Birmingham celebrate ‘landmark’ return to Category One status
Written by
Simon Austin
May 9, 2025
Birmingham City are celebrating after their ‘landmark’ promotion back to Category One Academy status.
The Blues were the first club to be forcibly downgraded in May 2022, having held Category One status for just one year. This happened under the previous ownership of Birmingham Sports Holdings Limited, a Hong-Kong Stock Exchange-listed collection of companies headed by Cambodian businessman Vong Pech.
In the summer of 2023, the club was bought by Knighthead Capital, who immediately said that returning to Category One was one of their main priorities.
Following an audit by the Professional Game Academy Audit Company (PGAAC), that aim has now become reality. The auditors were extremely impressed with what they found at the Academy, which will immediately rank as one of the best Category Ones in the country, TGG understands.
Interim CEO Jeremy Dale said: “This is a landmark moment. For the club to achieve its ambition of competing at the highest levels of the game we need our Academy to be regularly attracting and developing the top young players from the outstanding talent pool in and around Birmingham and further afield.
“The Academy is tasked with not only producing top-quality footballers, but also top-quality people. Category One status is a crucial next step in our goal to compete against the best at every level of the club.”
Director of Football Craig Gardner added: “With the commitment and investment from the Board, our Academy staff have played an instrumental role in delivering Category One status for the club.
“This will allow us to support and develop our young people and provide them with a high-quality holistic programme for them to not only love the game but also develop as people and players, and we are excited for the future.”
Academy Technical Director Mike Rigg, who arrived in April 2024, said: “The team has worked tirelessly for the past 12 months to deliver Category One status for Birmingham City.
“We now have the foundations in place on which to start to build a talent pipeline, from Under-8s through to the U21s, that will benefit the club in the years ahead. The hard work starts now as the strive to become one of the best academies for youth development in the country and the world.
“While we have achieved our initial goal in earning Category One status, we must now push on and drive the highest standards across all departments to ensure our young players are given the best opportunity to succeed, and to produce homegrown players for the first-team.”
Louisa Collis, who was promoted to Academy Manager in September 2024, said: “We are absolutely delighted with this news. It has been the dedication and passion of the staff, and the investment and support from the club and ownership that has made this possible.
“Our young players across all age groups will now have access to the best-in-class programmes across a range of departments, from education to sports science, as well as medicine and nutrition. The Academy at Birmingham City is definitely on the rise.”
Burnley were also promoted to Category One this week, having (like Birmingham) been demoted three years ago.
A number of other clubs have also applied for their Academies to move up a Category, while others are planning to. Here is the latest we are able to reveal:
- Ipswich Town: Have applied to move up from Category Two to One. This decision is still pending, because a further auditor visit is required.
- Huddersfield Town: Promoted from Category Three to Two.
- Oxford United: Have had their application to move from Category Three to Two rejected following an audit.
- Luton Town: Also had their application to move up to Category Two refused, because their facilities came up short.
- Bournemouth: Intend to apply for Category One and are confident of gaining that status in a year’s time.
- Wrexham: Have been promoted from Category Four to Three.
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