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<\/p>\nBirmingham City’s goalkeeping department is expected to be reshaped ahead of the new Championship season<\/p>\n
07:00, 09 May 2026<\/p>\n
![\"James](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1_JS403568398.jpg\")
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James Beadle in action during his loan spell at Birmingham City<\/p>\n
Birmingham City have a few priority positions to address in this summer\u2019s transfer window and acquiring the right goalkeeper is high on their to-do list.<\/p>\n
James Beadle<\/a> and Ryan Allsop<\/a> shared goalkeeping duties during the 2025\/26 season, although the former had the lion\u2019s share of the minutes with 38 starts compared to Allsop\u2019s 12.<\/p>\n Blues<\/a> only kept 10 clean sheets in their 50 matches \u2013 eight for Beadle and two for Allsop \u2013 to underline the underperformance of a defensive unit that was so solid the previous campaign.<\/p>\n In the first of our departmental reviews, Blues reporter Alex Dicken<\/a> has taken a look at the goalkeeping situation at the club\u2026<\/p>\n James Beadle<\/strong><\/p>\n Brighton & Hove Albion will be quite content with the performance of the two goalkeepers they loaned to the Midlands last summer.<\/p>\n At 24, Carl Rushworth was the premium pick and he was essential to Coventry City\u2019s title-winning season. Brighton will bag a pretty penny for Rushworth if they cash in this summer.<\/p>\n Blues backed Beadle, 21, and the results were mixed.<\/p>\n Loan players can be loved or loathed and, in truth, Beadle was neither. He never won the hearts of St Andrew\u2019s but, aside from a few ironic cheers towards the end of the season, he was well supported.<\/p>\n There were moments of quality, such as the double save against Blackburn Rovers and his penalty stop from Sheffield United\u2019s Sydie Peck, but there were errors too.<\/p>\n It was the sort of season you would expect from a very young goalkeeper with enormous potential. The only regular number one younger than Beadle in last season\u2019s Championship was Sheffield Wednesday\u2019s Pierce Charles.<\/p>\n However, what isn\u2019t up for debate was that Beadle was the best goalkeeper at the club. His save percentage of 68.5 percent (FBREF) compared to Allsop\u2019s 57.6 percent supports that statement.<\/p>\n If Blues had signed Beadle on a permanent deal his season would be viewed differently.<\/p>\n Sheffield United’s Sydie Peck has a penalty saved by Birmingham City goalkeeper James Beadle<\/p>\n Ryan Allsop<\/strong><\/p>\n The fact Allsop signed a contract extension to see him through to 2028 after he had lost his place in Blues\u2019 XI tells us that he is content with life at his club, irrespective of whether he is first choice or not.<\/p>\n Davies has always insisted that Blues have \u2018two number ones\u2019 but it didn\u2019t always feel that way last season.<\/p>\n When there was criticism aimed towards Beadle, Davies was always supportive of the goalkeeper he made Blues\u2019 undisputed number one.<\/p>\n Allsop\u2019s great, almost unique, skill at Championship level is his distribution but there have been question marks over his shot-stopping ability.<\/p>\n That is why it\u2019s difficult to see Allsop starting next season as anything other than a challenger to the number one Blues inevitably sign this summer. Now 34 and back in his home city with his family after years of moving around, Allsop isn\u2019t in a bad spot.<\/p>\n Brad Mayo<\/strong><\/p>\n The second Brummie goalkeeper on Blues\u2019 books is at the other end of his career and will surely be asking himself the hard questions.<\/p>\n Mayo\u2019s contract is up this summer and although he is a fully-fledged first team player, appearing on Blues\u2019 bench five times last season, he has never made a senior appearance for the club.<\/p>\n Mayo, 21, is only a couple of months younger than Beadle who has already made 132 senior starts.<\/p>\n For what it\u2019s worth, Mayo is a very popular member of Blues\u2019 dressing room and a diligent professional so you can see why they could keep him around as third choice if that is a role he wants.<\/p>\n Only Mayo knows whether the time has come to fly the nest and make a name for himself at a lower level.<\/p>\n What needs to happen?<\/p>\n Blues need one, possibly two new goalkeepers this summer with Allsop the only glovesman pencilled in to be part of next season\u2019s squad at the time of writing.<\/p>\n A new contract for Mayo would save Blues the hassle of signing a third goalkeeper \u2013 a position that is increasingly common for senior goalkeepers in the game but not that easy to find for clubs outside the Premier League.<\/p>\n Replacing Beadle is the number one target.<\/p>\n The idea of signing Beadle permanently was floated by Davies last season and he wasn\u2019t against it. Brighton have a decision to make on a goalkeeper who has now played two-and-a-half years in the Championship.<\/p>\n Will they cash in now on England’s most highly-rated young goalkeeper? Doubtful. They will probably want him to experience the kind of loan Rushworth has just enjoyed with Coventry first.<\/p>\n If it isn\u2019t Beadle, then it should be an experienced goalkeeper and preferably one who knows the Championship.<\/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’s goalkeeping department is expected to be reshaped ahead of the new Championship season 07:00, 09 May…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":947855,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,1205,748,393,4884,81071,11653,7821,16,15],"class_list":["post-947854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-birmingham","tag-birmingham","tag-birmingham-city-fc","tag-britain","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-james-beadle","tag-premium","tag-ryan-allsop","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116543517515493821","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947854","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=947854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/947855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=947854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=947854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=947854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Sheffield](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_JS399904693.jpg\")
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