Birmingham City player ratings: Who stood out in the win vs. Wrexham?

Not often does a third-division match in English soccer attract a global audience. However, due to actors Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds being the co-owners of Wrexham, as well as NFL legend Tom Brady being a minority owner at Birmingham City, the tie last night between the two clubs was a must-watch event. Even David Beckham was there in the stands at St Andrew's next to Brady to take in the League One match.

There was even talk that this game could be played in the United States, which is something Birmingham City's CEO Garry Cook wanted. However, JJ Watt — the former NFL star who is now a minority owner at Burnley FC — had a more mature view on the matter. He posted on X, "The beauty of the English game is the history, the tradition, the passion. These clubs have been around long before any of us arrived and they’ll be around long after any of us are gone. Modernize some aspects that need it, sure. But let’s not mess with what makes it great."

The game did not disappoint as Wrexham took an early lead through Jack Marriott. However, a brace from Jay Stansfield and a goal from Tomoki Iwata secured the win for the home side.

Birmingham–Wrexham League One player ratings

Below, we're rating the Birmingham players on a scale of 1 to 10.

Goalkeeper and defenders

Bailey Peacock-Farrell (GK): 6

Peacock-Farrell should have done better for Wrexham's early goal. However, he was much better as the game went on.

Taylor Gardner-Hickman (RB): 7

The player on loan from Bristol City was solid defensively but he could be more threatening when attacking.

Christoph Klarer (CB): 7

Klarer was excellent with and without the ball in this match. However, the Austrian was not always the most agile.

Krystian Bielik (CB): 5

Bielik had a good game but was then sent off for receiving a second yellow card late on. Fortunately, Birmingham managed to hold onto their lead. However, Bielik will now miss their game against Rotherham this weekend.

Alex Cochrane (LB): 8

The left-back was great defensively and assisted Stansfield's second goal with an excellent cross.

Midfielders

Paik Seung-ho (CDM): 8

Had an excellent game and played the ball to Tomoki for his goal.

Tomoki Iwata (CDM): 8

Scored the goal to seal the victory for Birmingham. Iwata was great defensively as well as going forward.

Alfie May (CAM): 6

May was the top goalscorer in League One last season whilst he was at Charlton Athletic. However, against Wrexham, May - who is usually a striker - was playing as an attacking midfielder and was less effective.

Forwards

Willum Thor Willumsson (RW): 7

Willumsson is usually an attacking midfielder but was moved out to the right for this game. However, he still had a very good game.

Jay Stansfield (ST): 9

Birmingham paid Fulham £15 million for Stansfield, and it looks like he will be worth every penny. The striker scored twice but would still have been disappointed not to have made it a hat-trick.

Emil Hansson (LW): 6

Hansson was solid but he needs to work on his final ball.

Substitutes

• Alfons Sampsted, 6/10

• Lyndon Dykes, 7/10

• Marc Leonard, 7/10

• Keshi Anderson, 6/10

• Ben Davies, 6/10