Aston Villa and Birmingham City is one of the most hated rivalries in English football.
It might not be a derby that’s played regularly like the north London derby or the Merseyside derby.
But it still doesn’t take away the ferocious nature of it, with Aston Villa making the city loud and proud as they push for Champions League football this season.
In the meantime, it’s another relegation battle for those at St Andrew’s, with the club hovering over the relegation zone in the Championship.
Simon Jordan and Troy Deeney were discussing the rivalry between Aston Villa and Birmingham City, with the latter being a boyhood bluenose and then going on the play for the club.
The last time the second city derby took place, a certain Jack Grealish scored the winning goal after being hit by a fan, with then-Dean Smith’s side going on to win promotion to the Premier League.
But it has been well over a decade since these two were able to lock horns in the Premier League and Birmingham aren’t showing any signs that they will be back any time soon.
The ‘infrequent’ nature of this fixture was touched upon by Simon Jordan, who couldn’t help but jibe at Deeney about how Villa are the ones making the city proud, as he told talkSPORT.
Second City derby
“Proper football club though, Aston Villa, isn’t it,” Jordon told Deeney.
Deeney responded: “It is proper and they are run properly now. They are doing things the right way. I think they are going to continue to build.”
Jordan then asks: “Does it upset you that Aston Villa are in the town of Birmingham and Birmingham are just sort of nothing.”
TD: “You do have a long-standing point with Birmingham, but we are going to leave that alone for today because we are getting on well. I think it’s actually really good for the city to have two clubs now, hopefully, being run properly and the infrastructure being put in place because it has been tough for the last 15-16 years (for Birmingham City), if I am being honest.
“I think we (second city derby) are bigger than Tottenham-Arsenal personally.”
SJ then acted shocked: “What?!”
TD: “In terms of rivalry. Oh, come on Simon.”
SJ: “But it’s such an infrequent fixture. Birmingham very rarely get to play Villa because you are always lurking where they belong in the bottom echelons of the league.”
Champions League and League One
There is every chance that, by the time the final whistle is blown for the season, Villa are playing alongside Europe’s elite, whilst Birmingham are in the third tier of English football.
Not forgetting that there is every chance we win the Europa Conference League.
The gap between the two couldn’t get any bigger, and if anything, it will continue to get bigger.
Yes, it would be entertaining and it would bring the buzz back if the second city derby was played regularly.
But Birmingham can’t even run a bath, at the moment, so they have no chance of playing in the Premier League yet.
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