[Football] New stadium plans at Birmingham City

[PeterT]

60 acre site acquired near the current stadium:

Birmingham City owners complete purchase of new stadium site

Birmingham City owners Knighthead complete the purchase of the old Wheels site in Bordesley for a proposed new £2bn-plus home.

www.bbc.co.uk

The off-field plans seem to be in marked contrast with what’s currently going on on the pitch!

 

[Hotchilidog]

That looks very interesting. I like the ambition, and after decades of mismanagement it would be nice for Birmingham to actually start moving forward.

 

[Easy 10]

Haven't they been renovating St Andrews lately ? Half their ground has looked like a building site for the past couple of seasons. What a waste of time and money that was, if that is the case.

 

[Giraffe]

I hope they get it. Birmingham City have been properly shafted over a very long time. They deserve to be given a proper stadium with a proper owner.

 

[Chicken Run]

60 acre site acquired near the current stadium:

Birmingham City owners complete purchase of new stadium site

Birmingham City owners Knighthead complete the purchase of the old Wheels site in Bordesley for a proposed new £2bn-plus home.

www.bbc.co.uk

The off-field plans seem to be in marked contrast with what’s currently going on on the pitch!

Yep but iirc when the first drawings of Falmer were released our marked contrast wasn’t too dissimilar

 

[PeterT]

Haven't they been renovating St Andrews lately ? Half their ground has looked like a building site for the past couple of seasons. What a waste of time and money that was, if that is the case.

New stadium won’t happen overnight. I don’t think it viable that they played in front of 2 closed stands for the next 5 - 10 years!

 

[GT49er]

That looks very interesting. I like the ambition, and after decades of mismanagement it would be nice for Birmingham to actually start moving forward.

Agree - although at the same time a bit of regret as yet another old-style 'proper' football ground disappears for ever.

 

[Wilka]

Haven't they been renovating St Andrews lately ? Half their ground has looked like a building site for the past couple of seasons. What a waste of time and money that was, if that is the case.

I think a large section of the stadium was deemed unsafe so they had to re do it.

 

[GT49er]

Haven't they been renovating St Andrews lately ? Half their ground has looked like a building site for the past couple of seasons. What a waste of time and money that was, if that is the case.

More like shoring it up, I believe!

 

[Nobby Cybergoat]

I wish them well in their venture. Better to spend money on long term infrastructure than blow it on agents and players.

I'm also glad the location seems good. Not some miles out of town place where everyone will leave with 20 mins left

 

[redoubtable seagull]

I think a large section of the stadium was deemed unsafe so they had to re do it.

And then they discovered asbestos that needed removing and Buckingham Group went under. They’ve not had a lot of luck.

 

[bhafc99]

Does it have a revolving door for the manager’s entrance?

 

[Zeus]

Was amazed to see it’s been 13 years since they were a Prem side. Serves as a big warning after they were a staple prem fixture during most the decade prior.

 

[PeterT]

The new site is 60 acres, with plans to build something on the same lines as the Etihad campus. The same team that designed the Etihad campus is already on board, I understand. There will be room for things like the training grounds, hotels, entertainment venues etc. It’s certainly ambitious, they also want to get an NFL franchise, hence the Tom Brady connection. There’s an existing station adjacent too, Adderley Park, handy given that Brum to ‘London’ (sort of) will be down to 46 minutes by HS2.

To put it into context, the current St Andrew’s site is 7 acres. It’s not clear what will happen with that as it has not been sold as part of the deal. Could go for housing, or maybe kept on to be used for the women’s team?

 

[BiffyBoy]

The new site is 60 acres, with plans to build something on the same lines as the Etihad campus. The same team that designed the Etihad campus is already on board, I understand. There will be room for things like the training grounds, hotels, entertainment venues etc. It’s certainly ambitious, they also want to get an NFL franchise, hence the Tom Brady connection. There’s an existing station adjacent too, Adderley Park, handy given that Brum to ‘London’ (sort of) will be down to 46 minutes by HS2.

To put it into context, the current St Andrew’s site is 7 acres. It’s not clear what will happen with that as it has not been sold as part of the deal. Could go for housing, or maybe kept on to be used for the women’s team?

Do the Birmingham owners want to get an NFL franchise? - I remember the Jags being linked with a move to Wembley, but I could never imagine an NFL franchise in Birmingham!

On another note, I respect Brady, but I don't believe he will ever add value to a football club besides the commercial interest. I assume the significant advantage/trade secrets will be Tom's F45 training and nutrition, which is already open to the mass market. That or some cringe American motivational mindset training.

"We have had long conversations about what the infrastructure can do to benefit player performance," said Wagner.

"I'm not going to get into Tom's trade secrets, but he has a lot of views on how to use that as a significant competitive advantage in pursuit of excellence on the pitch.

 

[ac gull]

World class venue in League One ...

St Andrews is falling down, have not been able to get safety certificate to open it all for a while, re I believe steel roof parts that either need replacing or strengthening

Was at Burton for what I think turned out to be 'arry's last game as a manager one Friday night, Burton won two one

 

[Motogull]

That's a whopper of a project. I hope it works out but that City never get promoted again.

 

[The Grockle]

Not really a club I care much for but I always see them as a bit of a sleeping giant and imagine a big new stadium would see their fortunes change quite rapidly.

 

[GT49er]

Not really a club I care much for but I always see them as a bit of a sleeping giant and imagine a big new stadium would see their fortunes change quite rapidly.

Would be quite nice if their resurgence in Birmingham put Villa back in their box though!

 

[HastingsSeagull]

Always enjoyed away days there as have friends of the family nearby. They've always seemed a bit oddly run though. This would seem a more sensible investment as long as they're gonna aim to get back into the Champ and consolidate. Would Shirley be able to use the stadium for something non-football too what with being in the middle of the country.