When close rivals and neighbours clash, it is always likely to be messy and there’s always bragging rights to be had. It is the same in the street as it is in football; tonight it was the turn of Wolverhampton Wanderers and Birmingham City.
Home side Wolves sit 19th in the Sky Bet Championship league table on 35 points, visitors Birmingham only three places and five points to the better. At this stage of the season, there was always going to be an extra bit of bite to the game, which there was in the first half.
By half-time, Wolves had been bitten twice courtesy of goals from Birmingham City’s Maikel Kieftenbeld (27′) and David Davis (32′) as the Blues took an all too comfortable lead into the break.
Of course, with the context and background of both teams having a massive bearing on the game, such a result, even at half time, meant joy for one group of fans and misery for the others with both sets of fans quick to take to Twitter to express their views.
Birmingham fans rejoice at giving opponents Wolves the Blues
You can almost taste the joy in this tweet.
https://twitter.com/Gary_Killeen/status/835236840567373825
This fan has a message for manager Zola it seems.
https://twitter.com/dylan__davies/status/835236175497609218
This fan is happy to bleed for the cause if it means winning against bitter rivals.
My lip is still bleeding from davis' goal #bcfc
— stephen knight (@stephenknight96) February 24, 2017
This is another Blues fan that is happy.
What a goal pure power #BCFC @Diggad1991 is a BLUE
— NotUseingAccont (@MTed1996) February 24, 2017
One section of fans were laughing when this went in, wasn’t Wolves fans
GOAL Maikel #Kieftenbeld! De middenvelder zet Birmingham op voorsprong na een fout van doelman Ikeme; 0-1. #bcfc #wwfc pic.twitter.com/puGi0EdZMy
— ChampionshipNieuws (@CSnieuws) February 24, 2017
Sometimes fans have this sixth sense, this feeling in their water that something will happen…
Dicko's gonna score his first goal of the season. Just watch. #bcfc
— Adam Hennessey (@9_Hendo) February 24, 2017
…and are often right.
Told ya… here we fucking go. #bcfc
— Adam Hennessey (@9_Hendo) February 24, 2017
Of course, each action has an opposite reaction too. Whilst Birmingham fans were gloating and celebrating, it was unlikely to be happening like that on the other side of the divide.
Wolves bitten in first half horror show – fans react
Wolves fan Stephen is happy that he has an excuse to turn his back on the game.
https://twitter.com/CoachSWilliams/status/835229025899540481
This Wolves fan is trying to curry some favour with at least one thing tikka’d off the list as a positive.
https://twitter.com/Nicola_A_Jones/status/835228898052960256
It is the worse of two evils here for Wolves fan Harry – he’s not happy.
What makes this worse is that Blues are awful as well. No fight in us whatsoever. Struggle to see anybody creating anything for us #wwfc
— Harry Carr (@Harry_Carr98) February 24, 2017
Jonty agrees, this is not what he is liking.
That's not football I want to watch anymore of #wwfc
— Jonty. (@jontybird_9) February 24, 2017
This Wolves fan thinks he can hear echoes of previous manager appraisals of the side.
Can't wait for the Lambert "We were excellent" quote. #wwfc
— James Wright (@wrightjames83) February 24, 2017
Even when Nouha Dicko scored, Wolves fans couldn’t quite believe it.
https://twitter.com/Zenga_Burger/status/835237129861083137
Dicko’s goal was as close as Wolves got in the end with Birmingham’s two first-half goals being enough to see them through to all three points and a move up to 13th in the table. It was also a result that ended a run of three defeats on the bounce for Birmingham City.
Here’s a single view from both sides that pretty much sums up how both sets of fans are feeling.
First up the vanquished Wolves.
Say what you want about the cup run but not to pick up a single point v Wigan and Blues at home is piss poor. #wwfc
— BM (@RMjnr) February 24, 2017
And now from the victorious Blues.
Oh yes great win with 10 men we did well to hold on, but a wins a win, come on you blues #bcfc #kro
— Chris Gray (@ChrisGr60511028) February 24, 2017
