No fools here, as April could be the best month in years for Birmingham City, with the runaway League One leaders heading to Wembley in their droves next week.
After selling their initial 36,800 allocation for the Vertu Trophy final against Peterborough United, the “extraordinary” demand saw more than 6,000 additional tickets snapped up within 30 minutes.
Empty-handed Blues fans then tried another method to add further numbers to this Wembley invasion, forcing Peterborough to take measures.
“The club are aware that Birmingham City supporters are targeting Posh supporters via social media offering financial incentive to purchase tickets on their behalf in our end of Wembley Stadium,” Peterborough said in a statement, adding fans with new accounts will not be allowed to purchase tickets.
Whether any Blues fans slip through the net may not be discovered until 13 April, but regardless they will have a noticeable numerical advantage. Peterborough, meanwhile, still stand to benefit with both clubs taking home 45 per cent of gate receipts.
Officially then it is 43,356 Bluenoses set to descend on the national stadium – more than the entire attendance for last season’s final between Peterborough and Wycombe Wanderers – and that means a mighty de-facto title party is in the making.
This will be Blues’ first trip to Wembley since Obafemi Martins stunned Arsenal in the 2011 League Cup final, and win or lose – they will be heavy favourites to beat their fellow League One outfit – this final presents Birmingham with an opportunity to celebrate their immediate return to the Championship.
That hasn’t been confirmed just yet, but Opta have them at a mere 99.9 per cent probability to win League One, such is their lead over second-placed Wrexham – nine points with two games in hand to boot.
Saturday’s 4-1 win over Shrewsbury Town took Blues to 86 points, and with nine league games remaining, they have Wolverhampton Wanderers’ League One record haul of 103 points (2013-14) in their sights.
Six wins would break that record, and even if they fall short it has been an emphatic response to dropping down a division.
The performances under Chris Davies, who marked 50 games in charge on Saturday, have backed up the early-season confidence made clearest when captain Krystian Bielik declared in September: “The reality is we’re too good for League One… In six months’ time we’ll be a Championship team and a different animal.”
The reality is that everybody agreed. Blues spent more than Manchester City last summer, making League One history when signing striker Jay Stansfield from Fulham for £15m plus add-ons.
It was a bullish play from owners Knighthead, who was eager to show fans it was digging its heels into this project by diving deeper into its pockets. Relegation was but a blip, and if anything it has strengthened their foundations.
After eight seasons of bottom-half finishes in the Championship, seven spent in Groundhog Day narrowly escaping relegation before finally succumbing to it, that winning feeling has returned – and that should not be underestimated, either.
With the feel-good factor back, a renewed optimism could help Knighthead realise its ultimate goal: the Premier League.
“In terms of where the club is trying to go at the moment, it’s an exciting place to be,” Birmingham’s head of coaching Mike Scott said on the Mindset For Sport podcast this month.
“Where the club wants to go and where the clubs wants to get to, certainly in the next five years, we want to be a club that is competing in the Premier League.
“I remember always thinking, certainly at previous clubs, if somebody could get hold of Birmingham City, it’s a sleeping giant.”
To follow Ipswich in achieving double promotion is therefore not a far-fetched possibility, although a key summer awaits in terms of further strengthening this squad.
First though, to get the League One job done. A 12-point gap and a game in hand over Wycombe in third means Blues are likely to seal their return to the Championship before the end of April, which features eight league games starting on Tuesday night at Bristol Rovers.
There is also a league match against Peterborough on the horizon, an away trip on 8 April five days before the final.
Blues won the reverse fixture 3-2 back in September, proving they may not get it all their own way, but come next Sunday’s final they will be heavily fancied to win silverware. Get the best of Posh, then celebrate with a Beck’s? It stands to be a day Blues supporters will remember for some time.
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