Why Tom Brady doesn’t need to ‘know about football’ to help Birmingham – with former Blues boss explaining benefits of NFL legend’s presence

Seven-time Super Bowl winner Brady become a surprising investor at St Andrew’s when Tom Wagner’s Knighthead Capital Management took control of the West Midlands outfit in 2023. The legendary New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback was appointed as chairman of the advisory board.

His first season being associated with Birmingham did not play out as planned, with a failed gamble on Manchester United icon Wayne Rooney as head coach contributing to relegation into League One being suffered. Rowett was at the helm when a tumble into the third tier was confirmed, as he returned to the dugout on an interim basis as the club’s fourth manager of the campaign.

Questions have been asked of what Brady is bringing to the table, as his expertise lies in a different form of football, but Rowett has told the Business of Sport podcast about his dealings with the Blues’ board: “We sat in two or three Zooms with the owner [Wagner], Tom Brady, not always about football. I think everyone has this misconception.

“I remember speaking to a few of the pundits on Sky. They were saying, ‘what does Tom Brady know about football?’ But it wasn’t about that, it was about leadership, about high performance. There’s always something you can draw from someone who has been an absolute unicorn athlete, an outlier in his sport. It was a fascinating experience.”

Rowett did not always agree with every decision that Brady and Co were making, as ambitious talk of a new stadium being built broke as the club struggled in the Championship, but he added on the long-term ambition of those at the helm: “Obviously there was a job to do but the experience of working with Tom Wagner, Tom Brady, all those guys, was fascinating. It was a snippet of where football’s going to go for certain clubs.

“I’m sure if you spoke to people like Tom Wagner, midway through a relegation battle, they’re talking about plans for a new stadium. This is the bigger picture and what the owners want to do. I felt as a manager sometimes that it perhaps wasn’t the right timing to be discussing that, when you’re trying to win games of football and the pressure’s on. But it felt like something was building. Regardless of the team going into League One, it felt like the club was now on the up with good owners with a clear vision and a clear ambition.”

The commitment of Birmingham’s owners was further highlighted in the summer of 2024 when they smashed League One transfer records in a big-spending window. That investment is expected to deliver promotion back into the Championship, with a side now working under Chris Davies flying high in the table after suffering just one defeat through 13 matches.