Bye bye Clem

I started this blog back in February 2003, and one of my first posts from that month concerned a momentous result for Blues. Having not won since 7th December, we took on the mighty Liverpool at St Andrews just three points above the drop zone. For the first time since the 7th December we went ahead 1-0 in a game when Stephen Clemence nodded in from a Robbie Savage free-kick, and we never looked back, embarking on a run that saw us stay up with 48 points, just six points clear of West Ham United who were relegated (a far cry from the past few seasons, where 35-36 points has usually been enough to survive).

Today, Clemence has completed his 750K move to Leicester City, where he will be club captain and has signed a three-year deal. Clem played a major role in that end-of-season run, plus helped us to the tenth-placed finish the following year, our best since 1973. He was unfairly overlooked for two years before storming back in October of last year to save Steve Bruce's job with the deflected winner in a 1-0 win at Derby, which set us on the road to promotion. Although he wasn't our captain, he played with all the qualities of captain, single-handedly driving Blues on during a wobbly patch to grab a 1-1 draw at Colchester, which settled our nerves and set us up for the promotion run in.

He may not be the most glamorous player we've ever had, and I'm not for one minute pretending he was one of the "greats", but Stephen Clemence gave Birmingham City the best years of his career from January 2003 to July 2007, and I would like to thank him for them. Good luck with your new club, Clem, and thank you.