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For two hundred and sixty-five years, the nations of France and Scotland joined as one in their hatred of the English, and their determination to keep them at bay through military force. The Auld Alliance, signed into effect by John Balliol and Philip IV of France, was a treaty to the effect that if either nation were attacked by English forces, the other would invade English territory in retaliation; as was most famously evidenced at the Battle of Flodden Field in 1513.
The reformation in Scotland and their declaration of being a Protestant nation put paid to any chance of the Alliance continuing, and in 1560, the Treaty of Edinburgh was drawn up by the Parliament of Scotland and – though it was not ratified by the reigning monarch of the time until 1587 – the two nations went their separate ways.
Now, four hundred and forty-four years later, it is time for the Alliance to stand proud one final time. The arrogance of the English, the imperious domination they hold in their mind, has gone too far. A strike is needed at the very heart of their national pride. No longer are wars fought on the battle field, this war will be fought on the football field.
The premise was simple; a squad entirely built of Frenchmen and Scots would, from the depths of the English game (or the Championship), rise to claim the Premiership title. And to prove that it was no flash-in-the-pan uprising, a second title would be garnered along successful campaigns in both domestic cup competitions.
There really was only one place to begin this fight back against the English. On English soil it must be, so there was nowhere more fitting than a place named St. Andrews. That the side who played there were kitted out in blue and white only served to make things better.
The squad at Birmingham needed a lot of work. There was nary a Frenchman or Scot to be found. A tenuous link was found in midfielder Mehdi Nafti, his dual French nationality cancelled out in challenge terms by the fact that he had appeared internationally for Tunisia.
As soon as Robert Bruce stepped into the management position at the Championship club, all Englishmen were transfer listed. Those fortunate enough not to hail from the Satan of all nations were given a stay of execution, but only until suitable Alliance members could be found to fill their roles. With a squad now so small, the two pre-season friendlies that had been arranged were cancelled in favour of a practice match against the club’s reserve side, just a week before the season was to kick-off.
That left Robert with twenty days. Just shy of three weeks to assemble a squad as filled with Alliance members as possible. The board, despite expecting that promotion would be gained at the first time of asking, provided only £1,000,000 spending money, so it became obvious that real cash was going to be needed from the sales of the infidel Englishmen.
Notes: As I want this game to play pretty quickly (and I don't honestly get that much time to play at the moment) I've only loaded English leagues (from League 2 upwards) and supplemented that by loading all players from France and Scotland with a database size of normal. Oh, and as FM06 sucks, I'm playing this on FM05
The few pre-season days that Robert Bruce had available to him were spent arranging more transfers, both in an out of the club, than you could shake an extravagantly large stick at. Before the campaign opener, a home game against Trevor Francis' Plymouth at St. Andrews, the playing squad had to be made as Franco-Scottish as possible, and the wage bill which had crept some £50,000 per week over its budget had to be reduced at the same time.
The one warm-up fixture on the cards was against Birmingham's own reserve side, though it was a second string boosted by the presence of players such as Muzzy Izzet, Chris Sutton, Walter Pandiani, Stephen Clemence and Maik Taylor. So the 2-1 victory that Robert's charges claimed was not meaningless. Olivier Sorlin whipped a wonderful free kick into the top corner of Taylor's net a minute before half-time, and French colleague Sinama-Pongolle doubled their advantage just moments after the break. Clemence got one back for the outcasts, but it wasn't enough to change the destination of the victory, and with the visit of Plymouth just days away, the Alliance was ready to take its first steps towards eventual glory.
The opening day visit of Plymouth to St Andrews was supposed to be a moment of triumph for the re-birth of the Auld Alliance, so a frustrating goalless draw was far from the result wanted. That said draw was largely down to a Frenchman blocking our path was even more irritating. Plymouth's goalkeeper Romain Larrieu had been the subject of a failed bid from Robert Bruce, and rubbing salt into the wounds he produced a man of the match winning performance to thwart the Birmingham attack.
Whilst Larrieu starred, Birmingham's 'keeper Allan McGregor picked up a groin injury which meant that Maik Taylor had to feature in the trip to West Brom. Being Northern Irish, Maik's inclusion meant that if a miracle happened and cup success was claimed in Robert Bruce's first season, it would not count on their road to glory. With that decided, he fielded Walter Pandiani as well as neither Pongolle nor Crawford were fit enough to start. Paul Hartley got the game off to a wonderful start, rifling home a shot after seven minutes, but then soured matters as his wild punch aimed at Darren Carter on twelve minutes saw him sent from the field.
