{"id":329274,"date":"2025-08-09T01:01:29","date_gmt":"2025-08-09T01:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/329274\/"},"modified":"2025-08-09T01:01:29","modified_gmt":"2025-08-09T01:01:29","slug":"referee-hammered-but-birmingham-city-told-reasons-to-be-cheerful-after-sickening-robbery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/329274\/","title":{"rendered":"Referee hammered but Birmingham City told reasons to be cheerful after &#8216;sickening robbery&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Latest Birmingham City news from BirminghamLive as season opener against promotion favourites ends in 1-1 draw<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_bc8.jpg\" alt=\"Jay Stansfield looks dejected after a missed chance against Ipswich Town at St Andrew's.\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>Jay Stansfield looks dejected after the draw against Ipswich Town<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">A controversial penalty denied <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/football-news\/birmingham-city-player-ratings-ipswich-32232255\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Birmingham City a winning return to the Championship<\/a> as they were held 1-1 by underwhelming promotion favourites Ipswich Town.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The hosts, cheered on by an electric St Andrew&#8217;s crowd, thought they had taken the lead in the seventh minute when Kyogo Furuhashi outjumped Jacob Greaves and lobbed Town keeper Alex Palmer, but referee Andrew Kitchen adjudged the striker to have fouled the towering defender and blew for a free-kick.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">In fact, Kitchen blew for 17 fouls in the opening period, which contributed to the stop-start nature of a much-anticipated opening game of the new Championship season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">With the visitors toiling to prove their promotion credentials, the roof came off St Andrew\u2019s 10 minutes after the break.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Furuhashi again caused problems for Ipswich, latching onto a ball over the top which Ipswich failed to deal with and he dinked a finish over Palmer and onto the post, but Jay Stansfield was waiting to pick up the scraps and blasted high into the net to score his 37th goal for the club.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Ipswich were given the chance to equalise after the referee pointed to the spot after a ball was headed onto the hand of Blues sub Lyndon Dykes inside the home area and George Hirst confidently sent Ryan Allsop the wrong way to snatch a 1-1 draw.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Blues fans were incensed by the referee and took to social media after the game to vent their anger. Here is what somew of them had to say&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">LouisBCFC1875:<\/strong> Sorry, but they&#8217;ve had to be helped out by that ref all game, didn&#8217;t deserve to draw that. Ipswich nowhere near as good as you&#8217;d expect. We play like that we&#8217;re play-offs minimum.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">Swanny:<\/strong> Incredibly soft penalty but his arm up that high gives the ref a choice to make, still very encouraging to dominate the league favourite like this.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754209822_772_0_Article-Image-2.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/>You Ready for this?<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">There is no better way to get you in the mood for a new campaign than this stunning 64-page EFL special edition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">We profile all 72 clubs in the EFL, have every team&#8217;s fixtures, look at the key players, and provide a comprehensive list of the crucial dates not to miss.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Your guide to the EFL is on sale now. Click <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/shop.regionalnewspapers.co.uk\/efl-pre-season-guide-202526-4844-p.asp?utm_source=EFL+Preseason&amp;utm_medium=EFL+Preseason+Factbox&amp;utm_campaign=EFL+Preseason&amp;utm_id=EFL+Preseason\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"here Link opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">here <\/a>to buy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">KC:<\/strong> He should never officiate a game again. That&#8217;s absolutely disgraceful. Whistle happy, disallowed a goal with minimal contact and has awarded a penalty for that. Absolutely disgusting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">AnarchoKyle:<\/strong> Only reinforced my belief that Blues are serious contenders for promotion. We were good value for all 3 points, but poor decisions are a part of the journey.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">Mark:<\/strong> Didn\u2019t do enough after going 1-0 up.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">Max:<\/strong> Sickening robbery but proud of the lads. A positive start to the season against a recently relegated Prem side. LOTS to be excited about this season. Kyogo-Stansfield link-up is going to be class!<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">Mikey:<\/strong> We were far the better team and if they are one of the favourites we will be absolutely fine. Awesome from them all tonight. We go again lads.<a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/kro?src=hashtag_click\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">zGrantt<\/strong> : New season same old decisions. We are all used to the poor decisions and they don&#8217;t even come as a surprise anymore. Take nothing away from the performance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/football-news\/article32232346.ece?token=817257709&amp;previewAll=false#comments-wrapper\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Click HERE<\/a> to deliver your verdict on the game<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Get the latest Blues headlines sent straight to your phone<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">BirminghamLive has its very own <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/all-about\/birmingham-city-fc\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Birmingham CityLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Birmingham City<\/a> WhatsApp community to deliver the latest headlines straight to your phone. Just <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/chat.whatsapp.com\/B9XQh6yFkASKxe76buz3SU\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"click this linkLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">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 &#8216;Exit Group&#8217;. Read our <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reachplc.com\/site-services\/privacy-policy\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Privacy Notice.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Latest Birmingham City news from BirminghamLive as season opener against promotion favourites ends in 1-1 drawJay Stansfield looks&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329275,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,1205,748,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-329274","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-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114996111001581208","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329274","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=329274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}