Birmingham go down fighting
There are times to point out that it's only a game of football and times when it's probably better to keep quiet. Leaving St Andrews yesterday was definitely one of the latter, but once the Birmingham City fans have got over their initial despair, they might reflect that the consequences of drawing what the local press apocalyptically referred to as “the most important match in the history of the club” — a match in which they had enough chances to win at a canter — may not be quite as desperate as they might have been lead to believe. Times
Owen down, Birmingham out
On a tense, gloomy day at St Andrew's, Birmingham's relegation from the Premiership was accompanied by a scare over the fitness of the Newcastle and England striker, Michael Owen. Telegraph
Blues down and out
Birmingham supporters have suffered all season, but now the pain must be intolerable. A campaign that began with such optimism and promised a top-10 finish ended in the ultimate ignominy as Steve Bruce and his embattled players surrendered their Premiership status, slipping back into the Football League for the first time in four years. Observer
Owen adds to England's concerns as Blues are relegated
Girls wept, boys raged and the men shrugged and trudged away from St Andrew's last evening as months of desperation turned into despair on an afternoon of goalless agony and high anxiety in England's second city. Not only were Steve Bruce's Birmingham City condemned to relegation, but so, too, were West Bromwich Albion, their near-neighbours and companions in the perennial struggle for Premiership survival, as Portsmouth conjured and completed a near miracle at Wigan Athletic. Independent