Who Will Birmingham Face on Boxing Day? | OneFootball

An exciting campaign awaits for Birmingham City as they return to the Championship following a brief spell in League One.

The Blues were relegated to the third tier in 2023–24 but made light work of earning their place back in the second division as they comfortably secured the League One title. The Midlands club obliterated their competitors and set an EFL record for most points accumulated in a season as they bagged a staggering 111.

With their 2025–26 Championship fixtures having been announced, excitement is starting to build for Birmingham. Supporters will be scanning the calendar closely looking for key battles, including their opponents for the traditional Boxing Day fixture.

Here’s who Birmingham face on December 26.

Birmingham’s 2025–26 Boxing Day Opponents

Birmingham will be embroiled in a Midlands battle on Boxing Day this season as they host Derby County in the festive fixture. It will be the 129th meeting between the two sides and a first since January 2022, with the clash kicking off at 15:00 GMT.

Derby narrowly avoided relegation to League One last season as they finished 19th and just one point ahead of the drop zone. Birmingham will have their eyes on a late Christmas present against the Rams, who appointed former Blues boss John Eustace as their manager in February 2025.

Birmingham 2025–26 Key Dates

The 46-match Championship season can be gruelling but Birmingham will be thrilled to be back in the second tier. They will be aiming to take last season’s form into the new campaign, which they kick off against recent Premier League outfit Ipswich Town.

After hosting the Tractor Boys on the opening Friday night of the Championship term, Birmingham will face their first away game at Blackburn Rovers. A trip to Ewood Park will prove a sizeable challenge given Rovers finished seventh and just two points from the play-offs last season.

A month before their Boxing Day fixture with Derby, Birmingham face rivals West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns. The return fixture at St Andrew’s takes place on Valentine’s Day.

Birmingham will travel to Watford on New Year’s Day for their first fixture of 2026, with their closing match of the campaign—bar qualification for the play-offs—coming away at Portsmouth on May 2.

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