Birmingham City FC was formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance by a group of cricketers from Holy Trinity Church in Bordesley Green.  The club turned professional in 1885, and three years later became the first football club to become a limited company with a board of directors, under the name of Small Heath F.C. Ltd. From the 1889–90 season they played in the Football Alliance, which ran alongside the Football League. In 1892, Small Heath, along with the other Alliance teams, was invited to join the newly-formed Football League Second Division. They finished as champions, but failed to win promotion via the test match system; the following season promotion to the First Division was secured after a second place finish and test match victory over Darwen. The club adopted the name Birmingham Football Club in 1905, and moved into their new ground, which became known as St Andrew's.  Birmingham were relegated in 1908, obliged to apply for re-election two years later, and remained in the Second Division until after the First World War. The club won the Second Division title in 1920-21 and remained in the top flight for eighteen seasons.  They also reached their first FA Cup Final in 1931 which they lost 1-2 to Second Division side West Bromwich Albion.  They were finally relegated in 1938–39, the last full season before the Football League was abandoned for the duration of the Second World War. The club's current name of Birmingham City F.C. was adopted in 1943. Four years later they won the Second Division title.  The most successful period in their history was in the 1950s and early 1960s. They achieved their highest finishing position of sixth in the First Division and reached the FA Cup Final in 1956, reached the final of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1960 and 1961, and won the League Cup, in 1963, beating Aston Villa 3–1 on aggregate. 

They suffered an extended period outside the top divission between 1986 and 2002, a period which included two brief spells in the third tier of the English League. One highlight during this period was the 2001 League Cup final against Liverpool at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium which they lost on penalties. Birmingham gained promotion to the Premier League under Steve Bruce in 2002 and 2007 and under Alex McLeish in 2009.  The club’s ninth place finish the following season was their highest placing in 51 years.   Birmingham City won the League Cup Final in 2010/11 where they defeated favourites Arsenal 2-1 but the season ended in relegation. They narrowly avoided relegation to the third tier of English football on the last day of the 2013-14 season and suffered the ignomy of a 0-8 trashing by Bournemouth the following season. In recent seasons the club has narrowly avoided relegation under a series of managers.