A once-in-a-generation fixture didn’t disappoint in the West Midlands as Birmingham City overcame Barcelona on penalties in a pre-season friendly.
Everyone wanted a piece of memorabilia to remember the La Liga champions coming to town, and the queues for the official matchday publication were seen snaking around a sell-out St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park stadium hours before kick-off.
Ignition Sports Media’s Commercial Director Lee Berry said of the commemorative 68-page publication: “It was a wonderful occasion to be involved in, with Blues having last faced Barcelona in 1960 as the first English side to play in a European final in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
“Programmes for fixtures like this really are pieces of history and memorabilia that supporters will cherish for years to come. We’re delighted we could play our part in such a brilliant match and with record sales.”
The Spanish behemoths may have been without seven of their World Cup-winning stars for the pre-season encounter, but there was plenty of other blockbuster talent on display in B9. That included new Barca signing Karim Adeyemi and breakout Egyptian prodigy Hamza Abdelkarim, the latter scoring twice for Hansi Flick’s visitors.
Yet the Championship hosts were roared on, with former favourite Jude Bellingham in the crowd, and were in raptures when Jhon Solis produced a wonderful slide rule finish to equalise in the second half, before James Beadle saved two penalties to win the shoot-out for Chris Davies’ side 3-2.
A limited number of copies remain available for sale at https://www.ignitionsportsmedia.com/products/birmingham-city-v-barcelona-pre-season while stocks last.
