The ping of a smartphone is perhaps the most familiar sound in the life of today’s footballer. Whether from friends, family, team-mates, coaches, club officials or agents, there is virtually constant demand for their attention.
For Birmingham City players, however, sometimes the club official in question is Tom Brady, seven-time Super Bowl winner and one of the most recognisable sports stars on the planet.
‘I speak to him quite often,’ Blues forward Alfie May tells Mail Sport at the club’s five-star training complex on the Algarve, where they are preparing for the new campaign. ‘The drive and professionalism he showed, he passes on to us.
‘We have had so many Zoom calls with him and when he speaks, you look around the room and see everyone is zoned in and listening. I know it’s a different sport but he’s done it at the highest level and that’s exactly what we want to achieve.’
When Brady was announced as a minority owner of Birmingham two years ago and was filmed chatting to fans in the Roost pub near St Andrew’s, it was easy to dismiss it as a gimmick. Yet while Brady is not involved in the daily running of Birmingham, his involvement is no PR stunt.
Blues players still speak today of Brady’s changing-room speech before they took on Wrexham last September.
Tom Brady’s role at Birmingham has long been questioned – but we can reveal what he really gets up to behind the scenes
Brady won a record seven Super Bowls as a player, and is bringing his winning mentality to Birmingham
In tandem with chairman Tom Wagner (left), Brady has overseen a rise back to the Championship and the club have ambitions of reaching the Premier League before long
The battle between League One’s ambitious American-owned clubs was perhaps the most high-profile English league fixture outside of the Premier League last season and with fans on both sides of the Atlantic captivated – indeed, Birmingham had had informal conversations about playing the game Stateside – the Blues were determined not to waste the moment. They won, 3-1.
‘When he gave that speech, you could see how motivated he was, and how committed to the club he was,’ says Jay Stansfield, last season’s top scorer and a European champion with England Under 21s this summer.
‘The things he says are very clear and having such a big leader is great motivation. It’s a privilege to have such a big name so close to the club, someone you can contact whenever you need to. If you need anything, any motivation, he’s always there.’
Defender Christoph Klarer adds: ‘What stood out was he spoke how a winner would speak – clear, short messages, how he thinks about sport and what he demands. Straight to the point, very direct.’
Brady can pop up in unlikelier settings, too. May is a huge NFL fan and was as surprised as anyone when Brady appeared on a FaceTime call during his brother’s wedding. ‘During the day itself I asked Tom if he would send a video to congratulate my brother,’ May recalls. ‘He messaged me straight back and said ‘FaceTime me, give me a call’. He had a good chat with my brother.’
Brady’s presence in the boardroom is just as vital. A friendship with David Beckham meant the former England captain was among the crowd of nearly 28,000 for the Wrexham game.
Blues chairman Tom Wagner believes generating high revenue is the key to accelerating the club’s climb to the top, and few athletes can match Brady’s pulling power with global companies.
When Blues enter transfer talks with a possible target, it is not unusual for Brady to appear on a Zoom call. As a pitch, it takes some beating. Yet it is at Birmingham’s training base, in the Warwickshire countryside near the village of Henley-in-Arden, that Brady’s influence has really taken hold.
Alfie May got a call from Brady on his brother’s wedding day to wish him luck
Brady brought David and Romeo Beckham with him to see Birmingham beat fellow US-owned League One side Wrexham last season – both sides then won promotion to the Championship
Birmingham raced away with the League One title last season and gave Newcastle United a scare in the FA Cup fourth round
The logo of TBRx, the fitness and performance company led by Brady and his long-time mentor and ‘body coach’ Alex Guerrero, is on the wall of the gym and medical rooms at the training ground. In one of those areas, on the first floor, it is accompanied by a quote from Brady: ‘The true competitors, though, are the ones who always play to win.’
Guerrero divides opinion in the US, as a practitioner of alternative medicine – he was banned from being a doctor for life in 2005 for claiming that he could cure AIDS, cancer, diabetes and more. He is nonetheless trusted completely by Brady.
With his ‘body engineeer’ Guerrero in his corner, Brady won four Super Bowls and three Most Valuable Player awards, and played beyond his 45th birthday, helped by an alkaline diet – 80 per cent alkaline foods, 20 per cent acidic. It’s mostly vegan and tries to avoid any foods that cause inflammation.
TBRx staff work in tandem with Birmingham support staff and since current owners Knighthead took control in 2023, the number of physiotherapists and conditioning experts at the club has nearly doubled.
Brady believes the 24 hours that follow a game are decisive and players will report to the training ground for recovery sessions on the day after a match. That means very few Sundays off for the squad.
That is not a problem for Klarer. Before joining Birmingham, the 25-year-old spent four seasons in German football, where it is rare to be left alone in the 24 hours that follow a game.
‘Where we have really benefited from Tom Brady’s influence is through TBRx,’ explains the Austrian in flawless English. ‘I played more matches last year than at any time in my career and I was lucky with the treatment we got. It’s incredible.
‘Alex Guerrero came over a few times during the season and their guys taught our staff the principles of TBRx. We have so many physios and massage therapists who show you exercises in the gym and treat you before and after training.
Brady with his ‘body engineer’ Alex Guerrero, who helped to play on past his 45th birthday
Brady was at Wembley in April to see his side play at Wembley – but they lost the EFL Trophy final to Peterborough United
‘There will always be a physio available at the training ground if I want to see one. That’s not typical, not even when I was playing in the Bundesliga.’
However small his actual financial stake, Brady does not want to be associated with a failing project. This man is accustomed to success and his single-mindedness is evident in the trailer for the forthcoming Amazon Prime documentary, Built In Birmingham, which launches on August 1.
Asked about his interest in Birmingham, he insists: ‘This is not a vanity thing’ before adding ‘Let’s get our elbows dirty.’
That is exactly the message Brady wants the Birmingham squad to follow – and he may even choose to deliver it personally.
