Tom Brady has ended his involvement with Birmingham City, the Championship club said in a statement released tonight, three years after the former NFL quarterback joined as a minority investor.
Brady became involved in the summer of 2023 as part of the takeover led by Knighthead Capital, the US investment firm co-founded by Tom Wagner, who chairs the club. The statement did not give a reason for his departure or say what would happen to his stake.
“Birmingham City Football Club expresses its sincere gratitude to Tom Brady for his involvement with and unwavering support for the club over the last three years,” the club said.
“It was amazing to have someone with Tom’s experience and passion associated with the club, and the club looks forward to continuing on that foundation from the training ground to the Birmingham community.”
The announcement comes with Birmingham City top of the Championship going into the last international break of the year. Brady had promised promotion to the Premier League last season.
Brady’s arrival was accompanied by a five-part Amazon documentary, Built in Birmingham: Brady and the Blues, which followed the new owners’ plans for the club.
The series showed Brady visiting the training ground to watch a team meeting and training session under Wayne Rooney, who had been appointed head coach after the club dismissed John Eustace. Driving away, Brady tells his business manager Ben Rawitz: “I’m a little worried about our head coach’s work ethic.” Rawitz replies: “Comes across as lackadaisical.”
Rooney was sacked after 83 days in charge. Later in the documentary, Brady says the decision to replace Eustace was a mistake and that he had been warned against making early changes.
“I had good advice, ‘Don’t go in there and make sweeping changes. You guys have time’,” Brady said. “But we made sweeping changes that put us in decline. That was our doing.”
Under Knighthead’s ownership the club has launched what the group describes as a 20-year project, with £3bn earmarked for a Sports Quarter on a 48-acre site in the east of the city. The development is set to include a new stadium and training ground above a network of underground transport tunnels.
The government said in February 2025 that Knighthead had invested £100m in the Sports Quarter, which it estimated would create 8,400 jobs and £370m of growth a year.
The stadium was originally described as a 60,000-seat ground. Its completion date has since moved from 2029 to 2031, according to a report in the Daily Mail.
London-based Heatherwick Studio is working on the design with Kansas City-based Manica, with a chimney theme referencing the city’s industrial heritage. The studio’s project page for the stadium lists 62,000 seats and an estimated completion of 2030 to 2031. Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, a Birmingham City supporter, is believed to be working with the team.
Wagner had praised Brady’s involvement, and reaction among supporters on social media was mixed.
One fan wrote on X: “Didn’t contribute anything after the first season, good riddance.” Another wrote: “PR stunt, better off without him being involved. Embarrassed us on the Amazon doc too.”
A third defended his role: “He’s a brand name and he made us globally talked about, globally looked at, globally listened to. He still helped put us on the map.”
Paul Jones
Harvard alumni and former New York Times journalist. Editor of Business Matters for over 15 years, the UKs largest business magazine. I am also head of Capital Business Media’s automotive division working for clients such as Red Bull Racing, Honda, Aston Martin and Infiniti.
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