For everyone associated with Birmingham City, the late 1990s and early 2000s were a joyful and comparatively prosperous time.
Following their ascent from the third tier abyss under Barry Fry in 1995, the Blues eventually lost their charismatic leader the following summer when Trevor Francis emerged as their greatest player to date.
After that, Francis oversaw three seasons in a row of growth at St Andrew’s. The team went from finishing in 15th place to a final 4th place at the end of the 1998–1999 season, only to have their hopes of winning back the top flight dashed when they lost to Watford in B9 on penalties.
Birmingham had many highs and lows in the ensuing years, as the club’s well-known anthem, “Keep Right On,” often mentions. Meanwhile, Francis was assembling a team that would include a number of future Second City cult heroes, one of whom would arrive in the summer of 1999.
At that point, Australian winger Stan Lazaridis signed with the team for an alleged £1.7 million from West Ham United. Four summers earlier, the Hammers had made a tidy profit on their own £300,000 transaction to bring the Perth-born winger to East London.
Lazaridis made 31 appearances for Blues in his debut season, scoring two goals in the now-championship league. However, Francis’ team was unable to overcome a play-off curse that plagued them for three years running, as they lost 5-2 on aggregate to Barnsley in the semi-finals.
The club advanced to the EFL Cup Final the next season, when they faced Liverpool. The Australian played in six games, including the team’s loss in a penalty shootout in Cardiff. He also had the same league record of 99/00. However, Preston North End overcame Birmingham once more in the play-off semifinals.
