The stewards at St Andrew’s, decked out in orange bibs, were in no mood to allow a second fans’ protest to take place last night..
It wasn’t so much a 50-man ring of steel - and it wouldn’t have been obliterated set against mass dissension - but any attempt by disgruntled Birmingham City supporters to make their point about the Championship club’s ownership wasn’t on the agenda of the hired guardians.
At the weekend, the fans’ frustration became the focal point ahead of a meeting with Barnsley. A march from the city centre that ended on the Kop car park certainly left few under any illusion as to the depth of feeling.
But festering resentment at the manner in which the club is run remains, no matter how much the hierarchy, whoever it is, attempts to bury it.
A charm offensive set up by the club last week did not placate supporters. In fact, it only served to cement their feelings. A divide and rule policy isn’t going to wash.
It is unlikely much will - barring, perhaps, results on the pitch.
However, judging by the limp, disjointed show against Peterborough United - Posh somehow left the West Midlands without victory - that looks as far away as ever.
Patience has worn thin. Past a breaking point in the eyes of some. Boss Lee Bowyer will surely come under increasing pressure if on-field matters do not improve, too.
Birmingham were led a merry dance for all but the last five minutes of Tuesday night’s fixture. Judging by the manager’s comments about his players afterwards, the terraces are not the only place where dissension is rife.
Fortunately for Bowyer and his team, goals from Gary Gardner and Scott Hogan were sufficient to ensure the boys in royal blue weren’t given the bird at the final whistle. A 2-2 draw has never been so ill-deserved.
But these are mere trifling issues compared with the long-term air of decay that has set in ever since the club was bought out of administration in October 2016 by Trillion Trophy Asia.
Fast forward five years and the picture is bleak.
In short, the club has been saddled with £120m of debt, the ground has been sold off, re-mortgaged and partially-closed down. A transfer bounty of over £40m, receipts from the sale of Che Adams and Jude Bellingham to Southampton and Borussia Dortmund respectively, has been frittered away.
A points deduction, concrete evidence of financial mismanagement on an industrial scale, is further proof - as if it were needed - that something is horribly amiss.
Inside the club a raft of good, solid individuals have left including club secretary Julia Shelton, finance director Roger Lloyd and his assistant Gary Moore, head of media Colin Tattum and manager’s secretary Rita Greenaway - to name but a few.
The net result is that Birmingham City’s beating heart has been weakened. A part of its soul, lost.
Supporters aren’t stupid. Those welcoming faces are missed. And it matters. What is a club, apart from an association of individuals bound by a common goal?
Someone is playing with an institution they hold dear. They can see very little of what's going on. And they’re being allowed to see very little. The situation is being deliberately blurred. To what end?
Who, ultimately, is in charge? Why is the ownership structure so horribly complicated? Why are relevant accounts domiciled in areas where only privileged eyes can access information?
Birmingham City’s parent company is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It has little by way of assets apart from the debt-ridden club - yet its market capitalisation, as of this morning, stood at £173m.
Where is the financial logic in any of this? What is the motivation for these owners to stay involved?
The club’s supporters want to know. This protest isn’t about investment - as poor as it has been - it is about accountability.
They can see with their own eyes the lack of love shown to St Andrew’s. They can see the failed investment on the pitch. They know what profit, loss and debt looks and feels like from living their own lives.
They are still no closer to finding out any of those answers.
This should be an issue for an authority with bite. But the English Football League is so toothless that even dentures wouldn’t help its cause.
In their eyes, the owners have done little wrong. They’re within the profit and sustainability parameters. Nothing to see here!
A proper body, with clear rules, would be able to not just ask questions, but demand answers and, if they were not forthcoming, do something about it. If that means hitting errant owners in the pocket or on the field of play, so be it.
That is at the heart of the recommendations by MP Tracey Crouch. Her first three strategic recommendations into the fan-led review of English football cover finances.
If they were implemented at Birmingham City, answers would have to be given, or else the value of the asset would be damaged, hitting the owners where it hurts.
But the running of the football club would be acknowledged. It would be out in the open. No more hiding behind faceless paper trails designed to fudge the truth.
Birmingham CIty’s supporters have set the ball rolling - they are an earthy bunch, rarely provoked by playing disappointments. But the on-going secrecy and the associated stench of the rotting decomposition of their club will ensure the fight continues.
Their best bet might lie with Ms Crouch and the implementation of her recommendations.
And for Birmingham City, those changes cannot come soon enough.
