PAUL TAIT BLUES GOLDEN GOALS AND THAT T-SHIRT

BIRMINGHAM CITY FANATIC! KEITH DIXON TALKS TO THE FORMER MIDFIELDER ABOUT HIS COLOURFUL CAREER

IT’S hard to believe it’s now 25 years since Birmingham City won a ‘double’ – and Paul Tait made major headlines!

Okay, it wasn’t the Premier League and FA Cup, but the Division Two (third tier) and Auto Windscreens Shield prizes gave the Blues a boost after some tough years.

With the financial clout of new owner David Sullivan, and later David Gold, the colourful Barry Fry was appointed as manager and to say things changed would be an understatement.

Despite his best efforts, ‘Baz’ was unable to save us from being relegated from Division One in 1993-94, but the following season more than made up for it.

We won a trophy at Wembley - some 39 years after our last outing at the home of football in 1956 - when we beat Carlisle United 1-0 on April 23, 1995.

That game was the first at Wembley to be decided by a ‘golden goal’ and midfielder Tait was the man who scored it before famously revealing a T-shirt under his top which said: ‘Birmingham City – Sh*t on the Villa’.

Not content with that success, Fry led us to completing a ‘double’ as we won the Division Two championship with a club record 89 points.

The title was clinched on the last day of the season with a 2-1 win over Huddersfield Town at the Alfred McAlpine Stadium. Tait scored the winner that day, too.

There were many “working-class” players who turned into heroes that season, including keeper Ian Bennett, captain Liam Daish and top scorer Steve Claridge.

Yet Tait – who that season recorded a throw in of 41 metres, one of the longest ever in League football – stole most of the headlines.

He is a Bluenose through and through and can still be seen in the crowd both home and away, even though he was born in Sutton Coldfield which is Aston Villa territory.