Blues brothers Brady and Wagner bring noise to second St Andrew's act

Birmingham's rise under their owners from the US is entering a new phase, with the Premier League the prize

- Ben Fisher

Unsurprisingly, Tom Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl champion and global sporting icon, is braced for the challenges that await Birmingham City, where he is a minority owner. "Just because you were successful last year doesn't mean you're going to be successful this year," he says, alluding to a season that culminated in promotion and a record-breaking tally of 111 points. "You have to put the same amount of work, commitment and discipline in - sometimes more - because the stakes only get higher. When the competition gets tougher, the margin of error gets smaller."

It is his final answer in an interview that takes in everything from the "blue-collar nature of Birmingham", which he compares with Cleveland and Cincinnati, to the Championship landscape and the bubbling rivalry with Aston Villa, which he was educated on during his first visit to England's second-biggest city after acquiring his 3.3% stake.

It is a moment detailed in the opening scene of Built in Birmingham: Brady & the Blues, the Prime Video documentary series released on Friday, as he travels past a giant mural depicting Jude Bellingham and Trevor Francis. "What's the other team here?" he asks. "Fuck them... gonna fuck them up too," he says, smiling.

Brady and Tom Wagner, the Birmingham chairman, are in bullish moods for our interview. Wagner's mantra is "if you can't say it, you can't do it" and he is adamant Birmingham will return to the Premier League. But when? "The sooner the better," he replies.

"I think it would be great for the city of Birmingham to have an inner-city derby that brings fans together in a non-violent way; we don't want it to be peaceful, we don't want it to be violent either, but we want to allow them the joy of experiencing that great rivalry again. I love reading the comments from Villa supporters, but I think it's beyond that. There's so many other great clubs we would love to compete against."