The late 1990s and early 2000s were a fun and relatively successful period for everyone involved with Birmingham City.
After emerging from the third tier doldrums under Barry Fry in 1995, the Blues’ dynamic manager was replaced by their greatest ever player, Trevor Francis, the following summer.
Francis then oversaw three consecutive seasons of progress at St Andrew’s, as the club rose from 15th to 4th place at the end of the 1998/99 season, when they were denied the chance to end a 14-year absence from the top flight by Watford on penalties in B9.
As is often mentioned in the club’s famous ‘Keep Right On’ anthem, Birmingham experienced many joys and sorrows in the coming years, while Francis was assembling a squad that would include a string of future cult heroes in the Second City, one of whom would join in the summer of 1999.
Stan Lazaridis’ arrival at Birmingham City
That’s when Australian winger Stan Lazaridis joined the club for a reputed £1.7 million from West Ham United, with the Hammers profiting handsomely from their own £300,000 agreement to bring the Perth-born winger to East London four summers earlier.
Lazaridis appeared 31 times for Blues and scored two goals in what is now the Championship in his first season, but Francis’ side could not overcome a play-off curse that plagued them for three years in a row, losing 5-2 on aggregate to Barnsley in the semi-final.
The following season, the club advanced to the EFL Cup Final against Liverpool, with the Australian making six appearances in the competition, including a penalty shootout defeat in Cardiff, and maintaining an identical league record as 99/00. Birmingham, however, were ousted in the play-off semi-finals, this time by Preston North End.
Blues’ and Lazaridis’ eventual rise into the Premier League
The 2001/02 season was a resounding success for all Bluenoses, albeit Francis left in November of that season and was later replaced by Steve Bruce.
However, the former centre-back was able to achieve 11 victories after his appointment, and Lazaridis was once again a regular throughout the season. Birmingham finished fourth and achieved their first return to the top division since 1985 with a thrilling semi-final triumph over Millwall, before putting play-off heartbreak behind them with a shoot-out victory over Norwich City at the Millennium Stadium, in which he scored.
Upon their return to the top level, the Australian did manage to improve his goal production with two goals and as many assists, the first of which came at his previous club West Ham, where he set up Stern John for the winning goal and the Blues’ first away victory in the Premier League.
However, one of Lazaridis’ most memorable moments in Royal Blue came in their away triumph in the ‘Second City Derby’ against Aston Villa in March 2003, when he converted a Jeff Kenna cross past Peter Enckelman on 74 minutes, and Birmingham won 2-0 at Villa Park.
On This Day in 1999 📆
Blues signed Australian winger Stan 'The Man' Lazaridis from West Ham for £2 Million🇦🇺
What a run and finish this was V Everton 🤩 #BCFC pic.twitter.com/nOsXCNFNqF
— Blues Focus (@BluesFocus) July 28, 2020
Again, Lazaridis scored twice in the 2003/04 season, the second of which was a legendary solo effort in front of the Gill Merrick Stand against Everton in a 3-0 victory in February 2004.
The beginning of the end of Stan Lazaridis’ Birmingham City career
The 2004/05 season saw the beginning of a downward trend for both Lazaridis and Birmingham, with his campaign marred by a reoccurring thigh problem that began in the summer of 2004.
He would appear just 20 times in the Premier League that season, before a catastrophic season for everyone associated with the club in 2005/06.
Once again, it proved to be a very painful season for the seasoned winger, who appeared only 17 times, 11 of which were starts, as the club finished 18th and returned to the second division after four years.
In March 2006, weeks before his final appearance for the club – a disappointing 11-minute cameo in a 3-1 defeat to Villa on April 15th – Lazaridis expressed his love for the club and stated that he would hold no grudges against them if they did not offer him a new contract, which is exactly what occurred.
“The club have a 12-month option on me but if we do go down, the club will have to curb their expenses. It is probably more than likely that I will go but there is no bitterness at all if that happens,” he said via the Irish Examiner.
“I have had seven great years at Birmingham. I think the world of this club and they will always have a place in my heart. If I go it will be the end of an era as I’m the only one playing really from before the manager came,” Lazaridis stated.
He eventually left the club in the summer of 2006 for his local club, A-League side Perth Glory, after making 212 appearances at St Andrew’s and scored eight goals, gaining the nickname ‘Stan the Man’ among Blues fans.
Still a popular figure, that £1.7 million was money well spent.
