Three former Birmingham City men available for free after ruthless decision from ex-Blues boss

Three former Birmingham City players have been made free agents after being released by a relegated League Two club.

David Davis, Dom Bernard and Reece Brown were all on the books at St Andrew's during different times in their career but found themselves playing for Forest Green Rovers this season. The trio were unable to preserve FGR's seven-year Football League status as dropped down in to the National League under former Birmingham boss Steve Cotterill. Forest Green also had Troy Deeney in charge for a small part of the campaign, before his short-reign was brought to an end.

Bernard began his career with Birmingham, joining them at age 12. He was the captain of the under-18 team and was given a professional contract by them, however he left in 2019 having never made a single appearance for the club. The 27-year-old picked himself up however by joining Forest Green following a beneficial loan at Aldershot Town and he went on to make just shy of 200 appearances over five seasons.

Out of the three, Davis made the most appearances for Birmingham. The Smethwick-born midfielder was at the club from 2014 to 2021, and was six appearances short of making 200 appearances for the club. He appeared in total 194 times with 11 goals and five assists.

Davis joined Shrewsbury Town following his release from Birmingham in 2021 and spent one season there before moving to Forest Green. He failed to make an appearance for the Gloucestershire club this term.

Central midfielder Reece Brown also began his career at Birmingham. He was a player from when he joined the academy aged ten in 2006 to when he left in 2017. Brown made 20 appearances in total for the club, making his debut in 2013, and left for Forest Green Rovers in 2017. He spent two years there before joining Huddersfield Town and then after three separate loans at Peterborough United, he returned to Forest Green for the first season in the third tier.

All three received a goodbye from the club with the statement reading: "Forest Green would like to say thank you to all of the players for their hard work, with special mention to Dom Bernard and Matty Stevens, who helped the club win Promotion to League One in 2021-2022. We wish all players the best of luck for the future."