Tom Brady quits Birmingham City while the Blues sit top of the Championship

Tom Brady is out at Birmingham City. The NFL great has ended his association with the Championship (England's second tier) club after three years, and the timing is striking: the Blues are top of the table.

What happened?

The club announced the news in a statement on Monday night. It thanked Brady for "his involvement with and unwavering support for the club over the last three years".

It added: "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 club gave no reason for his departure. It also did not say what will happen to his stake.

Daily reminder of how it started

Brady joined in the summer of 2023 as a minority investor, part of a takeover led by billionaire Tom Wagner's Knighthead Capital. He also took an advisory role at the club.

His arrival came with a five-part Amazon documentary, Built in Birmingham: Brady and the Blues. It showed him admitting a mistake after replacing head coach John Eustace with Wayne Rooney. Rooney was sacked after 83 days.

"We made sweeping changes that put us in decline. That was our doing," Brady said in the series.

What about the big plans?

Knighthead sees Birmingham as a 20-year project. It has earmarked £3 billion for a "Sports Quarter" on a 48-acre site in the east of the city.

The plan includes a new 60,000-seat stadium, with a training ground built above underground transport tunnels. The stadium's completion date has already slipped from 2029 to 2031.

What's next?

The club says it will keep building on the foundation Brady helped lay. On the pitch, the focus now turns to staying top of the Championship.