When Tom Brady became a minority owner of Birmingham City in 2023, expectations were high that the NFL legend’s discipline and star power might help revive a storied club. But a new documentary reveals tension between Brady and then-manager Wayne Rooney, with the seven-time Super Bowl champion openly questioning Rooney’s commitment. The film paints a picture of cultural clashes, poor performances, and sweeping changes that led to one of the most turbulent seasons in the club’s history.
Clash of icons in a struggling club
The Amazon Prime documentary captures a revealing exchange between two global sporting icons. Visiting Birmingham’s training ground in November 2023, Brady admitted to colleagues that he was “a little worried about our head coach’s work ethic.” His unease became apparent during awkward conversations with Rooney, where the former England captain spoke about cultural issues holding the club back.
Rooney, appointed after John Eustace was controversially sacked with the Blues sitting sixth in the Championship, struggled to impose his authority. Within weeks, the club plummeted to 20th in the table, and Rooney’s reign lasted just 83 days. At the time of his dismissal, he insisted that 13 weeks was not enough to implement change. For Brady, however, doubts about Rooney’s intensity seemed to confirm concerns that the wrong man had been entrusted with the job.
The dynamic between Brady and Rooney epitomized the difficulties of new ownership. One represented relentless preparation, the other a celebrated footballer attempting to reinvent himself as a coach. Their visions for Birmingham never fully aligned, and the results spoke for themselves.
From relegation to record-breaking redemption
The 2023–24 campaign proved catastrophic. Birmingham were relegated to League One for only the third time in their history, despite high-profile backing from Brady and Knighthead Capital Management. The season saw the club cycle through seven managers in just ten months, undermining stability and fueling discontent among supporters.
Brady’s blunt assessment left little room for sentiment. “They were lazy, they were entitled,” he said of the players. “And when you’re lazy and entitled, you don’t have much of a chance to succeed.” His comments reflect a belief that the problems ran deeper than coaching, rooted in an entrenched culture of underachievement.
To their credit, Birmingham responded with significant investment, pouring £30 million into new transfers—an unprecedented sum for League One. The gamble paid off spectacularly. The following season, the Blues stormed to the title with a record 111 points, marking one of the most emphatic promotions in Football League history. The turnaround highlighted the owners’ ambition, even if their first year had been riddled with missteps.
A global spotlight and growing pains
Part of the new ownership strategy involved raising Birmingham’s global profile, inevitably drawing comparisons with Hollywood-backed Wrexham. Yet Brady’s early appearances at the club were marked by humorous gaffes that hinted at his distance from the realities of English football. At one point, he struggled to locate the training ground, while in another scene, he asked if Aston Villa were in the Premier League. His manager jokingly compared the club’s facilities to those of a high school.
These moments, while lighthearted, underscored the steep learning curve for Brady as an American stepping into the traditions of English football. Fans, meanwhile, were divided. Some welcomed the international attention and financial muscle, while others worried that the club risked becoming more of a publicity project than a footballing powerhouse.
Blues supporters featured in the documentary also questioned the logic behind Rooney’s appointment. One fan bluntly remarked: “What qualifies Wayne to manage Birmingham City? Nothing.” This skepticism proved prescient, as the gamble on a marquee name failed to deliver results on the pitch.
Ambition beyond survival
While Wrexham’s Hollywood fairytale has dominated headlines, Birmingham’s new leadership insists their goals are far loftier. “Our target’s not Wrexham,” said Tom Wagner, Knighthead’s co-founder. “Our target is to play Premier League football against Villa.” For Wagner and Brady, the aspiration is not simply promotion but restoring Birmingham to a level befitting their history.
The path forward is ambitious but fraught with risk. The heavy investment and sweeping changes demonstrate intent, but the first season under Brady also revealed the perils of impatience and poor decision-making. Learning from those mistakes will be critical if Birmingham are to achieve long-term success.
For Brady, the journey has been both humbling and eye-opening. His criticism of players and questions about Rooney’s work ethic reflect the high standards he carried from the NFL. Yet the complexities of English football require more than star power—it demands deep understanding, stability, and patience. The documentary captures a club at a crossroads, caught between global ambition and local realities.
As Birmingham rebuilds in League One, the narrative is shifting from embarrassment to optimism. With record-breaking promotion already secured, the owners’ next challenge is to prove that their project is sustainable at higher levels. For fans, the hope is that the lessons of the past will guide the club toward a future where Birmingham no longer lives in the shadow of mistakes, but rather stands as a revitalized force in English football.
