Birmingham, the English soccer club where NFL great Tom Brady is a minority shareholder, secured promotion back to the second-tier Championship.

A 2-1 win at Peterborough on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST) guaranteed Birmingham a finish in one of the two automatic promotion spots in the third division (League One).

Birmingham are likely to go up as champions, leading second-placed Wrexham, owned by Hollywood celebrities Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, by 14 points.

Wycombe are three points behind Wrexham in third place after beating Huddersfield 1-0 on Tuesday.

“Straight back up to the EFL championship, and not done yet,” Brady wrote on his Instagram stories. “NFL fans are getting a crash course in the English football pyramid!!!”

Brady got a stake in Birmingham in August 2023 in his first foray into soccer and said he wanted to bring a winning mentality to a club that last played in the Premier League in 2011.

That’s the same year they won the English League Cup, one of two major trophies the club has captured in their 148-year history.

However, Birmingham were relegated from the Championship at the end of the 2023-24 season, during which Wayne Rooney had an uncomfortable three-month spell as manager before getting fired.

Birmingham have spent big in a bid to make an instant return to the second tier. Their top scorer is Jay Stansfield, who reportedly cost about $A24 million, making him the most expensive signing by a third-tier team.

Stansfield was one of 17 players bought in the transfer window last summer and the rebuild has worked, with Birmingham losing just three of their 40 games so far and gaining promotion with six matches still to play.

Birmingham have also reached the final of the Football League Trophy, taking on Peterborough in Sunday’s decider at Wembley Stadium.