For Birmingham City’s players, this was not in the script. Having climbed the Wembley steps, there was confusion as why they hadn’t yet left the stands upon receiving their EFL Trophy runners-up medals. Why were they standing with their backs to the stands? Are they having a group photo!? Through bowed heads however, we could see Birmingham’s chairman animatedly holding court.
Tom Wagner may well be pushing the boundaries with what a football club can achieve both on and off the pitch but a motivational speech in the Royal Box? It was certainly unprecedented. We had already seen an ill-tempered end that was unbecoming of English football’s hallowed turf. This was a step too far but not the first time that Birmingham’s money man had failed to realise that sometimes you’re the supporting character, rather than the lead.
This was Peterborough United’s day and bemused looks eventually turned into beaming smiles upon lifting the gargantuan Vertu EFL Trophy. With the PA system turned up to 11 and gold and silver confetti cannons firing, they had shown that money may buy success but on its day, young talent can still shine through.
Barry’s bright boys have no fear
This had been billed as the ‘Barry Fry’ Final. The former Peterborough manager and chairman had guided Birmingham to a League One and EFL Trophy double 29 years ago. The 80-year-old is still Director of Football at Peterborough and received the biggest cheers of all upon raising the silverware himself.
And it was his legacy at Peterborough that was laid out in front of 72,000 spectators. Looking to emulate Fry’s achievements, Birmingham had wrapped up the League One title without even playing the previous day. They have been able to dominate the division, suffocating opponents and are on course for hitting over 100 points, yet to even suffer a home league defeat all season. They had even secured their promotion in the week with victory at Peterborough. And yet, it was their young opponents who made all the running.
Goalkeeper, Jed Steer, was the only player alive when Fry was doing the business at Birmingham. And with an outfield with an average age of just 22 years old, Fry’s work behind the scenes with recruitment and in the academy was evident on the pitch. Peterborough played a brand of ‘No Fear Football’ that Wagner had extolled during the ill-fated appointment of Wayne Rooney.
No more was that evident in the scorer of Posh’s opener, Harley Mills. The 19-year-old had started just four league games this season. He began the campaign on loan at sixth-tier Enfield Town but on the biggest stage of all, there was no hesitation in taking a free-kick beyond the edge of the area, after the effervescent Kwame Poku had been felled.
Unlike Birmingham, Peterborough have not announced an in-house, behind-the-scenes documentary, but if they were then Mills would have provided the perfect season finale. Picked up on his release from Aston Villa at 16, the boy from Birmingham hit an arcing, venomous effort which kissed the underside of the bar as it flew beyond Ryan Allsop. A beautiful strike which will have made him the toast of the town in Peterborough and caused his mates to raise a glass back home.
Whereas Mills has barely made his first steps in senior football, across the park are a host of youngsters showcasing the talent factory that is English football. Kwame Poku is into his fourth season at Peterborough since arriving from Colchester. It was his fast feet that won Mills the chance to put them ahead. He is one of several players that Fry and the Posh hierarchy know may have to be sold on to make ends meet. In a season where they have struggled, the 23-year-old has matched his goal tally of last season with 12 and set up another eight in League One.
Their second goal came again from Mills, whose cross was flicked by 22-year-old academy graduate Ricky-Jade Jones into the path of an arriving Hector Kyprianou. The 23-year-old Posh captain’s crashing drive capped off another flowing move for Darren Ferguson’s side. His opposite number, Chris Davis, was a continually frustrated figure inside his technical area. He had no answers.
Money doesn’t always talk
A lot has been made about Birmingham’s spending – most notably £15m Jay Stansfield. He struggled for a foothold and hasn’t been the same since leaving St Andrew’s in tears on a stretcher back in February during their EFL Trophy semi-final victory over Bradford. His time will again come in the Championship and he is a wise investment despite a transfer fee that would have bought the opposition XI ten-times over. Abraham Odoh struggled to make an impact at Rochdale; Oscar Wallin was plucked from Degerfors in Sweden; and academy graduate James Dornelly, woke up on Monday with a winners medal on his 20th birthday. These players however, showed that there is talent buried across the football pyramid, which doesn’t need heaps of cash to dig out.
During the game, from my position behind the dugouts, I would hear lots of supportive voices behind me. Curiously, they would be distinct in cheering for individual players more so than the team itself. It turns out that a player’s family will back them even better than any of the supporters in the stands replete with scarves and song. How many times I wondered, had those parents had to sit those players down and given them a talking to when things had gone badly? How many times had they had to temper their triumphs and remind them of the bigger picture? And of course, they will have known too that sometimes, you just need to remain silent and let them figure it all out for themselves.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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