Birmingham City’s full backroom staff under John Eustace revealed: Everything you need to know

With the appointment of new manager John Eustace, Birmingham City can finally start planning ahead for their 2022/23 Championship campaign.

It’s been a wave of uncertainty since the season drew to a close against Blackburn Rovers back in May.

The ownership situation still hasn’t been resolved but now that Eustace is through the door and his coaching team are in place - at least those tasked with doing the job on the pitch can finally all start pulling in the same direction.

And the new manager has some job on his hands to turn the fortunes of this club around but he won’t be alone. He’s brought in three coaches to help him along the way including one former Blues legend.

Here’s his team in full.

Keith Downing

Downing is the first of two assistants that will take up the role of ‘assistant manager.’

Those old enough and with a good memory will know that he actually played for Blues back in 1993 but only made two appearances in the 93/94 season before leaving the club.

Following retirement from his playing career, Downing has taken up many coaching roles, most notably being head coach of England U20s - leading them to the 2017 Euro U19 championship.

Most recently he was first team head coach at Plymouth Argyle, leaving the position upon the conclusion of the 2021/22 season.

Matt Gardiner

Gardiner is the man sharing the role of Downing as Eustace opts to have two assistant managers for his new position.

Like Downing, Gardiner was also a player prior to his coaching career but he’s found far greater success since stepping away from playing himself.

He’s had one Head Coach job, managing Redditch United in 2010 - a role he had great success in but stepped down after his playing budget but was cut to zero after less than a year of him being in charge.

Since then, he’s stepped away from the main responsibilities and has predominantly taken up assistant roles.

Gardiner’s clubs include Worcester City, Kidderminster Harriers and latterly QPR.

Maik Taylor

The final piece of the backroom staff puzzle comes in the shape of arguably the most familiar name on the list.

Former goalkeeper Taylor returns as goalkeeping coach just over a decade after leaving the club.

The shot-stopper made more appearances for Blues than any other club in his career raking up an impressive 240 during his time at St Andrew’s and was a mainstay for the team during their time in the Premier League.

Since retiring from playing, Taylor has been goalkeeping coach at Northern Ireland, Bradford City and Walsall before recently leaving the latter to link back up with Blues.

A message from the editor:

Thank you for reading. BirminghamWorld is Birmingham’s latest news website, championing everything that is great about our city - reporting on news, lifestyle and sport. We want to start a community among our readers, so please follow us on Facebook,Twitter and Instagram, and keep the conversation going.