2011–12 Birmingham City F.C. season
Round Date Opponents Venue Result Score F-A Scorers Attendance
Third round 7 January 2012 Wolverhampton Wanderers H D 0-0 14,594
Third round replay 18 January 2012 Wolverhampton Wanderers A W 1-0 Elliott 74 ' 10,153
Fourth round 28 January 2012 Sheffield United A W 4-0 Redmond 18 ' , Rooney ( 2 ) 38 ' , 78 ' , Elliott 58 ' 18,072
Fifth round 16 February 2012 Chelsea A D 1-1 Murphy 20 ' 36,870
Fifth round replay 6 March 2012 Chelsea H L 0-2 21,822
FA Cup
Main article : 2011–12 FA Cup Birmingham City , like all clubs in the top two divisions , entered the FA Cup in the third round ( last 64 ) , in which they were drawn to face Wolverhampton Wanderers of the Premier League at home . A dull goalless draw was enlivened only by the booing of Roger Johnson and Doyle 's double save , from Matt Jarvis and then Steven Fletcher , late in stoppage time . [ 27 ] Neither team fielded a full first team in the replay ; as in the original match , Birmingham selected Rooney as a lone striker in front of a five-man midfield including youngster Redmond . In the first half , Murphy and Beausejour had to leave the field for treatment after a clash of heads , and both sides had scoring chances , before Elliott 's close-range shot against the post rebounded to Murphy , who prodded the ball forward for Elliott , still lying on the floor , to score in the 74th minute . Again , Doyle made a late double save , this time from Fletcher and Stephen Hunt , to ensure Birmingham would face Sheffield United of League One at Bramall Lane in the next round . [ 81 ] Goals from Redmond , Rooney ( 2 ) and Elliott gave Birmingham a comfortable victory , attributed by Sheffield United manager Danny Wilson to their `` better clinical finishes '' , and youngsters Eddy Gnahoré and Callum Reilly were given debuts with ten minutes remaining . [ 82 ] Away to Chelsea in the fifth round , despite starting without King , Žigić and N'Daw and losing Carr to injury after only 12 minutes , Birmingham opened the scoring when the defence failed to deal with Mutch 's corner and Murphy shot firmly home . Two minutes later , Elliott tripped Ramires to concede a penalty , taken by Juan Mata and tipped onto the post by Doyle . In the second half , Chelsea equalised with a Daniel Sturridge header , and Redmond failed to convert a late chance to secure an unlikely victory . [ 27 ] Under interim manager Roberto Di Matteo , after André Villas-Boas ' dismissal , Chelsea won the replay , but they were made to fight by a weakened Birmingham side motivated by Žigić , who was angered by a facial gash courtesy of David Luiz 's boot . Mata scored a scrambled goal soon after half-time , and Raul Meireles doubled the lead with a rising shot from 20 yards ( 18 m ) , but Doyle again saved a penalty from Mata to restrict the winning margin to two goals . [ 83 ]
The 2011-12 season was Birmingham City Football Clubs 109th season in the English football league system. It ran from 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012. After relegation from the Premier League in 2010-11 under previous manager Alex McLeish, the team finished in fourth position in the 24-team Football League Championship under manager Chris Hughton, who was appointed in June. They lost on aggregate to fifth-placed Blackpool in the promotion play-offs semi-finals. Having won the 2011 League Cup, they qualified for the Europa League, in which they reached the group stage and finished third in their four-team group, only one point behind the two teams qualifying for the knockout rounds. In the 2011-12 League Cup, they were eliminated in the third round by Manchester City, and they lost to Chelsea in the fifth round of the FA Cup after a replay. Twenty-nine players made at least one appearance in first-team competition, and there were thirteen different goalscorers. Chris Burke, who received Birmingham's Player of the Season and Players' Player of the Season awards, played in 61 of the 62 matches over the season, scored 14 goals and made 19 assists. Marlon King was leading scorer with 18 goals, of which 16 came in league games; he also made 12 assists. Nathan Redmond was the club's young player of the year. Curtis Davies was named in the PFA Championship Team of the Year.