Birmingham City Appoints Chris Davies As New Head Coach

Birmingham City have announced the appointment of Tottenham Hotspur’s assistant boss, Chris Davies as its new manager on a four-year contract.

Davies, 39, who was a coach at Swansea City, Liverpool, Celtic, and Leicester City under Brendan Rodgers, takes over from Tony Mowbray at the newly relegated League One club.

Blues have agreed a compensation package with Spurs as Davies still had two years left on his contract.

The club spoke to over 40 candidates – reportedly including Frank Lampard and Alex Neil – for the job, which became vacant on 21 May when Mowbray confirmed he would not be returning to the role for health reasons.

“From our first meeting, it was clear we were aligned on values and shared our ambition for Blues,” said owner and chairman Tom Wagner, who was part of the recruitment panel along with co-owner Tom Brady and chief executive Garry Cook.

“He is widely respected in the game and fulfills our goal to appoint an ambitious, progressive coach. He is motivated to help redefine the club, the culture, and the playing identity.“

Davies added: “As soon as I spoke with Tom, Garry, Tom Brady, and other board members it was clear to me how passionate and committed the football leadership team are to bringing success to this club.

“I will give everything to build an attacking team that reflects this great city, and most importantly to produce a team that our supporters can be proud of.”

Watford-born Davies was a promising player at Reading, where he first worked under Rodgers, captaining the Royals’ youth sides while winning caps up to the under-19 level for Wales, for whom he qualified to play through his father.

But he was forced to shelve plans of making it as a professional at the age of 19 when his dream was ended by an arthritic condition and he opted to pursue a career in coaching.

He started with holiday camps and junior sessions before furthering his experience overseas in the United States and New Zealand but stayed in touch with Rodgers, who gave him the role of performance analyst at Swansea in 2010.

Despite having still to finish his coaching badges, Rodgers took Davies to Liverpool in 2012 as an opposition scout before making him his assistant when he moved to Celtic in 2016.

After back-to-back doubles in Scotland, he and Rodgers won the FA Cup with Leicester, but both left the Foxes in April 2023 before the club’s relegation from the top flight.

He was a target for Swansea last summer as they first tried to replace Southampton-bound Russell Martin.

Instead, Spurs took him to become part of Postecoglou’s new backroom team – but Davies is now out on his own.