Tom Brady's Birmingham revolution: 'There is no limit' says Blues co-owner Tom Wagner
- Published
New Birmingham City co-owner Tom Wagner says "there's really no limit to what we can do" following a euphoric first encounter with the excited Blues fans.
Wagner and high profile new co-owner Tom Brady were part of the visiting US deputation at St Andrew's as Blues triumphed at home against fellow American-owned club Leeds United.
Lukas Jutkiewicz brought the house down with his late penalty match-winner.
Although the new owners have set no time constraints, Brady and Wagner did spell out their level of ambition.
And Wagner made it clear that their aims do not apply just to the Birmingham City men's first team, who have made a positive start to the season under head coach John Eustace, but throughout the whole club.
"We know what we want to achieve," Wagner told BBC Sport. "But we're not putting a time frame on our objectives."
The objectives go beyond bringing back Premier League football to the Blues corner of Birmingham for the first time since 2011 - the same year when they were the last West Midlands side to win a major trophy.
"We want the very best from the men's team and we want the women's team to achieve ultimate success too," Wagner added to BBC Midlands Today.
"That's a very big focus for us. And we want the best academy in England.
"We want the fans to call this a product, an experience to be proud of. Put all of these things together and, from there, there's really no limit to what we can do."
'It's just a first step on a long journey'
Speaking after Blues maintained their unbeaten start to the season under Eustace, Wagner said: "We're really pleased with how things turned out.
"The team played spectacularly well. They all performed to the maximum, from the parking lot to the kitchen, to the staff in the stands, to the players on the pitch.
"But it's just a first step on a long journey.
"This is a named team in England's second city, a diverse city, a young city, with lots of immigrant population coming in, enormous energy. When you put all of these things together, you create an environment where anything can happen.
"The plans for the stadium have just begun. There is quite a bit more we can do. And we'll be here as often as we can be to support the club but also to ensure the objectives we set are being met. This is not my last game of the season.
"What's beginning to happen with Birmingham is a significant period of regeneration and growth. Investment is coming in.
"We're receiving enormous in-bound interest from parties who want to partner with us. That spells good news for everyone in Birmingham, not just this team."
Brady brings winning mentality
Brady admits that he does not know much about football, well not this sort of association football anyway. He also admits he did not know much about Birmingham - the city or the club. Saturday was his first visit.
But, as a record seven-times Superbowl winner in American football, he does know how to be a winner and he is convinced he can be of help.
"The tactics are a bit different," Brady told BBC Midlands Today. "This sport has its own unique challenges. But performing at your best and winning covers a lot of the same ground.
"There's a lot of similarities to performing at your very best and over a long period of time."
Like Wagner, Brady said he loved his first Blues home game - particularly the happy ending.
Although some of the song lyrics passed him by, Brady was quickly hit by the impact of the club's long-time anthem 'Keep right on to the end of the road' - a message encapisulated by the club's oldest player Jutkiewicz on Saturday.
"I took my daughter to a concert in New York city on Friday night, then flew over," he said. "And it was a great way to start this whole experience.
"The fans got me pretty energised, just hearing the different chants. It's been a crash course so far but these are songs I need to learn."
Brady and Wagner also met celebrity fan Steven Knight, creator of Peaky Blinders, the show that inspired the club owner's company name, Shelby.
They even got a pre-match taste of the atmosphere in two Blues-mad pubs close to the ground.
"That was fun," said Brady. "I learned some local words, some of them I can't really say.
"It's not a place I'd visited before. This is my time first time here, but I'm learning every day. I'm obviously going to be spending a lot more time here."
Tom Wagner and Tom Brady were talking to BBC Midlands Today's Dan Pallett.