Tom Brady might play the leading role in the Amazon Prime documentary on life at Birmingham City but the most poignant storyline lies elsewhere.
Blues’ American owners believe they can reach the Premier League this season and to realise their ambition, they will rely heavily on a young forward who has lived with adversity since childhood.
Jay Stansfield was seven when his father, Adam, died of bowel cancer aged 31. Adam had a nine-year professional career with Yeovil, Hereford and Exeter and Jay had always wanted to follow in his footsteps.
Jay, brother Taylor – a kitman at Birmingham – and their mother Marie speak movingly about Adam in some of the most powerful scenes of ‘Built in Birmingham’.
How proud Adam would be today. Despite the pressure of his astonishing £15million transfer from Fulham in summer 2024, which was comfortably a record fee for League One, Jay scored 23 goals in all competitions last season as Blues made an immediate return to the Championship. And after a successful summer with England Under 21s, he returns to club action against Ipswich in Friday’s season-opener as a European champion.
The memory of his father drives the young Stansfield daily, as does his desire to care for his family.
‘You grow up more quickly,’ Stansfield tells Mail Sport. ‘You have to take responsibility for younger brothers. Mum would suffer but would make sure we stuck together as a family.
‘People see me and think I am a hard-working person and it probably comes from what happened. I have such big motivation for what I want to achieve for my family and for my dad. That’s what I try to do every day.
‘It would have been nice for him to come to the Euros. He played for England schoolboys and would have dreamed about having a son win a trophy with England.
‘Dad was the only footballer in the family so the whole family would watch him on a Saturday. It pushed me forward to recreate what he did but also fulfil my dream of becoming a professional footballer and playing in the Premier League. I want to ensure I’m making him and my family proud every day.
‘My family really understand the highs and lows of football. I have a really good connection with my stepfather and my mum has helped me and my partner get through certain times.
‘Another important influence for me is Pierce Sweeney. He was my captain at Exeter when I was there on loan (in 2022-23) and we still catch up. He has been in the game a long time and whenever I need help or advice, he would be the person I’d call.’
It is a measure of Stansfield’s nature that when he first moved to Birmingham on loan for the 2023-24 campaign, he arranged for younger brother Taylor to join the staff as a kitman. Now 22, Stansfield has a quiet, thoughtful demeanour that disguises a fierce self-belief.
Week after week last season, Stansfield was taunted about his price tag. His tally at the end of the campaign was the best possible response though there were, naturally, a few moments of doubt.
Stansfield spoke to a psychologist during that tricky period but his ability to overcome these obstacles, he argues, was due at least partly to his experiences off the pitch as well as on it.
He has no problem making his goals public, either. Asked to list their aims, many athletes will avoid being specific. Not Stansfield. Asked about winning the Golden Boot this season, he does not hesitate.
‘Those are the targets you need to be setting yourself as a forward,’ he says. ‘I set mine high and I want to score as many as possible.
‘You face different challenges. The stick I took last season makes me feel stronger and I know how to deal with it now. It’s about staying strong and realising the importance of things outside football.
‘I’m talking about family, not being grumpy when you go home, enjoying time with them and putting football to one side.
‘In terms of speaking to the psychologist, it was personal stuff I’ve been through over the last few years, which I’ll keep to myself. People know the story. It’s about learning how to deal with setbacks.’
Stansfield was compared by pundits to Jamie Vardy during the Under 21s’ triumphant campaign but prefers to model his game on that of another leading English forward – Three Lions skipper Harry Kane.
He has a taste for major tournaments, too. Though next summer’s World Cup will surely come too soon, there are precedents for players from outside the top tier being named in the squad.
Steve Bull made the 1990 tournament despite competing in the old Second Division for Wolves. Sixteen years later, Sven-Goran Eriksson chose the 17-year-old Theo Walcott, who had not made Premier League appearance despite leaving Southampton for Arsenal during the winter.
If he has another golden season, could Stansfield follow in their footsteps?
‘You have to be realistic,’ he counters. ‘You look at the players in front of me and they’re all playing in the Premier League or the Champions League.
‘Maybe it’s possible in a few years when I develop my game and become that forward I want to be. It was a great feeling being around players in the Under-21s and I’m sure many of them will play for England in the World Cup.
‘Watching other players helps massively. I look at Harry Kane, the way he finishes, drops deep. Then I look at other players who can play in all sorts of positions.
‘I can play on the left, as a No 10, as a striker, even on the right if needed. I’m not a big target man you’ll zing the ball up to but it’s about being sharp, scoring goals and creating goals.’
Now the job is to write new chapters of the Birmingham story. Stansfield says the Amazon documentary will help ‘fans see what real people we are.’
‘People have an opinion of what you’re like from what they see on the pitch and this gives them a chance to see things off the pitch and in training,’ he adds. ‘It will good for people to watch.
‘It’s a privilege to have a name as big as Tom Brady so close to the club. You can contact him whenever you want. If you need motivation, he’s always there. He and (chairman) Tom Wagner are very accessible.
‘Tom Brady is very clear. We have our methods and he helps implement them, telling us what a team needs to be successful. As long as we are doing those things right, the football will take care of itself.’
