Tom Brady QUITS Birmingham City just three years after investing in the club - with Blues top of the Championship
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Tom Brady has sensationally quit Birmingham City just three years after becoming involved with the Championship club.
The Blues said in a statement, released Monday night: 'Birmingham City Football Club expresses its sincere gratitude to Tom Brady for his involvement with and unwavering support for the club over the last three years.
'It was amazing to have someone with Tom's experience and passion associated with the club, and the club looks forward to continuing on that foundation from the training ground to the Birmingham community.'
The NFL icon joined Birmingham City as a minority investor as part of a takeover spearheaded by billionaire Tom Wagner's Knighthead Capital in the summer of 2023.
Brady's presence in the English football pyramid was heralded with a five-part documentary on the new ownership's plan to revamp the Midlands club, titled: 'Built in Birmingham: Brady and the Blues'.
Within the five-part Amazon series, Brady notably lambasted Wayne Rooney for his work ethic after installing him briefly in the dugout after despatching previous head coach John Eustace.
Tom Brady (right) has quit Birmingham City just three years after his investment in the club
The NFL legend became a minority owner three years ago but has now called it quits
The fly-on-the-wall documentary showed Brady visiting the Birmingham training ground to observe Rooney's team meeting and training session. While driving away, he tells his business manager Ben Rawitz: 'I'm a little worried about our head coach's work ethic.'
Rawitz replies: 'Comes across as lackadaisical.' Rooney was sacked after 83 days in charge.
The documentary later saw Brady admit his error in replacing Eustace with the former England international and reveal that he was warned against making 'sweeping changes' so early in his time with the club.
'I had good advice, "Don’t go in there and make sweeping changes. You guys have time",' said Brady. 'But we made sweeping changes that put us in decline. That was our doing.'
Under the aegis of Brady and Knighthead Capital, Birmingham City have launched what the group see as a 20-year megaproject, with £3billion earmarked for investment in a 'Sports Quarter' in the city.
The 48-acre site in the east of the city is set to feature a new 60,000-seater stadium and training ground above a network of underground transport tunnels.
But since the plan was announced, there have been some wrinkles with the timeline – pushing the stadium's completion deadline from 2029 to 2031.
Daily Mail Sport understands that London-based architects Heatherwick Studio – in conjunction with Kansas City-based Manica – are set to work on a design with a 'chimney theme' in a nod to the city's industrial heritage.
He infamously hired Wayne Rooney as manager, before the former England captain was sacked 83 days later
Peaky Blinders creator and famous Bluenose Steven Knight is believed to be working with the team to ensure it is 'one of the most-talked about stadium designs ever'.
Last season, Brady had promised promotion to the Premier League. The club are top of the Championship going into the last international break of the year, though he has departed before they can reach the top flight again.
Brady's involvement had been lauded by Wagner, and his departure was met with a mixed reaction by fans on social media.
One wrote on X: 'Didn't contribute anything after the first season, good riddance.'
Another wrote: 'What did he even do? Even his fitness guy didn't contribute anything, we had more injuries than ever.
'PR stunt, better off without him being involved. Embarrassed us on the Amazon doc too.'
A third, though, posted: 'Some of these clueless comments. He's a brand name and he made us globally talked about, globally looked at, globally listened to.
'He still helped put us on the map.'
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