The roars of relief rang around an empty Hillsborough, accompanied, in the directors’ box, by a flurry of fist-bumps and self-congratulatory slaps on the back among the Birmingham City contingent.
Victory had been desperately hard-fought. Desperately hard to watch, too.
Desperation takes a hold on the likes of Sheffield Wednesday and Birmingham, dancing on the trapdoor to League One — where the mismanaged former Premier League clubs are prone to become entombed.
Sheffield Wednesday and Birmingham City met on Saturday in a huge clash for survival
Victory was everything.