The situation got worse as right back Robbie Neilson limped off injured in the seventeenth minute, replaced by now out of position left back Steven Hammell. The visitors managed to hold onto their lead until the half time break, but fifteen minutes into the second period, their task was made harder when Eric Skora was sent off by referee Richard Beeby for his second bookable offence. Perhaps West Brom relaxed in the knowledge that they only had to beat nine men, and Mark Fotheringham took advantage just after the hour to double Birmingham's advantage. It was quite obviously too good to last, however, and Kanu pulled one back for the home side before a late Nathan Ellington double wrested all three points undeservedly in West Brom's direction.
The chequebook came out again before Birmingham next took to the field, Aberdeen's defensive midifelder Barry Nicholson joining for £300,000 whilst Romain Larrieu was finally captured after a £775,000 deal was agreed with Plymouth. Two more players were on their way out as well, Muzzy Izzet joining fellow Championship side Southampton for a million pounds, whilst Charlton took Chris Sutton on board for half that amount.
Ipswich were the next side against whom the Alliance had to try and claim their first win, and it was a case of third time lucky as, despite not putting in a vintage peformance, a two-nil victory was claimed. Youri Djorkaeff marked his first start in a Birmingham shirt with the opening goal after twenty minutes, and just four minutes later, his fellow Frenchman Florent Sinama-Pongolle joined him on the scoresheet to wrap up the win.
David Clarkson was added to the squad for £400,000 from Motherwell before the mid-week trip to face Luton at Kenilworth Road, and the young Scot found himself given a place on the bench. The size of his task to get into the first team was summed up in the first half hour though as Pongolle netted a double to give Birmingham a comfortable half time lead, even if they did trail by a man after Garry Hay had picked up his second yellow card just moments before the interval. Luton's expected challenge against the ten men did not materialise, and Michael McIndoe's seventy-seventh minute strike put the result beyond doubt. The home side did pull one back, Keath Keane striking as time ran down, but the Alliance were now up to eighth in the table and looking strong.
The coffers were boosted once more with the sales of Mario Melchiot to West Ham for £1,000,000 and Mehdi Nafti to Montpellier for £500,000, but it was another former player who infuriated Robert during the trip to Southampton. Muzzy Izzet was making his first start for the south coast club, and within sixty seconds of the game kicking-off, he had the ball in the net, profiting from an horrendous mistake by Andy Webster. Birmingham fought hard to get themselves back into the game, but their fate was sealed just over twenty minutes from the end when Larrieu fouled Marian Pahars in the box and Danny Higginbotham converted the penalty into a two goal lead for the home side.
The League Cup visit of Brentford gave a quick chance to get the season back on track, and Olivier Sorlin's early free kick gave the St Andrews crowd just what they needed. Their mood was improved even further when Michael Turner was sent off in the twenty-eighth minute for Brentford, and a place against Charlton in the second round was sealed thanks to Eric Skora's first goal for the club just before the hour mark.
A hectic opening month continued with the visit of table-topping Coventry, a match covered live on TV. For the second game running, Birmingham made a bright start, Pongolle firing low past Stephen Bywater to claim an early lead. Birmingham should have added to that lead at various points throughout the game, but it wasn't until the third minute of inury time at the end of the match that Fotheringham bagged their second, and with it the three point haul.
Though he had netted the signatures of two goalkeepers, Robert still craved someone better to guard his goal, and the man he had indentified was Bastia 'keeper Nicolas Penneteau. Unfortunately, Bastia had been desperate to hold onto their prized asset, and it took a mammoth bid of £5,000,000 to free him from their grasp. That cost was offset somewhat by the sales of Walter Pandiani to Betis (£1,700,000), Stephen Clemence to Middlesbrough (£200,000) and Kenny Cunningham to Wigan (£130,000) but it was still a sizeable chunk out of his transfer budget.
The Penneteau deal was completed in time for the Frenchman to make his debut in the trip to bottom of the table Stoke, the final game of a very busy opening month. Despite their lowly league position, Stoke proved themselves to be one of Birmingham's most difficult opponents to date, thanks largely to the wing play of Peter Sweeney and the goalkeeping of Jason Brown. Neither was quite enough to land them any points though, as Pongolle, set up by Fotheringham who would later be named young player of the month for August, struck seven minutes from time to grab the win and the points, leaving Birmingham seventh in the table as they passed into September.
The international break provided some well needed rest at the beginning of the month, but it was laced with bad news as Mark Fotheringham broke a leg whilst playing for Scotland U-21 in a 2-2 draw with their Slovenian counterparts. The midfielder, who had started his Birmingham career well, was likely to miss the rest of the season as he tried to make his way back to fitness.
