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- The 2016–17 season is Birmingham City Football Club's 114th season in the English football league system and sixth consecutive season in the second-tier Championship. It covers the period from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017. With the team lying just outside the play-off positions, and two days after three new directors had joined the board, manager Gary Rowett and his backroom staff were sacked on 14 December 2016. Later that day, former West Ham United and Watford manager Gianfranco Zola was announced as Rowett's successor. After four months, during which the team won just twice and dropped to 20th place, three points outside the relegation zone with three matches remaining, Zola resigned, to be replaced by Harry Redknapp, initially to the end of the season. Needing to win their final match if Blackburn Rovers and Nottingham Forest both won their final fixture – which they did – Birmingham won 1–0 away to Bristol City to avoid relegation and finish in 19th place. As with all Football League clubs, the first team also competed in the FA Cup and EFL Cup. They were eliminated in the third round of the former by Newcastle United after a replay and in the first round of the latter by Oxford United. Thirty-two players made at least one appearance in first-team competition, of whom four were loan signings; there were fourteen different goalscorers. Defenders Jonathan Grounds and Ryan Shotton appeared in 45 of the club's 49 fixtures over the season, and Lukas Jutkiewicz was top scorer with 12 goals, of which 11 were scored in league competition. Player of the season David Davis received 13 yellow cards and was sent off once, a record which placed him at the top of the Championship ill-discipline table. The average league attendance, of 18,717, was some 6% up on 2015–16. (en)
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