{"id":18405,"date":"2025-04-14T05:19:16","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T05:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/18405\/"},"modified":"2025-04-14T05:19:16","modified_gmt":"2025-04-14T05:19:16","slug":"lukas-jutkiewicz-opens-up-on-birmingham-city-future-wembley-debut-and-knighthead-revolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/18405\/","title":{"rendered":"Lukas Jutkiewicz opens up on Birmingham City future, Wembley debut and Knighthead revolution"},"content":{"rendered":"

Birmingham City hero Lukas Jutkiewicz could make his first ever appearance at Wembley at the age of 36\"BirminghamBirmingham City striker Lukas Jutkiewicz has never played at Wembley<\/p>\n

Nineteen years into his professional career, Lukas Jutkiewicz<\/a> finally has the chance to do what every Englishman dreams of.<\/p>\n

A nine-year Birmingham City<\/a> career which has brought more lows than highs is peaking in its twilight. After years of slogging away in relegation battles, desperately trying to keep Blues\u2019 head above water in the Championship, Jutkiewicz has at long last enjoyed a season where winning has been the norm.<\/p>\n

Promotion back to the Championship has been confirmed for Chris Davies\u2019 all-conquering side and Jutkiewicz, who recently turned 36, could make his first appearance at Wembley.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such an iconic stadium, everyone dreams of playing at Wembley,\u201d says Jutkiewicz. \u201cI\u2019m no different and I would love to be out there.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, I think of the old Wembley initially. My first memories of football are from Euro 96 when we had the home tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe new stadium is incredibly impressive, whenever you think of it you think of finals and important matches. For us to be involved in that is really exciting and something that\u2019s well deserved for the fans who\u2019ve had to suffer a fair bit in recent years.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s an understatement. Birmingham<\/a> City was a football club wasting away under its previous owners, but Knighthead have ploughed cash and breathed new life into the club that bears the Second City\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

Jutkiewicz added: \u201cIt has been a struggle, there\u2019s no hiding away from that. They deserve this occasion to celebrate being a Blues fan and hopefully a win on the day, and also the way the football club is heading.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knighthead<\/a> have revamped St Andrew\u2019s @ Knighthead Park, making it one of the most attractive and entertaining football stadiums outside the Premier League, and the players want for nothing at the training ground. Having seen the bad times, Jutkiewicz is relishing the present and future.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s probably changed in every department. It really has been widespread. In previous years every department was working their socks off, but perhaps not having the support they\u2019ve been given since the new owners came in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve put care and finance into every part of the football club and it filters through to the players. If every part of an organisation is running successfully that filters through.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been given everything that we could have hoped for at this training ground, the facilities, the food that Rob (chef) provides, everything we have makes it feel like a totally different club.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another change this year, compared to the previous eight in which Jutkiewicz has donned Blues\u2019 colours, is that he has been a bit-part player. Blues extended his contract last year but Davies has used him sparingly and there are no guarantees that he will be awarded the Wembley appearance that has eluded him for so long.<\/p>\n

\"\"Don’t miss your Birmingham Mail Blues at Wembley special souvenir edition<\/p>\n

Chris Davies’s runaway League One leaders face Peterborough United on Sunday, April 13 in the final of the Vertu Trophy, looking to clinch the first past of a double after a season of incredible success.<\/p>\n

40-page special<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy now<\/a> and have it delivered directly to your door. Alternatively you can purchase in most supermarkets, high street retailers and independent newsagents in Birmingham<\/a> from April 2, 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always want to play football,\u201d he insists. \u201cThe minute that you aren\u2019t so interested in playing football is perhaps the time to stop.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m desperate to play all the time, but I understand there is more to the role than just what you do on a football pitch. If I can help younger players or be someone that contributes around the training ground, there\u2019s certainly more to it than just playing, although I still have the fire to be out there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always tried to pride myself on doing the right things when no one is looking and having the right attitude. And trying to be a good teammate as well, not just being a selfish player that, at times, throughout football clubs you have those characters.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so important with the recruitment that we brought players in who were willing to be good teammates and think about others. A lot of good players haven\u2019t played as many games as they would like to, but everybody has bought into what the team is trying to achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jutkiewicz has played his part in getting Blues to Wembley by appearing in five of their seven Vertu Trophy matches. Injuries have handed him a route back into squads for league matches, too.<\/p>\n

The striker recently played his 350th match for Blues and entered the top-15 in the all-time appearance list. Jutkiewicz\u2019s next league start will be his 200th for the club.<\/p>\n

While the milestones give Jutkiewicz a great sense of pride, he says, \u201cIt\u2019s something I\u2019ll probably focus a bit more on when I\u2019m finished.\u201d<\/p>\n

But when will Jutkiewicz, whose contract is up at the end of June, call it a day?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard. The games are so thick and fast, one day you\u2019re playing and the next you\u2019re in recovering.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s difficult to have a zoomed out look on everything because you\u2019re so focussed on making sure we finish the season on a high.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing on that yet, other than I really enjoy playing, I really enjoy training and it\u2019s been quite nice to have the pressure for the right reasons at the back-end of the season for a change.\u201d<\/p>\n

If this is to be Jutkiewicz\u2019s last dance in Royal Blue, the finale has been a fitting one.<\/p>\n

Get the latest Blues headlines sent straight to your phone<\/p>\n

BirminghamLive has its very own Birmingham City<\/a> WhatsApp community to deliver the latest headlines straight to your phone. Just click this link<\/a> to receive daily Blues content and breaking news. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don\u2019t like our community, you can check out any time you like. Click on the name at the top of your screen while in WhatsApp and click ‘Exit Group’. Read our Privacy Notice.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Birmingham City hero Lukas Jutkiewicz could make his first ever appearance at Wembley at the age of 36Birmingham…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18406,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,1205,748,393,4884,8159,12247,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-18405","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-birmingham-city-fc","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-knighthead-capital-management","14":"tag-lukas-jutkiewicz","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114334634165530853","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}