I fought tooth and nail to stay at Birmingham City to play for the club I love
Birmingham City play Peterborough United in the Vertu Trophy final at Wembley on Sunday, scene of one of the most famous moments in club history
As soon as Scott Oldham gave one last blast of his whistle to confirm Birmingham City’s place in the 2025 Vertu Trophy final, one name came to mind.
Not Lyndon Dykes, whose powerful header proved to be the difference between Blues and brave Bradford City on that night.
Not Jay Stansfield who was stretchered from the field having looked to have suffered a potentially serious leg injury.
And not even Ryan Allsop, the play-making goalkeeper who supports Birmingham City but whose rolled ankle seemed to jeorpardise his place at Wembley.
Instead minds were instantly transported back three decades, to the Auto Windscreens Shield final, Barry Fry, the 1995 league and cup double, that T-Shirt and Paul Tait, the man who wore it.
Among Blues fans Tait is known and loved as one of their own, a heart-on-the-sleeve, die-for-the-cause Bluenose who not only fulfilled all their dreams by scoring a Wembley winner – but celebrated it in the way they would all want to. By sending a message across the city.
He was therefore wholly unsurprised when the request for an interview came, sometimes the best ideas are staring you right in the face.
“I'm so happy that Peterborough got there instead of Wrexham,” the 50-year-old tells BirminghamLive. “No disrespect to Wrexham, but I know Barry loves our club and our fans, he absolutely idolises the club. It's a fitting tribute for him to probably finish his career.”
The game will be much earlier in Blues’ journey, righting the wrongs from last season’s relegation and giving the fanbase a day in the sun, just as they aimed for in ‘95.
“It's very similar circumstances. When David Sullivan and the Golds took over the club. We got relegated on the last day [the previous season] at Tranmere. Barry was carried from the pitch, which is bizarre, you get relegated and the manager is carried from the pitch. But the remit was to get promoted next season, or else – and to win the cup.
“The pressure was massive because although we had a lot of players we were the big club in the division. Fans liked coming to St Andrew’s to see us play and for the first five or six games, we didn't hit the ground running. But then when we did we were pretty much formidable.”
Indeed they were. A 20-game unbeaten run saw Blues go through September, October, November and December without defeat. Yet with only one automatic promotion place on offer, they couldn’t afford to skip too many beats.
“Training was crazy because we didn't have a training ground. So we would literally find out from week to week where we were going to be training the following week. So we would be at a place like Sedgemere, West Midlands Travel, Simon Digby School, Fox Hollies Leisure Centre.
“But we didn't really complain. We just got on with it. It was really difficult, especially when you've got forty-nine players all vying for a starting shirt on the weekend.”
Tait has his own troubles forcing his way into the team, past the likes of Mark Ward and Peter Shearer, but he still managed 33 appearances in all competitions, ten off the bench.
“I knew Baz liked me, although he did try to send me to different clubs a few times just because he thought I was getting in trouble too much in Birmingham but I knew the relationship I had with Baz was a good relationship.
“I think it's well documented over the years that I was getting involved in things off the pitch, which I shouldn't have been. I was very immature. I didn't understand what I had at my disposal. It was very difficult times and I do talk a lot about it in the career I've got now.
“I've seen Birmingham City as my family, really. The team, the fans. I never wanted to leave and never made any money out of the game compared to everyone else. It was just I wanted to play for Birmingham. I fought tooth and nail to stay. It wasn't about the money for me. It was about playing for the club I love and going out on the razzle-after with them.”
There were plenty of opportunities to celebrate that season. Twenty five in the league, three more in the FA and League Cups and of course a long road all the way to Wembley.
“I can't describe how good it was, it was just brilliant, the atmosphere on the terraces was fantastic. Baz got the club going again. We took thousands away every week and for me who liked all that, I felt like it was that year of my life.”
Tait was ill in the build up to Wembley. A virus meant he wasn’t even sure he would make it on to the bench although he and Ricky Otto just about proved their fitness in a reserve game in midweek.
So there he was, as substitute as League One favourites Blues faced off against their League Two equivalents Carlisle United.
For Blues though there was the small matter of a promotion decider looming over Wembley, with nearest rivals Brentford lying in wait three days later. Fry became increasingly agitated as the prospect of unwanted extra time loomed. He wanted a winner, either way.
To that end Tait replaced Shearer after 63 minutes but it was not until the 103rd that his big moment arrived.
“There was no working on anything. I mean, Ricky crossed with his right foot. When has he ever done that before? But he put in a great cross, a lot of pace on it and as soon as I headed it I knew it was in the back of the net. I can't describe the feeling. It was just, I don't know, mad.”
Off came the blue shirt to reveal a white top underneath, bearing the infamous legend, But where did it come from?
“I've been asked this many, many times and no one actually believes me but I'm not lying. It was just in the kit bag in the dressing room. Back in the day you had to wear T-shirts to stop the nipple rash from the kit so it was just one top left in there.
“The kit man said he’d never seen it before. It was an old top, it had been worn and the rest is history.
“I put it on, scored, lost myself for about a minute and then you realise with all the press, which I haven't been used to before, you've got about 15-20 photographers standing there photographing you
“Then although you're celebrating there's a piece of you that goes ‘Oh no, what have I done?’ I think Baz, although he was celebrating, he'd realised pretty quickly that there was going to be fall out and it was going to be quite big.
“And then Paul McGrath's testimonial was coming up, Blues vs Villa and I had to go meet Paul and shake his hand and apologise. I think on the day of the testimonial they arranged a game for the reserves to play Middlesbrough and they sent me out of the city.
“We didn't have time to celebrate. Our focus was on Brentford on the Wednesday night at St Andrew’s. It was a full house. I think I was on the bench again, I came on and got a standing ovation from the crowd. We won two-nil.”
And that was effectively it. Promotion was secured a few games later and the league and cup double, craved by Davies and the current generation, was in the cabinet.
“I looked at the table at the start of the season, I looked at the squad and I said, if we have the right characters who are going to run through brick walls for each other, going to fight for each other because every game is going to be a cup final for the teams coming to St Andrew’s, we'll do it quite easily.
“I said I can see us winning the league by fifteen, eighteen points. And it's proven that, we play that possession-based football, which is unknown to us as supporters.
“Sometimes it gets quite boring, if I'm honest with you, but we're winning, so you can't argue with that. It's been a fantastic season. You've got to take your hat off to Chris Davies and to all the players and the fans who are there backing the team.
“It's just really nice just to go down to St Andrew’s and see the stadium full and seeing happy people for once.”
Everyone will be more than happy if Blues take care of business at Wembley. “I'm not fussed who scores I know we go in as firm favourites but it's on the day and anything can happen, Peterborough give us a tough game at St Andrews. I hope that we do it.”