Throughout the season there has been plenty of world class goals scored by Blues, unlike any other year I can remember. Many of the candidates should count themselves unlucky with the number of quality goals we’ve scored this season as several could easily have won goal of the season in previous campaigns.

The contenders are:

Darren Ambrose vs. Barnet

In Lee Clark’s first game competitive game in charge Darren Ambrose rounded off the scoring for his first goal for Blues and the third of five on the night. David Murphy fed the ball through to Ambrose on the edge of the box to turn, move the ball onto his stronger right foot and hit a curling effort into the bottom right corner of the Barnet goal. It was an important goal in the course of the match as the goal was a huge blow to Barnet’s chances of coming back and meant Blues could relax a bit, ready for the start of the new campaign. Although it was a superb finish, the opposition must be taken into account as it could be argued that a Championship defence would not have given Ambrose the space he had. Overall, it was a great way for the midfielder to make his competitive debut for Blues, but it is a shame we haven’t seen more of this since his move from Crystal Palace last summer.

2^nd Chris Burke vs. Brighton

Runner up for goal of the season was a winner scored by Chris Burke against Brighton at the Amex. This game followed the 5-0 drubbing to Barnsley and was vital for the team to show that it was just one awful performance and not set to be a continuous trend, especially when Brighton were flying high around the top of the table at the time. A clearing header by Gordon Greer fell kindly into Burke’s path for the winger to hit a pile driver from 25 yards into the roof of the net, just before the half hour mark. The shot was truly stunning and came completely out of nowhere as Brighton were piling on pressure at the time. It was a great way for Burke to score his first goal of the season and regain some of the form he showed from the previous one.

Leroy Lita vs. Leeds

Another superb strike to decide a 1-0 away for Blues was Leroy Lita’s goal against Leeds at Elland Road. The goal was scored on a breakaway as David Murphy played a ball over to Lita following a good dummy by Marlon King. The on loan striker then took a venomous shot from 35 yards out that fizzed past Paddy Kenny into the side netting of the goal. I’ve decided not to put this goal in the top three because when you compare the goal with Chris Burke’s goal against Brighton, Burke’s goal was more difficult due to the ball bouncing when he took the shot, meaning it was even harder to control the accuracy of the effort. This was Lita’s final goal in a Birmingham shirt as his loan was ended because of injury, but it was a great way to go out!

Ravel Morrison vs. Hull

Many fans were worried when Blues signed Ravel Morrison on a season- long loan from West Ham, “how could Sir Alex Ferguson sell a player he once called “the next Paul Scholes” without there being a problem with him off the field” they said. The young midfielder has been in and out of the side like a yo-yo, but when he does get a chance to play he takes it. It took Morrison until his tenth appearance to score for Blues and it was worth the wait. A deep cross from Jonathon Spector was headed down by Nikola Zigic into Morrison’s path to hit a great volley from just inside the box. The technique the midfielder used for this goal was excellent, but perhaps the fact Blues were 3-0 down at the time could affect the standard of the goal compared to some of the important goals in pressure situations?

Wade Elliott vs. Middlesbrough

While the “Clark out” campaign was at one of its highest points, Wade Elliott pulled this beauty out the bag to help guide Birmingham to a crucial three points against Middlesbrough. A long ball from Paul Caddis wasn’t dealt properly by the ‘Boro defence and fell kindly to Elliott. The veteran midfielder controlled with his chest and produced a wonderful volley over Jason Steele. Minutes before the goal Blues had just gone 2-1 down so it was vital an equaliser was scored to make an excellent comeback. Despite the great shot by Elliott, questions could be asked of the goalkeeper as, unless unsighted, he probably should have been able to tip the lopping effort over the bar, in my opinion.

1^st Wade Elliott vs. Leeds

Winning the goal of the season is this fantastic solo goal from Wade Elliott in the FA Cup against Leeds at Elland Road. Elliott took the ball from half way and used a “Cruyff turn” to get away from David Norris and ran into the space in front of the Leeds defence. His shot from 25 yards moved in the air and found the top right corner of the net to leave the whole of Elland Road silent, barring the few hundred Bluenoses that travelled north. The fact that not only was this was a great shot from long range ending up in the top corner, but took a great bit a skill to create it made this my favourite goal of the campaign.

Marlon King vs. Burnley

Marlon King is notably known in the football world for his incredible goal scoring at every level he has played at, but even this goal must be up there as one of his best. In the dying embers of the game Wade Elliott crossed from the right side of the box to Zigic who helped the ball on to King at the back post. The striker fired home his volley with the balance of a ballerina and predator instincts of an assassin into the bottom corner to give Birmingham a great three with just 30 seconds remaining.

Chris Burke vs. Nottingham Forest

It had been a crazy week for Chris Burke with two transfer bids from Forest rejected, a call up to the Scotland squad and then a match winning brace against the team that tried to sign him, who had Alex McLeish in charge at the time. This contender was Burke’s first of the match and a great way to open the scoring. The “Scottish Messi” cut inside off the touch-line and sweetly hit his shot from 22 yards out just over Karl Darlow and went in off the crossbar for his third goal of the season. Although this was in a game where Burke was under high scrutiny because of the transfer links, it seems that the goalkeeper could have done better as it appears that he is a yard too close. Had he been back a yard, Darlow may have been able to tip the ball over, but it was a good goal nevertheless.

Nathan Redmond vs. Crystal Palace

Following a lot of criticism towards Nathan Redmond up to this point, the youngster showed the great progress he is making as a player this season by scoring this superb solo goal at Selhurst Park. Redmond opened the scoring after 24 minutes with a wonderful run across the Crystal Palace defence and fine left foot strike from the edge of the area for the winger’s second goal of the campaign. The goal was the first of four on the night and is evidence of Redmond becoming more willing to use his left foot in recent times. It also showed the Sky cameras how good Blues have been away from home in 2013 as Blues took the underdog status in their stride, not for the first time this season.    

3^rd Shane Ferguson vs. Crystal Palace

Taking the bronze medal position is Blues’ fourth goal from the famous victory over Crystal Palace. It was a fantastic free kick from 25 yards out to score his first professional goal and curled right into the top left corner, leaving Speroni with no chance. Shane Ferguson has shown great potential to one day become a good Premiership player in the past few months and this is one example of the brilliant performances he has shown since his arrival on loan from Newcastle. Had this been scored by a player at the highest level, we’d be hearing about it for years as it is very similar to being a left footed version of David Beckham’s free kick against Greece in 2001.

The winner can be voted for on http://www.bcfc.com/news/article/goal-of-the-season-772524.aspx and will be awarded on Sunday 5^th May at the End of Season Awards.

So which one would you choose ?