{"id":96868,"date":"2023-12-02T14:25:17","date_gmt":"2023-12-02T14:25:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stopsmokingway.com\/?p=96868"},"modified":"2023-12-02T14:25:17","modified_gmt":"2023-12-02T14:25:17","slug":"tom-brady-returns-to-watch-birmingham-play-amid-fan-unrest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stopsmokingway.com\/soccer\/tom-brady-returns-to-watch-birmingham-play-amid-fan-unrest\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Brady returns to watch Birmingham play amid fan unrest"},"content":{"rendered":"
Tom Brady is back in England to watch his soccer team Birmingham\u00a0in action on Saturday – but it’ll be a different sense of occasion to his last visit.<\/p>\n
The team shared video of Brady greeting coach Wayne Rooney before the game on Saturday and the legendary NFL quarterback also watched Friday’s practice.<\/p>\n
Brady shared a picture from the stadium on Saturday morning with the caption on Instagram reading: ‘Beautiful day at St. Andrew’s’.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He announced he had taken a minor stake in the second-tier soccer team on his 46th birthday on August 3 and the team made a promising start to the season under former coach John Eustace.<\/p>\n
Brady appeared at Birmingham’s first home game of the new season in August – a 1-0 win against Leeds United and the seven-time Super Bowl winner was welcomed by the team’s passionate fanbase.<\/p>\n
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Tom Brady pictured arriving for Birmingham’s game against Leeds back on August 12<\/p>\n
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Brady pictured greeting coach Wayne Rooney, who has made a slow start as\u00a0 coach<\/p>\n
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Brady watched Friday’s practice session before a game Birmingham should win on Saturday\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Birmingham abruptly fired coach Eustace in October and brought in Wayne Rooney after he left Major League Soccer team DC\u00a0United.<\/p>\n
Rooney was appointed on October 11 and the team has only won once in the following seven games, sparking fan unrest with some blaming Brady for changing coaches.<\/p>\n
Fans fumed at Rooney just being linked with the role to begin with and he was targeted with verbal abuse after losing to Hull City on October 25.<\/p>\n
Birmingham plays Rotherham at St Andrew’s on Saturday. Rotherham are second-last in the 24-team league with Birmingham sliding to 16th since Rooney took over, but are favorite to win today’s game.<\/p>\n
When Brady announced his stake in the team in August, he admitted he needed to educate himself about the ‘other’ football.<\/p>\n
Well, let\u2019s just say, I\u2019ve got a lot to learn.\u00a0But I do know a few things about winning, and I think they might translate pretty well,’ Brady said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘I know success starts with the work put in when the world isn\u2019t watching. I know that a team is nothing without the city that shows up and stands behind it. And most importantly, I know I like being the underdog.’<\/p>\n
Brady retired from the NFL in February after his Tampa Bay Buccaneers team were knocked out of the playoffs by Dallas Cowboys.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n