Fry wants Wembley win over former club Birmingham

Some people are calling it the 'Barry Fry final'.

Why? Because when Peterborough United and Birmingham City walk out at Wembley for Sunday's Vertu Trophy final, it will be a meeting of two of the clubs he has been most closely associated with during his 65 years in football.

The young Fry scored five goals in six games for England Schoolboys, one of them at the old Wembley in front of 95,000 people, before a blood clotting problem in his legs brought a promising playing career to a premature end.

And he is relishing the prospect of returning to the national stadium to see Posh, the club he has served in various roles for the best part of 30 years, take on Blues, who he guided to an EFL Trophy and promotion double in 1995.

Fry, who turned 80 earlier this month, told BBC Look East: "I'm just a football nut. I've been so lucky to have been in football since I was [knee high to] a grasshopper. It's going to be an unbelievable day for me."

His ability to wheel and deal is legendary - he once persuaded George Best to turn out for non-league Dunstable, his first club in management, having been appointed at the age of 28.

Fry said he made Birmingham £12m in transfer market profits before leaving St Andrew's, and that negotiating talent has continued with the likes of Ivan Toney, Dwight Gayle and Ronnie Edwards passing through Peterborough on their way to bigger things.

"I've done some special deals and got money even I didn't think I'd get," he said.

"The secret is that you really believe in your players - you believe they can go on to be an international or play in the Premier League. The bigger the club, the more you ask for and the more you expect."

The Birmingham years 1993-96

Barry Fry celebrates with Mark Ward following Birmingham City's 1995 EFL Trophy final win against Carlisle United

Birmingham have dominated League One this season, and Tuesday's 2-1 win over Peterborough at the Weston Homes Stadium secured promotion back to the Championship following relegation last May.

They only need five more points to reach 100 for the campaign, but it was all very different when Fry left Southend United in 1993 to become Blues manager.

"They were bottom of the league by nine points, I think. I decided to go there despite them being bottom and we finished the season very well, out of the last 10 games we won seven, drew two and lost one," he said.

"That was promotion form but unfortunately we got relegated. The following year I said we'd do the double and we did."

As well as winning the Division Two title in 1995, they also triumphed at Wembley in the Football League Trophy final, beating Carlisle United 1-0 in front of a crowd of over 76,000.

"We took 57,000 [with us] that day. Fair play to [then owners] David Sullivan, David Gold and [managing director] Karren [Brady] because in the earlier rounds you get no crowds whatsoever, nobody's interested," Fry added.

"But we got 18,000, 20,000, 22,000 because they charged a fiver for adults and one pound for kids, which was wonderful.

"We also won the Birmingham Senior Cup, beating [Aston] Villa, and in the FA Cup we played Liverpool at home, drew 0-0 at St Andrew's, went to Anfield, drew 1-1 after extra-time. We got a standing ovation, rightly so, but lost on penalties."

Despite that, Fry's time in charge came to an end in 1996, but it was not long before the chance to return to football with Peterborough came along.

Posh 'responsibility nearly killed me'

Barry Fry guided Peterborough to victory in the Division Three play-off final in 2000

It was certainly a case of 'in at the deep end' with Posh as Fry soon found himself in the position of effectively being manager, chairman and owner at the same time.

"The responsibility nearly killed me because I had £150,000 to pay every month. I was on the training ground doing managerial things and I'd get a phone call from Mary in the office to say the bailiffs were here, so I'd run off the training ground, jump in the car and came here [to the stadium] to sort it out," Fry said.

"I put my family in jeopardy. My wife always said she loved me so much, we could live in a tent on the river - she doesn't know how close she came [to doing that]. It was horrific being the owner of this football club."

Fry was understandably relieved when current Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony took over the club in 2006, the Irishman becoming the youngest chairman in the EFL at the age of 30, although it took the best part of a year before the deal could be concluded because of a dispute with their landlords.

"He bought the club off me for £1 - he did due diligence and saw all this money coming in from [sales of] various players over the years and said he'd buy it if I stayed as director of football and continued what I was doing," Fry said.

"It's very difficult [running a football club]. You can't win. You get criticised for everything. People don't know what's going on behind the scenes, if they knew, they'd be horrified."

Fergie time again for Posh at Wembley?

The three 'amigos'? Peterborough manager Darren Ferguson (left), Barry Fry and owner Darragh MacAnthony (right) at a preseason friendly in 2008

The name Peterborough United may not have the same lustre as Bayern Munich, but there is a similarity in that they have appointed Darren Ferguson as manager on four occasions, just as the German giants did with Jupp Heynckes - although his third spell was as a caretaker boss.

Ferguson has been the 'third wheel' on and off since he first took the job 18 years ago. He has served the club well in the league and led the club to two EFL Trophy successes, having also won the competition as a player with Wrexham in 2005.

And although Fry enjoyed his time at Birmingham, there is absolutely no question of divided loyalties on Sunday, when Peterborough will kick off as underdogs.

"Since Darragh MacAnthony took over, I've sat back and enjoyed every minute. He fetched Darren Ferguson in and Darren's done over 650 games for us," he said.

"He's taking us to Wembley in this cup for the third time - we've won the other two - and he's had five promotions, four of them with us and three of them taking us from League One to the Championship.

"Darren has given us great excitement over the years with the entertaining, exciting teams he's put together.

"It's a wonderful partnership and long may it continue. I want to see Darren Ferguson win the trophy for the third time at Wembley. Up the Posh."