Birmingham host Aston Villa in the Championship this Sunday.
Paul Devlin
Ahead of this weekend’s clash between Birmingham and Aston Villa, former Blues man Paul Devlin has been recalling the Second City derby that he claims left St Andrew’s shaking, the Birmingham Mail reports.
It had been the best part of two decades since the two teams met in league action when they faced each other in the Premier League in September 2002.
And despite only being in the top flight for a couple of months, it was the Blues that secured the bragging rights as an infamous own goal from Peter Enckelman helped Steve Bruce’s men to a 3-0 victory.
And ahead of their latest meeting, Devlin has provided an insight into what that game was like to play in.
“The week before Brucey would try to keep a lid on it all but everybody knew that it meant more to the supporters of both sides than any other game,” he said, as reported by the Mail.
Morrison scoring for Birmingham against Aston Villa
“In the tunnel before the game, we were all hyper, screaming at the top of our voices. I think some of Villa’s foreign players must have wondered what they were dealing with here.
“In my two spells there, it was probably the best atmosphere I can remember at St Andrew’s, it felt as though the ground was shaking.”
Then Birmingham manager Steve Bruce is now in charge at Villa
While there is not quite the same level of anticipation heading into the upcoming clash as there was 14 years ago, Sunday’s game is still attracting a huge amount of attention.
The pair have not faced each other in the league since their top flight clash in 2011, while Birmingham’s manager back in 2002 will be involved this weekend, but in the away team’s dugout having recently been appointed Aston Villa’s new boss.
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