Birmingham slammed for new tifo featuring Jude Bellingham

Championship side Birmingham City have been called out by fans after unveiling a new tifo of their former player Jude Bellingham.

Bellingham came through the Birmingham academy and was handed his Championship debut aged just 16 in 2019.

He only spent one season as a first-team player at St. Andrew's, largely playing on the left side of midfield to help him adapt to senior football, before being transferred to Borussia Dortmund for around £25 million in the summer of 2020.

Following the move, the Blues permanently retired Bellingham's shirt number of 22.

Though the decision was widely derided at the time given he was still only 17, Birmingham had been facing the prospect of a financial disaster under their now previous owners - meaning Bellingham's transfer effectively saved the club from administration or worse.

They then gained a further £10 million windfall when their academy graduate moved to Real Madrid in the summer of 2023.

The Championship club have maintained their connection to Bellingham in the years since his departure, with the midfielder filming a special video to honour their 150th anniversary last year.

Ahead of their Championship clash against Blackburn Rovers on Good Friday, Birmingham unveiled a new tifo which depicted Bellingham and other club legends, including Trevor Francis, alongside Peaky Blinders main character Tommy Shelby.

The hit BBC show, set between the aftermath of World War I and the years leading up to World War II, was filmed in Birmingham.

Its final series was broadcast in 2022 but a film, titled 'Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man', was released on Netflix last month.

In a social media post showcasing the tifo, Birmingham's Twitter account tagged both Netflix and the Peaky Blinders film account - which has caused backlash from fans.

One wrote: "This is just so odd on so many levels."

A second said: "Absolutely tragic."

A third added: "The Peaky Blinders thing is beyond embarrassing."

A fourth wrote: "Should this not come with a advert on the end?"

Some fans, though, saw a slightly different side to the tifo, with one writing: "That's about as impressive as it got during the game too."

A second said: "I always like it when the tifo is the highlight of the performance."

Birmingham lost 1-0 against struggling Blackburn, with Todd Cantwell scoring the only goal of the game to place further scrutiny on under-pressure Blues manager Chris Davies.