Birmingham City's first summer signings of the last 10 years including Leeds, Wolves, Brentford and Derby men

Birmingham City made their first signing of the summer this week after they confirmed the arrival of goalkeeper Ryan Allsop.

The Chris Davies era is fully underway with the former Leicester City and Spurs coach making a boyhood Blues fan his first signing since his appointment. Allsop has arrived for an undisclosed fee and has signed a contract that will keep him at the club for the next three years.

Pre-season training is still a few weeks away but signing first can help you settle in at your new surroundings and help settle any nerves. Allsop knows what Birmingham are about and the task in hand, which is to win promotion from League One at the first time of asking.

The 32-year-old more than anyone will hope that he can be a success at St Andrew's. Here, we take a look back over the last 10 years of who the first signings of the summer were and how they fared. 

2023/24 - Tyler Roberts. 

Joined from Leeds United for an undisclosed fee. Made his debut against Swansea City on the opening day but then spent time out on the sidelines. Played 19 times for Blues last season. Registered one assist.

2022/23 - Finley Thorndike/Dion Sanderson. 

Finley Thorndike joined on from inter-city rivals Aston Villa on a free transfer. He didn't play a game for the senior team and was out on loan last term at Boston United.

If we’re going on players that have played for the first team then Dion Sanderson arrived on July 5. The 24-year-old was signed on loan from Wolves and ended up signing permanently in 2023. Sanderson went on to captain the club.

2021/22 - Ryan Woods

Joined from Stoke City on a three-year contract in June 2021. He was at St Andrew's for a season before he was sold to Hull City, and last year spent time out on loan at Bristol Rovers and Exeter City. 

2020/21 - George Friend

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the season started slightly later. George Friend was the first player through the door as he joined on a free transfer. 

He spent three seasons at St Andrew’s and left last summer to join Bristol Rovers. Friend retired mid-season and is now the Gas’ director of football.

2019/20 - Gary Gardner

Joined from inter-city rivals Aston Villa for an undisclosed fee. He is now a free agent after Birmingham announced they would not be renewing his contract this summer. The 31-year-old played 185 times for Birmingham. 

2018/19 - Kristian Pedersen

The Danish defender arrived from Union Berlin for an undisclosed fee. The 29-year-old spent four years at the club before being allowed to leave for free. He spent a year at 1. FC Koln before returning to the EFL with Swansea City.

2017/18 - David Stockdale

Goalkeeper Stockdale had just helped Brighton & Hove Albion win promotion but didn’t join them in the Premier League. 

He remained with Birmingham and joined them on a free transfer and played 39 times, but then in his second season, he had loans away at Southend United, Wycombe Wanderers and Coventry City. Stockdale was most recently the head of recruitment at York City, but was relieved in April.

2016/17 - Ryan Shotton

Joined from Derby County for an undisclosed fee, understood to be around £300,000. He played 45 times in his first full season but a year later, he departed for Middlesbrough. Shotton is now the player/manager of Hanley Town, who play in the Northern Premier League Division One West. 

2015/16 - Jacques Maghoma

Jacques Maghoma reunited with manager Gary Rowett after working together at Burton Albion. Maghoma spent five seasons at St Andrew's and played 180 games in total. He announced his retirement in October 2022. 

2014/15 - Jonathan Grounds

Grounds was the first of eight players to arrive on a free transfer in the month of June. He was a sound defender who played 170 times for Birmingham, and these days he is an assistant to the under-21s team.