Rangers and Celtic outcasts smash record as 10-goal Scotland international confirms historic promotion

A trio of Old Firm outcasts helped Birmingham City break a new EFL League One points record at the weekend as the Blues ran out 4-0 winners against Mansfield Town at St Andrews.

Ibrox flops Kieron Dowell and Ben Davies are both currently spending the season on loan to the Midlands outfit, while ex-Celtic midfielder Tomoki Iwata joined permanently on transfer deadline day in September. All three have been key figures in Chris Davies’ starting XI as they have romped to the third tier title, losing just three of their 44 league games this season.

They all started Sunday’s game against the Stages as the home side secured the win that helped them smash Wolverhampton Wanderers’ 11-year record for most points gained in a league season (103). Goals from Keshi Anderson and Willum Willumsson put Birmingham in the driving seat before the half-time break, but it was 27-year-old Rangers loanee Kieron Dowell that stole the show in the second period.

Bulleting home a header from close range on 50 minutes, Dowell then turned provider with an exquisite back heel that played in ex-Celtic midfielder Tomoki Iwata to tap home his seventh league goal of the season, sealing all three points that confirmed Birmingham had broken the league record for most points in a league season (105).

Former Rangers youngster Alex Lowry suffered a damaging defeat with his new side at the weekend. | SNS Group

“As we got started and got going, I was aware of what Wolves had done previously,” said head coach Davies. “It is an incredible achievement and I’ll keep saying this and saying this: to get 105 points in a season, people might take it for granted but it’s not something to be taken for granted.

“The consistency that they’ve shown week in, week out. That was their 58th game of the season! That 105 points, I really don’t think that’ll get touched again. It was a really special day for the club, I was aware it would be amazing no matter what but I wanted to make sure we signed off unbeaten and with a great performance. We had all that.”

Despite Wrexham languishing 16-points behind Birmingham in second place, the Welsh side had reason to celebrate themselves on Saturday after a 3-0 win over playoff contenders Charlton Athletic confirmed an astonishing third successive promotion since the club’s takeover by Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

With 38-year-old former Scotland striker Steven Fletcher named on the substitutes bench, the Red Dragons took a two goal lead after just 18 minutes through Oli Rathbone and Sam Smith, before the latter grabbed a second late on to cement second place in EFL League One and promoted to the English second-tier.

Promotion was confirmed for Wrexham after Wycombe Wanderers 1-0 defeat to Leyton Orient, which means ex-Rangers youngster Alex Lowry faces an intriguing EFL League playoff battle with his new club. The 21-year-old former Ibrox academy product replaced Josh Scowen in the first-half at Brisbane Road, but has featured just eight times in total for the Chairboys since joining in January as their automatic promotion hopes have stuttered under new head coach Mike Dodds.