Birmingham Ready to Face Champions in WSL Opener
Birmingham City step back into the Women's Super League on Sunday with the most unforgiving of welcome parties: away to the champions, at a ground where their last visit still stings.
Amy Merricks is not interested in sentiment.
Her newly promoted side, fresh from winning the WSL 2 title on the final day of last season, walk into the Joie Stadium to face a Manchester City team that did not drop a single point at home in the league last year. Eleven games. Eleven wins. Champions’ numbers.
And yet, Merricks’ message is blunt.
“I think it's a great time to play Man City,” the Birmingham head coach said. “We know it's going to be a challenge but we are well and truly up for it. We are here to compete, not just make up the numbers.”
A different Birmingham to 2022
The last time Birmingham played a league game at this stadium, in May 2022, they were torn apart 6-0 and condemned to relegation. That afternoon symbolised a club in freefall.
Four years on, the mood is unrecognisable. Promotion secured, identity sharpened, belief restored.
“Our focus is on ourselves, we appreciate and respect who they are and what they have, but our mindset doesn't change,” Merricks said.
Birmingham did not creep out of the second tier. They attacked their way out of it. An average of 2.09 goals per game last season turned them into one of the most watchable sides in the division, and Merricks has no intention of parking that ambition at the WSL door just because the opposition has changed.
“There is a core part of our identity that is non-negotiable for us as Blues and myself as a head coach,” she explained. “We are a progressive team, we will find ways to create and score. We are really clear on what our strengths are and what we need to maximise.”
She knows the step up is brutal. She also knows what happens if Birmingham abandon what got them here.
“This is the best league in the world, it is going to be tough and a challenge, but what we can't do is lose our strengths. We have to amplify those and put ourselves in the best position possible.
“We have to focus on what we can control and that's how we can compete. We don't fear anyone. I think we showed that in the cup competitions last year.”
Cup memories and warning signs
One of those cup ties still lingers in Manchester City minds. Five months to the day before Sunday’s opener, the teams met in the quarter-finals of the Women's FA Cup. City edged it 1-0 away at Birmingham, but it was a grind, not a procession.
Andree Jeglertz has not forgotten.
“We had a tough game against them last year,” the City boss admitted. “They were tactically very good and destroyed all the space on the field, defending low and their transitioning was very good. There are threats in their team we need to give attention to.”
That night, Birmingham sat deep, suffocated space and broke with purpose. City got through, but they had to work for it. Jeglertz expects an equally sharp opponent, now fuelled by promotion and opening-day adrenaline.
“Playing against a team that is new in the league is always a challenge because I know they are coming in with a lot of energy in the first game,” he said.
Champions who refuse to “protect”
This is City’s first league title defence in a decade. The dynamic is different now: they are the team everyone wants to knock off the pedestal.
Jeglertz is determined his players do not slip into a protective mindset.
“We are still chasing, chasing to win again,” he said. “If you start protecting things, I don't think that will help us. We need to be in a mood of hunger, trying to win again, to compete in different tournaments.
If we drop a little bit in performance or attitude, teams will go past us.”
Team news tilts the picture slightly. City will be without forward Vivianne Miedema until at least late autumn because of a knee injury, while defender Rebecca Knaak misses out with a foot problem. There is better news with defender Jade Rose and midfielder Grace Clinton back in training, but summer signing Niamh Charles remains “a big question mark” for Sunday.
Birmingham, by contrast, bring momentum and a clear sense of self. They know exactly what happened the last time they walked into this stadium. They also know they are not that team anymore.
Kick-off at 14:30 BST. Champions at home. Newly promoted side refusing to blink.
If Birmingham really are ready to go “toe-to-toe”, this is the stage to prove it.
