True Colours: The Kit Worn As Birmingham Joined The Top Flight In 2002

Ahead of Leicester City's behind-closed-doors pre-season friendly against Sky Bet Championship side Birmingham City on Wednesday (1pm BST kick-off), LCFC.com remembers an iconic kit from Blues' history.

2020-08-26T08:32:00.000Z

Ahead of Leicester City's behind-closed-doors pre-season friendly against Sky Bet Championship side Birmingham City on Wednesday (1pm BST kick-off), LCFC.com remembers an iconic kit from Blues' history.

2020-08-26T08:32:00.000Z

True Colours: The Kit Worn As Birmingham Joined The Top Flight In 2002

Ahead of Leicester City's behind-closed-doors pre-season friendly against Sky Bet Championship side Birmingham City on Wednesday (1pm BST kick-off), LCFC.com remembers an iconic kit from Blues' history.

2020-08-26T08:32:00.000Z

True Colours: The Kit Worn As Birmingham Joined The Top Flight In 2002

Ahead of Leicester City's behind-closed-doors pre-season friendly against Sky Bet Championship side Birmingham City on Wednesday (1pm BST kick-off), LCFC.com remembers an iconic kit from Blues' history.

2020-08-26T08:32:00.000Z

True Colours: The Kit Worn As Birmingham Joined The Top Flight In 2002

Ahead of Leicester City's behind-closed-doors pre-season friendly against Sky Bet Championship side Birmingham City on Wednesday (1pm BST kick-off), LCFC.com remembers an iconic kit from Blues' history.

2020-08-26T08:32:00.000Z

After three successive First Division play-off semi-final defeats between 1999 and 2001, Blues finally reached the showpiece in the summer of 2002 under the management of Steve Bruce.

The 2001/02 campaign begun with Trevor Francis in charge of the St. Andrew's club, but his departure in October led to the appointment of former Manchester United defender Bruce in December.

A late surge in the standings, thanks largely to an eight-game unbeaten run, allowed Birmingham to finish fifth in the table, presenting Bruce's men with a semi-final encounter with Millwall.

Adorning a blue Le Coq Sportif home strip, with a thick white collar and dark panelling under the arms, Blues won out 2-1 on aggregate, with Stern John netting in the last minute of the second leg at the Den.

The 2001/02 Birmingham home shirt carried similarities with Leicester's kit at the time and the only noticeable differences came in the form of Phones 4u's sponsorship and the positioning of Le Coq Sportif's logo.

It also continued a divergence from Birmingham's striped designs of the late 1990s, which often featured a slightly lighter shade of blue, in a trend which continued until the start of 2007/08.

A final encounter with Norwich City - who had former Fox Iwan Roberts among their ranks - meant both sides were able to wear their home strips for the occasion at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

On 12 May, 2002, Bruce led Blues out onto the pitch in the Welsh capital, alongside Nigel Worthington's Canaries, knowing a victory would see the club promoted to the Premier League for the first time.

At the time, winning the First Division play-off final also carried an estimated prize of £30M, but a tense fixture in front of 71,597 people ended goalless as the stakes rose ever higher.

In extra-time, an Alex Notman cross was nodded beyond Nico Vaesen in Blues' goal by Roberts in the 91st minute, which presented Bruce and his side with a significant headache as the clock ticked down.

Fortunately for Birmingham, though, just three minutes later, John headed the ball across the penalty area, inviting Geoff Horsfield - a future Leicester player - to level the arrears for the Midlands outfit.

It would end 1-1 after 120 minutes of gruelling action in Cardiff and a penalty shootout awaited the two exhausted sides. Misses from Norwich duo Philip Mulryne and Daryl Sutch, though, presented an opportunity. John, Paul Devlin and Stan Lazaridis had all converted their efforts, handing Darren Carter the chance to write himself into Birmingham folklore - and that's exactly what the Solihull-born midfielder did in a 4-2 success.

Referencing the club's 16-year absence from the top-flight, Carter said at full-time: "Birmingham fans have been waiting for this for a very long time - I was a fan and I know how much it means to them."

Jubilant celebrations followed and, as is usually the case, a kit which may otherwise have been forgotten instantly became a collector's item for Blues supporters and is now only available at a premium price in auction.

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