Birmingham City

Montpellier's French winger Tanguy Coulibaly has caught the eye of Birmingham City. (Mohamed Toubache-Ter via X), external

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Tuesday's gossip column here.

Image source, Rex Features

Birmingham City head coach Chris Davies says he was delighted with how his team performed on their Championship return.

Only a controversial injury-time penalty from Ipswich Town's George Hirst - which Davies called " really, really harsh" prevented Blues from claiming a deserved victory in their 1-1 draw.

Having clocked up a staggering 111 points on their way to winning League One last season, Davies' side showed for large periods that they can trouble the very best in the second tier this campaign.

"Tonight was about the performance and how to handle the occasion," said Davies. "I thought we were the better team, we dominated the match and deserved to win.

"There was a lot to like. We've retained our identity, not just stylistically, but the spirit and the fight we had last season."

"The amount of new managers coming into the league this year, I have never seen anything like it".

Aaron Paul and Jobi McAnuff are joined by special guests Tommy Smith and Alex Bruce to preview the 2025-26 Championship season.

They discuss a range of topics including assessing chances of sides coming down from the Premier League, who the contenders might be for the top six and take a deep dive of each of the sides promoted from League One.

Listen to the full episode of 72+ and more on BBC Sounds.

Image source, Getty Images

Former Nottingham Forest captain Terry Hennessey has died at the age of 82.

Hennessey made over 159 appearances for Forest between 1965 and 1970, earning 39 caps for Wales over the span of a decade.

The club said in a statement: "Everyone sends their condolences to Mr. Hennessey's family and friends at this extremely difficult time."

Hennessey began his career with Birmingham, where he made 178 appearances and won the League Cup in 1963.

After leaving the City Ground he joined Derby County and won the First Division title under Brian Clough in 1972.

The 2025-26 Championship season kicks-off on Friday (20:00 BST) with a mammoth game between promotion favourites Birmingham City and Ipswich Town.

The Blues are first to host in this year's campaign after a record-breaking spell in League One last season.

Meanwhile, Ipswich will be seeking a big win as they look to bounce right back into the Premier League after just one season in the top tier.

• Three of the last four league matches between Birmingham and Ipswich have ended in draws, with the Tractor Boys winning the other 3-1 in February 2024, the most recent meeting between the sides.

• Ipswich Town have won one of their last 19 away league matches against Birmingham (D8 L10), a 1-0 victory in the 2012-13 campaign in Mick McCarthy's first game in charge.

• Birmingham won the 2024-25 League One title with 34 wins and 111 points, both all-time records in a single season in Football League history. The Blues didn't lose a single home league game and are unbeaten in 25 overall (W21 D4), only having a longer unbeaten home run between October 1970 and April 1972 (36 games).

• Ipswich Town picked up just 22 points in the Premier League in 2024-25 (W4 D10 L24), their lowest ever in a single league season in their history. In 2025, only Southampton (6) have picked up fewer points than the Tractor Boys (7) among sides in the top four tiers of English football, while they also have the joint worst defensive record (49 goals conceded, level with Mansfield).

• This is the second time Birmingham are playing Ipswich at home in their first league game of the season. The other time was a 3-1 win in 1995-96 – when the Blues were newly promoted to the second tier, and Ipswich had just come down from the Premier League.

Ajax striker Chuba Akpom is set to undergo a medical at Birmingham City ahead of a season-long loan at St Andrew's with an option to buy - despite Middlesbrough's attempts to snatch the 29-year-old Londoner. (Birmingham Mail), external

Blues are also favourites to sign Ghana international Terry Yegbe, 24, from Swedish side IF Elfsborg in a deal potentially worth up to £5.2m. (Expressen - in Swedish), external

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Monday's gossip column here.

Yeovil Town have signed teenage Birmingham City forward Ben Wodskou on a season-long loan.

The 18-year-old spent time on loan at National League North side Rushall Olympic last season and has featured for Blues' first team during pre-season.

"Ben is a young striker with huge potential," said Yeovil boss Mark Cooper.

"He's already shown he can handle the physicality of men's football and has the hunger to make an impact."

Birmingham City manager Chris Davies says the club can become well established in the Championship in the near future.

Davies believes that strengthening the squad during this summer transfer window will ease the transition from League One to Championship football.

"We're ready in the sense we've brought players in, we've still probably got a little bit more to do as the window goes on," Davies told BBC Radio WM.

"You definitely want a squad that you feel can be competitive to start the season, so I think we've got that."

The Blues will play Premier League side Nottingham Forest at St Andrew's in their final pre-season fixture on Saturday.

"This weekend's going to be a measure against a really quality Premier League side," he said.

"Hopefully we can finish pre-season in the next week well and then we're ready to go.

"It's all eyes on this season now and what we need to do."

Listen to the full interview with Chris Davies and more on BBC Sounds.