Did you Know?
This shirt was worn by Matija Sarkic during the “Sky Bet” Championship game between Birmingham City and Reading which took place in Birmingham, “St. Andrew’s Trillion Trophy Stadium”, on November 6th 2021. Reading defeated Birmingham 2-1 and at the end of the game this shirt was auctioned together with the other match shirts, as it happens all years for the “Poppy” games to support the “Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal”. Indeed every year Premier League and Championship’s clubs come together to pay tribute to the Armed Forces community and support the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal. Clubs from across the country wear the poppy on their shirt as a sign of respect and after the games all the match worn shirts are auctioned to raise funds “Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal”. The shirt is kept unwashed. Matija Sarkic joined Championship club Birmingham City on 26 July 2021 on loan for the season.[20] With previous first-choice goalkeeper Neil Etheridge still recovering from COVID-19, Sarkic started the opening-day fixture away to Sheffield United and kept a clean sheet as Birmingham won 1–0. He retained his place in the starting eleven even after Etheridge’s return to fitness, kept ten clean sheets, and missed only one of Birmingham’s 24 league matches. Near the end of what proved to be his last appearance, on 2 January 2022, he dislocated a shoulder throwing the ball out to a defender. The injury required surgery which would keep him out for the rest of the season, and he returned to his parent club for treatment and rehabilitation. Despite only being at the club for the first half of the season, he was voted Birmingham City’s Player of the Season for 2021–22.
