‘One big push’ – WSL promotion decider awaits fallen giants

He describes his pre-match ritual as “usually getting the bus in, meet up with people outside the ground, and then get inside and chill out, watching the players warm up,” he tells BBC Sport. I will need beer because the club are experimenting with allowing it in the stands.

Birmingham City hosts London City Lionesses on Sunday, a direct match for Women’s Super League promotion.

“Everyone is excited, this is the position we wanted to be in,” said captain Christine Harrison-Murray, who spoke to BBC Sport. One more game and a lot of pressure.

It’s really exciting because I’ve never had it before on this day.

The ambitious new blood of Birmingham City Lionesses faces Birmingham City, a fallen giantess who has been relegated to the top flight in 2022, in the second tier this season.

Birmingham was a WSL founding member in 2010 and a fixture for the first 12 seasons. In 2011, they qualified for the Champions League and won the FA Cup the following year.

Birmingham only marginally missed out on a return in 2023, but they finished fifth last year, with Ross revealing how difficult they have sometimes found it difficult to adjust to the smaller Championship pond.

He claims, “We’re a bigger scalp.” There is little room for error, and with so few teams, you can’t lose a lot of games.

“It’s nerve-wracking because some games we have won it have us to play, but others we have won’t take any chances.”

I’m a watcher by nature, but we should be doing well in the WSL and not so much in the Championship.

Similar to rivals London City, new American ownership, and serious investment have been key factors in the success of this season.

While Michele Kang’s Lionesses have made headlines, Birmingham owner Tom Wagner is still a top dog and demonstrates how far the team has come since the squad complained to the board about the team’s conditions in 2021.

Birmingham is now able to compete thanks to investments in the women’s training facilities and an expanded playing squad. Relegation may have been a disguised blessing, similar to the men’s team’s success this campaign, which completely dominated League One.

Harrison-Murray, one of the few relegation season survivors still playing for Birmingham, says, “Having a fuller squad is massive.”

We still have fresh legs after the international break, which means players are tired.

“To help us make that next step into the WSL and stay there is huge,” said one woman. “Just having that full circle support of the women’s side is huge.”

Without a shadow of a doubt, Ross states that we are now “in a healthier state.”

Birmingham have benefited from Amy Merricks, one of the most highly regarded up-and-coming coaches in the English game, in terms of the management.

In April 2024, Merricks succeeded Darren Carter as Birmingham boss after two interim spells as WSL side Brighton and a one-year stint with England’s under-19s. At the time, he was just 30.

She has won over both her fans and players, and Harrison-Murray views her as a role model for any other English women interested in a coaching career in the future.

She claims that Amy has been “amazing.” She is very hands-on, trying to put a philosophy and a way of playing into practice. With that level of preparation and what she wants to achieve, it has been a huge success.

Amy is young but has her professional license, having spent a long time coaching, and at Brighton. I want to emulate her in the future and learn from her.

She is a person I have learned a lot from over the course of a year, and I would love to stay in the game when I retire.

Merricks will join Rehanne Skinner of West Ham as one of only two full-time English female coaches in the WSL if she takes Birmingham to the top flight.

With former England manager Hope Powell serving as technical director, she and Ross feel like they are still here even if things don’t go their way on Sunday.

The owners want us to play in the WSL, he claims, and they’d be even more enthusiastic about backing the manager over the summer.

The players appear to be playing for her, and Amy Merricks appears to have a very tactical sense of tact. They have ingested her ideas. It’s fantastic, and having a woman and English people in those capacities is nice.