HOWARD'S WAY

LIFELONG BIRMINGHAM CITY SUPPORTER KEITH DIXON RECALLS WHEN HOWARD KENDALL HELPED SAVE THE BLUES FROM RELEGATION HALF A CENTURY AGO...

- KEITH DIXON

AS BIRMINGHAM tackle yet relegation battle, it is worth recalling what happened 50 years ago.

The story begins on February 14, 1974 when Blues sold striker Bob Latchford to Everton for a deal estimated to be worth £350,000 - a British transfer record at the time.

Blues received £80,000 for Latchford with the remainder of the deal being made up by the arrival at St Andrew's of Howard Kendall and Archie Styles.

Birmingham-born Latchford had made 194 appearances for the Blues, scoring 84 goals, and he went on to have a successful club and international career whilst at Goodison Park.

But the Blues didn't do too badly out of it either - and landing Everton legend Kendall was a coup in itself.

In 2007 I had the pleasure of meeting him and he recalled the lead up to the deal.

"I had been at Everton seven years and manager Billy Bingham decided that the club needed a centre-forward and that he could progress the club without me," he explained.

"He had targeted Bob Latchford and Dennis Tueart of Sunderland. In fact, I was expecting to move to Sunderland before I met Blues boss Freddie Goodwin at Knutsford Services on the M6.