The club was formed in 1968 by a group of
female fans who played local
friendly matches until 1970. They joined the Heart of England League in 1970, and played in the league until 1973 when it underwent a major restructure and become known as the
West Midland Regional League in 1974. The club were successful during this period, winning these leagues five times during the entire 1970s and 1980s (1971–72, 1974–75, 1976–77, 1987–88, 1988–89), amongst other trophies. They reached the semi-final of the
Women's FA Cup in 1974 and 1988. The club ran into difficult times during the 1990s, with many staff and player changes. In an effort to regain stability they created an academy of young players, many who eventually played for the senior team. In 1998 Birmingham City were elevated to the newly created
Midland Combination League and in their first season won the league, gaining automatic
promotion into the
FA Women's Premier League Northern Division. After two seasons, Birmingham were promoted to the top flight of
women's football in England, joining the
FA Women's Premier League National Division in 2002. Also in 2001–02 Birmingham
upset Doncaster Belles 4–3 in the
FA Women's Premier League Cup semi-final. In the final at
Adams Park,
Wycombe, Birmingham were thrashed 7–1 by full-time
professional Fulham Ladies. In March 2003, local sports reporter
Gary Newbon criticised women's football and
bet the club £500 that they could not attract 500 supporters to their upcoming match against Doncaster Belles. Humiliated Newbon lost his bet. The academy had begun to produce players for the first team at this point, and
Laura Bassett became the first Birmingham City Ladies player, from the academy or otherwise, to appear for
England at full international level. The club's high-profile manager of the time,
Marcus Bignot, signed big name players including
Rachel Yankey and
Alex Scott for the 2004–05 season and Birmingham finished fourth. The club ran into financial problems when
Karren Brady of Birmingham City's men reneged on a
letter of intent to provide funding. The female club had to let major players go before the start of the 2005–06 season, which they finished in sixth position. They were only able to continue after a player's parent donated £10,000. In December 2010, Birmingham City announced the signing of several international players to their WSL squad. In June 2011 the Centre of Excellence's future was secured with the allocation of a new FA licence for 2011–12 season onwards; which realigned the current development pathway for women's football in England. The club became inaugural members of the newly formed
FA WSL in 2011 and came close to winning it at the first attempt, leading for most of the campaign before being overhauled by Arsenal. They also reached the
Continental Cup Final but once again found Arsenal in the way at Burton Albion F.C. The season was notable for the goalscoring exploits of
Rachel Williams who scored
the league's first ever hat-trick, finished as leading scorer and won the FA Players' Player of the Year Award. Due to their 2nd-place finish in the
2011 FA WSL Birmingham qualified for a place in the
2012–13 UEFA Women's Champions League round of 32 for the first time in their history. Drawn against Italians
Bardolino Verona, Birmingham won the first leg 2–0 but lost 3–0 at the
Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi, after
extra time, to exit the competition at the first hurdle. In May 2012 the club won their first
FA Women's Cup, beating
Chelsea on
penalties in
the final at
Ashton Gate in
Bristol. Also in 2012, for the second consecutive year, the club finished 2nd in the
FA WSL and were runners-up in the
Continental Cup Final, both to Arsenal. The 2nd-place finish in the league qualified Birmingham for the
2013–14 UEFA Women's Champions League round of 32. Birmingham defeated
PK-35 Vantaa and
Zorky Krasnogorsk to qualify for an all-English quarter-final against Arsenal. A 1–0 win at home and a 2–0 win in London sent the club through to a semi-final against
Tyresö FF. Birmingham manager
David Parker described big-spending Tyresö as female "
galácticos" before the tie, which the Swedes won 3–0 on aggregate. The club underwent another stadium change in 2014, leaving the DCS Stadium for
Solihull Moors' The Autotech Stadium.
Integration with men's side The club became fully integrated into men's side
Birmingham City Football Club in November 2016. Prior to the 2017
FA WSL Spring Series, long-time manager David Parker resigned. The club's Regional Talent Club technical director
Marc Skinner was promoted to first-team manager shortly thereafter. The Blues finished 5th in the 2017/2018 season, narrowly missing out on 4th on the final day of the season with a draw against Reading, with Ellen White finishing as highest scorer in the league with 15 goals.
Freda Ayisi,
Coral-Jade Haines and
Maddy Cusack were released shortly after. In July 2018, the club rebranded as
Birmingham City Women F.C. Marc Skinner left in January 2019, to take the head coach job at American
National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) club
Orlando Pride. He was replaced by
Marta Tejedor. On 3 March 2020, the club parted ways with manager
Marta Tejedor by mutual consent and promoted Charlie Baxter to the position of interim head coach. The club finished the
2019—2020 season second from bottom, having lost major stars like
Ellen White and
Hayley Ladd, as well as upcoming talent like
Aoife Mannion to other WSL clubs in the summer transfer window. On 13 August 2020, Birmingham appointed former
Sheffield United manager
Carla Ward as the new permanent head coach. In April 2021, the clubs players formally issued a list of complaints to the club's board, stating that the club was "preventing us from performing our jobs to the best of our ability." Former
Glasgow City boss
Scott Booth was appointed as Head Coach in July 2021, but a winless start to the season saw him lose his job in November. He was subsequently replaced by former Birmingham City midfielder
Darren Carter, who became Interim Head Coach. Despite their best efforts, Birmingham were relegated from the Women's Super League with one game to spare, after a 6–0 defeat away to Manchester City. ==Kit==