This month’s derby clash between Aston Villa and Birmingham City saw the biggest sales increase for the Evening Mail since the previous match between the clubs last September.
Villa were 2-0 losers on the night but the Evening Mail was a definite winner, with a week-on-week sales increase of 18,163 (18.4 per cent).
Deputy editor (production) Ray Dunn and sports editor Ken Montgomery headed an early-morning team that produced a 6.30am soccer special the next day.
Besides the on-the-field action, there was quite a lot happening off the pitch and the Mail had nine staffers, from sport, news and photographic, covering the event.
The previous derby match was the first time the two teams had met for 16 years and saw a week-on-week sales rise for the Mail of 12,147 (12.07 per cent).
Mail editor Roger Borrell said: “People sometimes forget how passionate the people of Birmingham are about their football, but sales figures like this speak for themselves. The whole Mail team did a fantastic job covering the match and the aftermath and the early edition gave us a great start.”
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