Birmingham City Faces Manchester City as WSL Returns

Four years after dropping through the trapdoor, Birmingham City walk back into the Women’s Super League on Sunday and straight into the lion’s den.

The Joie Stadium. Manchester City away. The champions. The same ground where a 6-0 defeat in May 2022 sealed their relegation.

Amy Merricks is not interested in sentiment.

“We are here to compete, not just make up the numbers,” the Birmingham head coach said, setting the tone for a return that feels more like a statement than a celebration.

From relegation pain to promotion swagger

Birmingham’s route back has been anything but gentle. They clinched the WSL 2 title on the final day of last season, ending a four-year stay in the second tier and doing it with a style that turned heads: 2.09 goals per game, a front-foot identity that refused to bow to pressure.

That attacking edge is not up for negotiation now that the stakes have risen.

“There is a core part of our identity that is non-negotiable for us as Blues and myself as a head coach,” Merricks said. “We are a progressive team, we will find ways to create and score.”

She knows exactly where they are heading. City won all 11 of their home league games last season. They come into this as defending champions for the first time in a decade, a side used to suffocating opponents on their own turf and punishing the slightest drop in concentration.

Merricks’ answer is not to retreat. It is to double down.

“We are really clear on what our strengths are and what we need to maximise,” she said. “What we can’t do is lose our strengths. We have to amplify those and put ourselves in the best position possible.”

No talk of damage limitation. No hint of fear.

“Our focus is on ourselves, we appreciate and respect who they are and what they have, but our mindset doesn’t change. We don’t fear anyone. I think we showed that in the cup competitions last year.”

City wary of a dangerous newcomer

Andree Jeglertz has not forgotten those cup competitions either.

Five months to the day before this league meeting, City had to grind out a 1-0 win away at Birmingham in the quarter-finals of the Women’s FA Cup. It was awkward, tight, and far from routine.

“We had a tough game against them last year,” the City boss admitted. “They were tactically very good and destroyed all the space on the field, defending low and their transitioning was very good. There are threats in their team we need to give attention to.”

That respect matters. Newly promoted sides often arrive with energy and a point to prove; Birmingham bring both, plus a clear tactical framework and the confidence of champions.

“Playing against a team that is new in the league is always a challenge because I know they are coming in with a lot of energy in the first game,” Jeglertz said.

City’s challenge is different. This is their first league title defence in ten years. The target is on their back again. Complacency becomes the real opponent.

Jeglertz is determined not to let his players slip into a protective mindset.

“We are still chasing, chasing to win again,” he said. “If you start protecting things, I don’t think that will help us. We need to be in a mood of hunger, trying to win again, to compete in different tournaments.

If we drop a little bit in performance or attitude, teams will go past us.

The message is clear: champions or not, City must play like hunters, not guardians.

Early test, key absences

City do not arrive at opening day unscathed.

Vivianne Miedema, their marquee forward, is out until at least late autumn with a knee injury, stripping Jeglertz of one of his most ruthless finishers just as the season begins. Defender Rebecca Knaak will also miss the Birmingham game with a foot problem.

There is some relief. Defender Jade Rose and midfielder Grace Clinton have returned to training, offering depth and flexibility. Yet there is fresh uncertainty over summer signing Niamh Charles, whom Jeglertz described as “a big question mark” for Sunday.

It leaves City with enough quality to dominate, but with just enough vulnerability to keep the door ajar for an ambitious visitor.

A different Birmingham, same unforgiving stage

What lingers over this fixture is memory. That 6-0 defeat in 2022 was brutal, a result that crystallised Birmingham’s decline and sent them down. The Joie Stadium became a symbol of what they had lost.

Now they go back as champions of the division below, with a coach who refuses to bend their principles just because the badge on the other side reads Manchester City.

“This is the best league in the world, it is going to be tough and a challenge,” Merricks said. “But what we can’t do is lose our strengths.”

Toe-to-toe with the champions. On day one. At the scene of their heaviest fall.

If Birmingham want to show they truly belong back in the WSL, there could hardly be a harsher, or more fitting, place to start.