There were boos from frustrated Birmingham fans after league below Port Vale cause an upset in the Carabao Cup Second Round.
The League One side secured a 1-0 win, ending the Blues’ unbeaten start. Jaheim Headley’s diving header from Ryan Croasdale’s cross just before half time saw the Valiants book a place in the Third Round for just the third time since the 2009-10 season.
Ronan Curtis missed a chance to double the lead, while Birmingham, who made 10 changes, failed to register a shot on target despite putting on late pressure in a bid to spark a comeback.
Birmingham City 0 v 1 Port Vale
EFL Cup Round 2
Attendance 21,052.
Missed opportunity to get to Round 3
Too many changes to #BCFC starting 11, allowed #PVFCLive to grow into the game. A deserved win for them & good luck to them in the next round pic.twitter.com/LCtyaLLENL— lee Johnson (@UnderTheTifo1) August 26, 2025
Birmingham: James Beadle, Taylor Gardner-Hickman, Phil Neumann, Eiran Cashin, Alfons Sampsted (Alex Cochrane, HT), Tommy Doyle (Ethan Laird, 77), Marc Leonard (captain), Lewis Koumas, Lyndon Dykes (Kyogo Furuhashi, 67), Kanya Fujimoto (Paik Seung-Ho, HT), Marvin Ducksch (Jay Stansfield, HT).
Subs not used: Ryan Allsop, Christoph Klarer, George Hall, Daniel Isichei.
Port Vale: Joe Gauci, Jaheim Headley (Ben Garrity, 76), Ben Heneghan (captain), Jordan Gabriel (Mitch Clark, 69), Ronan Curtis, Rhys Walters, Liam Gordon, Ryan Crossdale, Jesse Debrah, Cameron Humphreys (Kyle John, HT), Mo Faal (Ruari Paton, 57).
Subs not used: Marko Marosi, Ben Waine, Rico Richards, Jack Shorrock, Jordan Shipley.
Attendance: 21,052
Birmingham manager Chris Davies told BBC Radio WM:
“There’s disappointment there, that was well below our normal level.
“I made 10 changes to the team, a lot of new faces, a few debuts so there was a lot going on. We looked quite disjointed, we weren’t quite as fluid as we normally are.
“We know we can play better than that and they can play better than that although there was a lot of change. Some of them haven’t played a lot and we’re trying to bring it all together with three games in a week to make sure we have enough energy for all three.
“We couldn’t quite find that rhythm that we normally have and that continued into the second half despite a few substitutions. We couldn’t find that normal presence around their box and threat on their goal.”
Davies said, per the club website: “I think overall, we just didn’t find our normal rhythm to our game that we are so used to seeing – especially at home.
“Ultimately, we’ve gone behind to a set-piece, which can happen, but we just couldn’t find enough of our normal fluidity to create pressure and chances.
“Our connections, our passes, we weren’t as quick onto the ball as we normally are. A little bit of our intensity wasn’t there, they broke away a few times and got up the pitch. We just couldn’t find those chances.”
Marc Leonard said, per Birmingham Live: “For the first 30 minutes I think we were in total control of the game and it felt good, however in the last 10-15 minutes (of the first half) they started to get a few set pieces, they were loading the box and applied some pressure.
“They scored just before half-time, which is obviously disappointing. I think we could have caused them a lot more issues but that’s football. We’re very disappointed.
“The boys that came in did well. It’s tough getting to learn the system. It wasn’t through a lack of effort.
“The changes are going to happen, we know that. Nobody is more disappointed than us who have came in and tried to grab this opportunity.”
On his future: “Right now I’m a Birmingham player, I’m here and I’ve captained the team. Look, I want to be here. It’s a massive club.
“As the window has progressed I’ve had good conversations with the manager here. We’ve got seven days to go but I’m happy where I am.”
On being Birmingham captain for the first time: “It was a huge privilege. The manager told me and it was a huge honour. It’s such a massive club, so to do that is such a massive privilege.”
Port Vale manager Darren Moore told BBC Radio Stoke:
“Really pleased, I said to every single one of them what a performance tonight.
“Both in and out of possession of the ball, the team done really well, the structure was good, the organisation was good but within that they’ve got to do their jobs and they did that.
“Once we got to about 20, 25 minutes we had the pace of the game and all of a sudden we started putting our foot on the ball and gaps started to appear and more room to manoeuvre.
“All evening from set plays we looked really dangerous and the winning goal came from the second phase of a set play.”
He added: “I’m tired of managers coming in and telling me we should have won the game or deserved more from the game and all it has come down to is concentration. Tonight you saw the team fully engaged.
“They (Birmingham) are a force to be reckoned with. The boys had to play like that and give a 10 out of 10 performance.
“If there’s anything I’m going to say to them it’s ‘what you have done at Birmingham, you need to take into the league because all it is down to is concentration’.
“That is all that has been lacking in the league.”
On the third round draw: “It would be lovely if we could get one of the big boys at Vale Park in front of the fans.
“I would say the football club deserves it really but when the draw comes round we’ll see who we get.”
Here’s what was said on Twitter amid boos from frustrated Birmingham fans after Port Vale cause an upset in the Carabao Cup…
@H4SSELL: How you’ve had such a bad start to league I can’t fathom. Played tremendously well. Good luck in the 3rd round and good luck in the league
@ScottMarsh10: Top side, class for 90+ mins! Best of luck for the rest of the season 👌🏻
@ThomasFage2: Great support from your fans. Deserved it more, wanted it more, hungry for more. Good luck with the season Vale. 💙
@harryylindsayyy: fair play lads, held your own and closed us down perfectly
@leesotheran1: Fantastic display! Think twice when slating the players when league results don’t go your way every week. Everyone on that pitch dug in right to the very end and put on an amazing performance. Back them, win, lose or draw!
@mcdermzzz: Fair play, we made too many changes and underestimated yous
@blueruss1875: We were shocking and you did a proper number on us. You deserved it tbh. Good luck for the season 👍
@nodgers: Wasn’t expecting that, rekindled the fire. Sign a striker or two and get that season back on track
@1990YelrohT: Good win for the boys and the fans. They needed that. Doesn’t paper over the cracks, we need help up front ASAP. Mo, Ruari and Wayne aren’t the answer. Rhys Walters is a 2 million pound player. Unbelievably talented.
@deonburton: Can’t argue that the Vale players put a shift in every game no matter what the result. Fittest team I’ve seen in a long time. #pvfc
@DanTrotter14: Get a decent striker in and we will be sound. Fucking love you Vale #PVFC
@jaw1992_: Let me just say though, what a credit to their club the #pvfc supporters were this evening at St Andrew’s, they 100% deserved their win too. Proper club 👍🏻
@its_JTx: Port vale played us off the park today, great support aswell. All the best in the next round #BCFC #PVFC
@Nathan273797: Disappointed with the result but more disappointed with stanno looking like he’s Injured will be a big Loss for us. thought port vale fans were brilliant tonight didn’t stop singing created a great atmosphere for their team best away fans I have heard for a while #BCFC #PVFC
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