Crewe ended the pre-season on a high as they thumped Alex McLeish's Birmingham City 4-1 at the Alexandra Stadium.
Crewe started the brightest and Calvin Zola tested on loan keeper Joe Hart in the first few minutes but it was Birmingham City that had the better chances early on with James McFadden testing David Button with a 20-yard shot. A few minutes later McFadden went close with a 30-yard free-kick.
The Blues had more possession in the midfield and it was the former Everton striker McFadden who struck first blood on 17 minutes as he capitalised on a mistake at the back and got his shot past Button.
The goal put Birmingham in the front seat and chances came from Cameron Jerome and Gary O'Connor as they pressed for a second goal.
Crewe did fight back towards the end of the first half and it was Schumacher who stuck a volley right down the throat of Hart but on 44 minutes Schumacher hit a sweet volley after some good work from Crewe on the right and a cross from Grant was drilled in by Schumacher.
Crewe made one change at half-time with Ashley Westwood coming in at left-back for Billy Jones who was complaining of a tight hamstring.
Within a few minutes of the restart Crewe made it 2-1 thanks to an own goal from former Middlesborough defender Frank Quedrue, it was Westwoods hard work on the left and cross that hit Quedrue and the ball looped helplessly over Joe Hart.
On 53 minutes Crewe made it 3-1 with a nice curling shot from Joel Grant to take his tally to four goals in pre-season.
Alex McLeish made a few changes bringing on Lee Bowyer, Kevin Phillips, Lee Carsley and Sebastian Larsson. The subs did try to make a difference with efforts from Bowyer and Damien Johnson but it was the Railwaymen who got the next goal.
Crewe's passing and moving of the ball was reminisce of a few seasons ago and twelve minutes later Crewe made it 4-1 with summer signing Max Mitchel-King netting to make it a complete night for the former Histon man.
Byron Moore nearly made it five with a curling shot that was tipped over by Joe Hart in the 83 min.
Crewe Alexandra
David Button
John Brayford
Billy Jones (Westwood)
Steven Schumacher (Bailey)
Danny O'Donnell
Patrick Ada (Chanot)
Clayton Donaldson
Anthony Elding (Moore)
Calvin Zola (Miller)
Joel Grant
Mat Mitchel-King (Tootle)
Subs :- Max Chanot, Ashley Westwood, James Bailey, Shaun Miller, Byron Moore Mat Tootle, Luke Murphy, Adam Legzdins.
Birmingham City
Joe Hart
Stephen Carr
Stuart Parnaby (Wilson)
Roger Johnson
Frank Quedrue (Carsley)
James McFadden
Damien Johnson
Barry Ferguson
Keith Fahey (Larsson)
Gary O'Connor
Cameron Jerome (Phillips)
Subs:- Lee Carsley, Sebastian Larsson, Kevin Phillips, Lee Bowyer, Jarred Wilson, Gary McSheffrey, Maik Taylor
Attendance:- 1,827