LIFELONG BIRMINGHAM CITY SUPPORTER KEITH DIXON RECALLS WHEN HIS FAVOURITES LED THE WAY FOR ENGLISH SIDES IN EUROPE...

Up for it: Birmingham keeper Gil Merrick rises high

IT’S hard to believe but during the late 50s and early 60s Birmingham City were England’s ‘Kings of Europe’ – the Blues became the first English club to participate in European competition and the first to reach a European Final.
The competition was the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, which was held from 1955 to 1971 when it was replaced by the UEFA Cup.
It was organised to fundamentally promote, as the name suggests, inte...