twisted and turned to get a hand too Deeney's header and diverted the ball from under the crossbar.

In the dying seconds of the half, Etheridge pulled off a save to deny a player who was playing under the alias of Trialist A... not to be mistaken for Trialist B.

HT: Brewers 0 v Blues 1

Blues came out for the restart with the same eleven players they had started the game with. After sixty minutes George Hall got a knock and was replaced with his fellow Academy graduate Jordan James (who along with another emerging young talent, Jobe Bellingham has just committed to the club on a three year contract. Around the seventy minute mark, Blues sent on their remaining ten substitutes.

For their part the hosts made seven changes at various points during the second, which included both trialists leaving the pitch, with Quevin Castro replacing A at half-time and Ciaran Gilligan taking over from B in the sixty-seventh minute.

With Blues still finding their feet after, just minutes after they had swapped almost their entire their team around, Burton took advantage when Terry Taylor floated a corner-kick to the back-post from the left hand side that Tom Hamer powered home with what could be described as a 'free header.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, the Brewers manager, looked to put the visitors second-string under the cosh and appeared to adopt a direct approach to see the game out and search for a late winner. But after their initial hesitancy Blues weathered the aerial storm and took the game to Burton in the closing stages. particularly through the right channel, from where Odin Bailey beat Viljami Sinisalo, Albion's second half keeper but was denied by a last-ditch clearance by Hughes. I was surprise but pleased to see Bailey is still with Blues, because the rumour I'd heard was that he'd joined Livingston following a successful loan spell up there last season. 

Sam Cosgrove was brought by Birmingham City during Aitor Karanka's nightmare reign at St. Andrew's (for an undisclosed fee), having netted thirty-one goals in seventy-nine appearances for SPL side Aberdeen.

Subsequently, Cosgrove made just a dozen appearances for Blues and was loaned out to both Shrewsbury Town and AFC Wimbledon. His spell with the Wombles expired at the end of last season and he returned to St. Andrew's amid uncertainty about his future. But having already played in pre season, the six foot four inches tall striker looks to have been given a chance to prove his worth to the new manager. With three minutes remaining on the clock today, the hit-man combined with Bailey, before dragging the ball from right to left just outside the area to make a shooting opportunity for himself and bagged his first ever Blues goal, with a well placed left-footed shot. The first of many, maybe? That would be nice.

FT: Burton Albion 1 v Birmingham City 2

And so it came to pass, that after ninety-plus minutes of football, held up intermittently and frequently by a sensible ans plentiful number of breaks for the players to take fluids on board, Birmingham City became the Bass Charity Vase winners again, a mere ninety-four years since they had last won the bloody great big thing and ninety-three years since they last competed for it but lost 2-1 in the final against Gresley Rovers.

The silverware was presented to Blue captain Troy Deeney by the Bass Vase President Dave Mellor (no, not that Dave Mellor). And as the away end serenaded their team with a chorus of "Campiones!" we all headed off home, via the overcrowded and bijou standing area that passes for a railway station round these parts..

Blues have been recruiting a few new players over the past couple of weeks and though such things never actually count for very much, they are now unbeaten in three pre season outings, having already beaten Walsall 1-0 in a behind closed doors friendly at the Wast Hills training ground and drawn 1-1 v Portimonense S.C.in Portugal.
On Tuesday night, John Eustace's side will feature in two games, when he'll be sending different line-ups to both Solihull Moors and Cheltenham Town respectively. And then next Saturday Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, who finished Twelfth in La Liga (the top flight in Spain) last season will visit St. Andrew's for a 3PM kick-off. Rayo are also playing games at Sheffield Wednesday and Manchester United while they're in the country. And lets be honest, they're probably quaking in their boots at the prospect of facing Blues after hearing about today's cup final victory over League 1 side Burton Albion.

Enjoy your football.