Early life and career

Redmond was born in Birmingham, West Midlands,^[2] of Irish and Jamaican descent.^[5] He grew up in the Kitts Green district,^[6] attending the Oval Primary School in Yardley and then Sheldon Heath Community Arts College.^[7] According to the player's Facebook page, he was first noticed by Birmingham City's Academy scouts as an eight-year-old while playing alongside older boys, and scored a hat-trick in his first match for the club's under-10 team.^[8]

He scored three goals as Birmingham's under-15 team reached the semi-final of the Nike Premier Cup for the first time in April 2009,^[9] and in the same season played in the club's under-18 academy team.^[10]

In the 2009–10 season, while still a schoolboy, Redmond made 15 appearances, scoring 3 times, for the academy under-18s.^[11] He also made a few substitute appearances for the reserve team, including a "lively late performance" against Aston Villa in early March 2010.^[12] Redmond was given a first-team squad number and named on standby for the Premier League match at home to Everton a couple of days later,^[13] but did not make the 18-man squad. He was an unused substitute for Birmingham's final home match of the 2009–10 season, aged 16 years and 56 days. Had he taken the field, he would have become the club's youngest first-team player and also the youngest ever Premier League player, at nine days younger than the record set by Fulham's Matthew Briggs in 2007.^[14][15]

Academy manager Terry Westley described him in June 2010 as "one of those wingers like an Aaron Lennon or Ashley Young. He has got pace and can run the ball past defenders and has the creativity to go with it", and confirmed that other clubs had shown an interest in him.^[14] He signed a scholarship contract with Birmingham City in July 2010.^[16]

Redmond made his first-team debut for Birmingham in the League Cup second-round tie against Rochdale on 26 August 2010, replacing Spanish midfielder Enric Vallès in the 78th minute.^[17] At 16 years and 173 days – 34 days older than Trevor Francis was on his debut – he became the club's second-youngest player ever. Manager Alex McLeish was highly complimentary about his brief appearance:

He set it alight. I know we never had a full house, but the fans that were there warmed to him. His performance was very bright, quick, he got a couple of shots away. And it excited me. It was a really bright spark for us. Has he got a big future? It looks like it. He's electric. He's a right winger but he showed his versatility coming in off the left and going in and hitting shots. He was a handful for Rochdale. It was good to see somebody with a little bit of pace going by defenders.^[4]

To gain first-team experience, Redmond joined League Two club Burton Albion in January 2011 on a month's Football League youth loan, an arrangement which allows the player to appear in junior matches for Birmingham when not required by the loaning club.^[18] However the move was cancelled a few days later when the Football League, who had initially ratified the deal, realised that the rules forbade a first-year scholar from signing on loan for a League club.^[19] He made two more substitute appearances for Birmingham that season, one in the League Cup and one in the FA Cup,^[20] and signed a three-year professional contract as soon as he turned 17, in March 2011.^[6]

2011–12 season

On his return from the U-17 World Cup, Redmond started Birmingham's first pre-season friendly match, a 1–0 defeat of Cork City. New manager Chris Hughton suggested he had done well, given his youth: "In particular I thought Nathan Redmond did very well. We have to remember he's only 17 years of age. He showed some good touches although the final bit let him down a little."^[21] In the absence of fellow midfielders Keith Fahey, Morgaro Gomis and Jordon Mutch, Redmond played the whole of the Europa League play-off round first leg against Portuguese club Nacional, the first time he had completed 90 minutes in a senior match and the first time his club had participated in major European competition for nearly 50 years. His driven shot from outside the penalty area was pushed aside by goalkeeper Elisson and led to Chris Wood heading against the crossbar.^[22] He made his League debut three days later, again playing the whole match, in a 3–1 defeat at Middlesbrough.^[23] In the second leg against Nacional, Redmond opened the scoring with a low drive from 20 yards (18 m), which was in contention for the club's goal of the season,^[24] and later hit the post with a curled shot in a man-of-the-match performance as Birmingham won 3–0 to progress to the group stage.^[25]

Redmond's first league goal came in a 3–0 win at home to Blackpool on 31 December 2011 as he "smashed an unstoppable shot from just outside the penalty area that beat Howard at his near post".^[26] His second, "thumped in ... from 12 yards in stoppage time" completed a 6–0 win away against a nine-man Millwall team.^[27] Redmond opened the scoring with a shot from the edge of the penalty area as Birmingham went on to beat Sheffield United 4–0 to progress to the fifth round of the 2011–12 FA Cup,^[28] and came off the bench to score a "stunning" 86th-minute swivelled volley to give Birmingham a 1–0 win against Portsmouth that took them to third place in the table.^[29] He finished the season with seven goals from 37 appearances in all competitions, and won the club's Young Player of the Year award.^[24]

2012–13 season

Ahead of the new season, the club's acting chairman insisted that, despite financial problems, neither Redmond nor goalkeeper Jack Butland were for sale "unless we are subject to an eye-popping offer".^[30] Redmond aimed to establish himself as a first-team regular.^[31] He made his 50th senior appearance in the 1–0 win at Brighton & Hove Albion in October,^[32] but soon afterwards, Birmingham signed West Ham United winger Robert Hall on loan, and Redmond was sometimes left out of the squad. According to new manager Lee Clark, Redmond "needed to be taken out of the firing line and would be better for it"; he made comparisons with loanee Ravel Morrison, who had been encouraged to understand the importance of "the whole package, getting it right – the training, the preparation, the matches, getting that all put in place".^[33] After talking to his manager, Redmond accepted the need to improve his performance in training.^[31]

Against Burnley in December, in what was reportedly the youngest starting eleven ever fielded by the club, Redmond played as a second striker off Nikola Žigić, a position that exploited his pace and preference for receiving the ball to his feet.^[34] As the season went on, Redmond's form improved: he created a goal for Chris Burke against Nottingham Forest,^[35] and when his first goal of the season finally arrived, against Derby County in March, Clark suggested it boded well for his future as a goalscorer.^[36] The player spoke of himself as a "confidence player", who needed to accept the need for patience and not to let frustration get the better of him.^[37] According to the Birmingham Mail's end-of-season assessment, "Redmond's form over the last three months was as good as it ever has been."^[38] That form earned him selection for the England under-20 squad for the Under-20 World Cup,^[39] then as a late addition to the squad for the 2013 European Under-21 Championship finals.^[40]