It has been dubbed the Hollywood derby, but there wasn’t much glitz or glamour about Birmingham City’s 2-1 win at Wrexham.Both sides had yet to record a Championship victory and both needed one. It was more a war of attrition, one that Birmingham won.Birmingham made life difficult for themselves by missing two glaring first-half chances, but Phil Neumann’s double, both from set pieces, proved to be the difference.None of either club’s famous American faces — Wrexham co-owners Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds, or Birmingham investor Tom Brady — were present, but a rivalry born in League One still lives on in what was a combative encounter.Richard Sutcliffe and Rob Tanner dissect their latest instalment.No stars in the stands, but there was one on the benchThere was no doubt who the Wrexham fans were most pleased to see on Friday night.Issa Kabore, signed the day before from Manchester City on a three-year contract, returned to a hero’s welcome when he was brought off the bench with 20 minutes remaining.
The heartfelt cheers were a testament to his impact when he spent last season on loan at the Racecourse Ground, with his eight assists comfortably the highest among Wrexham players in 2025-26.This despite a lengthy spell out injured and spending several weeks away with Burkina Faso at the Africa Cup of Nations.Kabore’s return was a crumb of comfort on an otherwise hugely disappointing night, as Birmingham made it three wins and two draws from five meetings between the two clubs in the Hollywood era.The 25-year-old certainly showed enough to justify the rapturous reception that met his arrival from the bench.On a night when Wrexham resorted far too often to pumping aimless balls forward, Kabore’s pace and direct running (illustrated in his player dashboard below) were a breath of fresh air.His first cross came within a whisker of creating an equaliser that, on the balance of play, would have been undeserved, with a pinpoint delivery picking out Kieffer Moore at the back post.The Wales international then found Sam Smith, who failed to nudge the ball over the line.Kabore’s team-mates could also have taken a leaf out of his defensive book, not least in how he prevented Carlos Vicente from making it 3-1 late on with what would otherwise have been a tap-in.Richard SutcliffeAre Wrexham leaving their transfer business too late?Since returning to the English Football League in 2023, Wrexham have developed a taste for leaving it late in the summer transfer window.