A visit from Derby opened up the month's play, a match Birmingham went into with an extra £500,000 in their bank account thanks to the sale of goalkeeper Maik Taylor to Hull. Philippe Christinval left the field injured after just ten minutes, a nasty gash to his leg the cause and Zander Diamond his replacement. That, unfortunately, was the most exciting thing to happen during the entire ninety minutes, but the single point garnered moved the Blues up to fourth in the table.
Léandre Griffit was loaned in for the season from Southampton to cover the hole in the squad left by Fotheringham's leg, and he made his debut from the bench during the trip to London to face Crystal Palace. League leaders Palace began the better side, but Paul Hartley put the visitors in front after twenty minutes. It wasn't long before Ben Watson equalised from the penalty spot, and by half time Clinton Morrison had Palace in front. Robert's boys started the second half at breakneck speed but were unable to force their way past Gabor Király. And the chances of it happening were reduced twelve minutes from time when Steven Hammell was sent off for a second bookable offence, and then disappeared when Paul Hartley joined him in seeing a red card, taking Birmingham's total for the season to five already.
Championship business took a break mid-week as Birmingham took on Charlton in the second round of the League Cup, and they shocked the Premiership side early on when David Clarkson netted his first goal since moving from Motherwell. The lead lasted until ten minutes into the second half when Darren Bent struck the equaliser, and the Englishman was at the heart of Charlton's good work as they pressed for a winner. Birmingham, thanks largely to some heroics from Nicolas Penneteau, managed to hold on and force extra time, but their tired legs finally told and Jonatan Johansson slid home the winner with just seven minutes of the additional thirty remaining.
With the Championship table so tight, the defeat against Crystal Palace had knocked them a good way down, but that was put to rights with a tightly-contested victory over fellow promotion candidates Sunderland. Sinama-Pongolle netted the only goal of the game in the thirteenth minute, but Birmingham threatened to score plenty more as Didi Agathe, who would later be named Championship player of the month for September, ran riot down the right flank. One was all that was needed, however, and a few more places in the table were climbed.
October was another light month for Birmingham, international matches dictated that they would play only four games in the month, beginning with a trip to Elland Road to face Leeds. The game was expected to be one of Birmingham's toughest, but it looked like just another stroll in the park early on, which Paul Hartley capitalised on with a fierce twenty-yard drive in the fifteenth minute. Leeds came out forcefully in the second half and drew two good saves from Penneteau, but a quick counter attack from the visitors saw Pongolle fire low past Sullivan to double his side's lead.
The momentum gained from the win at Leeds, which put Robert's boys up to third in the table, was all but wiped out when they were visted by Brighton two weeks later. Sitting bottom of the table, Brighton really should have not caused much of a problem, and in terms of attacking football, they didn't. The problem was that neither did Birmingham present any attacking challenge. Michel Kuipers in the visiting goal had barely a shot to save, and two points were depressingly dropped.
Phil Christinval had picked up his fifth yellow card of the season against Brighton, and so the club captain was suspended for the trip to face Millwall at the New Den. It was evident early on that the Frenchman's presence was being missed as Carl Asaba was left free at a corner and headed the home side into the lead. Pongolle was being given a rest for the match, and his replacement, David Clarkson bagged his first league goal when he netted the equaliser on the quarter hour. Birmingham were now the clearly better side and took the lead through Michael McIndoe, a lead which they doubled when Zander Diamond sent a thunderbolt into the top corner from twenty-five yards. That should have been enough for the victory, , but second half goals from Kevin Muscat, Jody Morris and Kevin Braniff had Millwall back in front with ten minutes left. Robert's blushes were slightly spared when Clarkson netted his second equaliser of the match, but conceding four and dropping a further two points wasn't the sort of result that Robert had envisaged.
The final game of the month saw Wolves St Andrews in a local derby. Christinval was desperate to match his impact felt on his return, and found the perfect way to do so, heading in Stephen Murray's corner on ten minutes. The early stages of the game were being controlled by the home side, and midfielder Youri Djorkaeff in particular. The experienced Wolves midfield could come up with nothing to stop them, and Djorkaeff got the goal he deserved a quarter of the way through the game. A blow was taken before the break as, totally against the run of play, Dean Sturridge pulled a goal back for the visitors, but their endeavours in the second period were not enough to pull them level, and Birmingham walked away with the three points, putting them back up to fourth in the table.
The Last Stand of the Alliance (AAC) 
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