It’s been four years.
It’s been four years since Nikola Zigic’s deflected winner set Birmingham on course to win the Carling Cup.
It’s been four years since we had a local derby in the Second City.
That four year wait is over.
As I’m sure everyone knows by now, Aston Villa were handed a home tie against Birmingham City in the League Cup, which has left the whole of the Midlands purring – apart from West Midlands Police, who are ruing their luck, no doubt.
It’s impossible to overstate the magnitude of the tie.
Villa Park will be rocking more than it has been for four years, and the Blues fans will have a big part to play in that.
Blues v Villa has always been a fiercely contested game, and the fans show a proper hatred for each other. Add in the wait, the fact it’s a knockout game; make no mistake about it, this is the biggest game in both teams’ season, and probably in the West Midlands since the last one.
Teams in the Premier League, who play their rivals every year, have rivalries. However, this is a perfect storm – or if you’re the police, an imperfect one.
Night game, under the floodlights, after four years and the fans have a genuine hatred for each other; this is going to be brutal, intense and nerve-wracking.
The countdown has already begun – and even with 25 days to go, I have goosebumps just thinking about the atmosphere.
A lot of the new players won’t know what’s hit them. Birmingham striker Nicolai Brock-Madsen was incredibly excited for his debut yesterday – imagine how pumped he’ll be to play Villa.
Of course, Villa will be huge favourites, given their squad costs around 30 times more than Blues’, but there’s a sense of optimism around St. Andrews this year. There’s a feeling of magic in the air.
Whether you support one of the teams or not, this will be a much watch game. It will be intense, it will be feisty, it will be a proper derby.
