EFL Trophy: Barry Fry wants Peterborough United win at Wembley

Birmingham have dominated League One this season, and Tuesday’s 2-1 win over Peterborough at the Weston Homes Stadium secured promotion back to the Championship following relegation last May.

They only need five more points to reach 100 for the campaign, but it was all very different when Fry left Southend United in 1993 to become Blues manager.

“They were bottom of the league by nine points, I think. I decided to go there despite them being bottom and we finished the season very well, out of the last 10 games we won seven, drew two and lost one,” he said.

“That was promotion form but unfortunately we got relegated. The following year I said we’d do the double and we did.”

As well as winning the Division Two title in 1995, they also triumphed at Wembley in the Football League Trophy final, beating Carlisle United 1-0 in front of a crowd of over 76,000.

“We took 57,000 [with us] that day. Fair play to [then owners] David Sullivan, David Gold and [managing director] Karren [Brady] because in the earlier rounds you get no crowds whatsoever, nobody’s interested,” Fry added.

“But we got 18,000, 20,000, 22,000 because they charged a fiver for adults and one pound for kids, which was wonderful.

“We also won the Birmingham Senior Cup, beating [Aston] Villa, and in the FA Cup we played Liverpool at home, drew 0-0 at St Andrew’s, went to Anfield, drew 1-1 after extra-time. We got a standing ovation, rightly so, but lost on penalties.”

Despite that, Fry’s time in charge came to an end in 1996, but it was not long before the chance to return to football with Peterborough came along.