Matt Maher: Final-day stakes are high for West Brom and Birmingham
Take a stroll through Birmingham city centre tomorrow morning and you will likely sense a heightened tension in the air.
It will be felt most acutely around two transport hubs, Moor Street and Snow Hill stations, where Albion supporters will board trains heading out to The Hawthorns and Blues fans alight them en route to St Andrew’s, rival fanbases united by nerves and a common question: How on earth did it come to this?
In the case of both clubs there are many more reasons to be optimistic about the long-term future than there were 18 months ago. The short-term, however, could be rather tricky.
That is particularly the case for Blues, for whom tomorrow represents the endgame, one last chance to escape relegation from the Championship nearly 10 years to the day since they did so in the most dramatic manner imaginable courtesy of Paul Caddis’ 94th-minute equaliser at Bolton.
There have been further last-day survival acts since and even the most hardened supporter would admit theirs is a club which has chanced its arm just a little too often. Keep finishing in the bottom six and eventually, your luck will run out.
The irony, of course, is it would happen at a time when Blues, for years mismanaged off the field, finally appear to have their house in order. New owners Knighthead Capital, who completed their takeover last summer, have deep pockets and big ambitions, recently announcing plans for a new stadium and sports complex which would be transformational not just for Birmingham but the wider Midlands as a whole.
