All but 3 percent of Birmingham City Women FC is now in the hands of Shelby Companies Limited, an affiliate of Knighthead Capital Management (New York City) that handles the hedge fund’s investments in Birmingham City FC.
Shelby has purchased the 51 percent share in Birmingham City Limited owned by Zo Future Group (formerly Birmingham Sports Holdings). Birmingham City Limited in turn holds 100 percent of Birmingham City Football Club and Birmingham City Women Football Club.
The purchase was announced by the women’s club on Feb. 17. There will be no changes to management or other staff for now, according to the club.
“The acquisition,” it says, “will elevate the focus on the women’s team and help it to deliver on the stated ambition for the Club to compete at the highest levels in the women’s game. It also reflects Knighthead’s commitment to women’s sport in the city of Birmingham.”
Another reason – the table play
Birmingham City is not the only club recently to have sold off its women’s FC to a parent. Such sales promise autonomy for the women’s club, but they also avoid point deductions for the men’s.
- June 2024: Chelsea FC sells its women’s club to parent company BlueCo 22 Midco, for £200 million (€229m)
- February-March 2025: Aston Villa transfers its women’s team to parent company V Sports, for about £55 million (€63m)
- July 2025: Everton sells its women’s club to men’s club parent Roundhouse Capital (Friedkin Group) at fair-market value – £60 to £65 million (€69m-€74m)
In every case the sale counts as profit under the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) – and therefore offsets any losses.
The PRS cap club losses at £105 million (€120m) for a rolling three-year period (recalculated annually on June 30). The rules permit clubs to lose up to £15 million (€17m) from core football operations with no input from ownership. Greater losses require secure funding through equity injections up to the £105 million cap.
To breach the rules is to incur such penalties as point deductions, which affect a club’s position in the league table. A club that sinks too far risks expulsion.
The independent investors
The 3 percent not under Knighthead’s control has been purchased “prominent female business leaders and global professional sporting icons” – among them the former footballer Karen Carney and the former tennis player Kim Clijsters.
Carney played not only for Birmingham but also for Arsenal, the Chicago Red Stars and Chelsea. She is now a sportscaster for ITV and TNT Sports.
Clijsters is a former World Tennis Association (WTA) number-one and US Open champion. She is also honorary President of the Tennis Hall of Fame, founder of the Kim Clijsters Academy and part-owner of an as yet homeless and unnamed expansion team in Major League Pickleball (MLP). Her fellow MLP owners include former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady, bond saleswoman Callie Simpkins, financial advisor Kaitlyn Kerr and Knighthead’s own co-founder, co-CEO and co-Managing Director, Tom Wagner.
The institutional investor
Knighthead was founded in 2008 by Ara Cohen and the aforementioned Wagner. It specializes in distressed credit, real-estate lending, insurance, private equity (energy, infrastructure, consumer) and event-related assets.
Aside from Birmingham City, it holds a 49 percent stake in Birmingham Phoenix (cricket, The Hundred) and a majority stake in the Birmingham Panthers (Netball Super League). But why so much Birmingham for a New York firm?
In early 2025 Knighthead invested £100 million (€114m) in the city’s Sports Quarter, future home to a 60,000-seat stadium, sporting facilities, commercial properties and lodgings. The British government quoted Wagner at the time: “Birmingham and the West Midlands have huge untapped potential for growth, and we intend to seize that opportunity.”
On top of this Knighthead is – with 885 (United Arab Emirates) – one of the main owners of the Professional Fighters League (PFL, New York City), which deals in mixed martial arts (MMA). This change in management occurred just last month, with the departure of league founder Donn Davis. The new owners have raised funds to pay down debt and expand operations, as SportsPro reports. Knighthead made its original investment in PFL in 2021.
