Birmingham owner Tom Wagner says relegation would not prevent new 60,000-seater stadium being pursued

9 April 2024, 11:52 | Updated: 9 April 2024, 14:41

Birmingham chairman Tom Wagner says the club's potential relegation to League One would not halt their plans to build a new 60,000-seater stadium.

Knighthead, the owner of Birmingham, has bought a 48-acre former wheeled-sports site in Bordesley Park as they launch plans to build a new "world-class" stadium and training facilities for all of their teams.

However, the Blues are currently 22nd in the Championship - one point from safety - and have just five matches to save themselves from relegation.

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Gary Rowett, the interim manager, leads his side into the first of those games on Wednesday at home to Cardiff, live on Sky Sports.

In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports, Wagner - who is co-chief executive of Knighthead - expressed his hope that their first year of ownership does not end in relegation but explained why a drop into the third tier would not impact their investment in the club.

"It's important to us that we stay up because it matters - I care," Wagner said. "Like many of our supporters, when things go poorly, I don't sleep at night. I know that sounds crazy but that's part of falling in love with the club.

"But what happens in the next five games is going to have no impact on what we're pursuing and our vision for the next decade. You can't talk about making a multi-billion-pound investment and worry about the next two fixtures.

"We've got no choice but to say 'here's the objective' and then pursue it with rigour, vigour and in an unrelenting fashion. Nothing is going to stop us from doing this."

St Andrew's, Birmingham's home for over a century, holds just under 30,000 fans and has been around two-thirds full on average for Championship games this season.

But Wagner - who is overseeing the project alongside Garry Cook, Birmingham's chief executive - dreams of building a ground twice that size, as well as creating a team that will encourage supporters to fill such a stadium.

"In a perfect world, that's exactly what we'd shoot for," said Wagner. "That puts a lot of pressure on us to achieve our objectives and put a product on the pitch for our fans to have that many people showing up.

"What we'd like to do is build something that will enable us to host international sporting events. It would be ideal to host NFL events.

"There's many other options - Euro football, World Cups, rugby events. All those revenues from increased usage are for the benefit of the club."

Birmingham say they will create not just a new stadium but a 'sports quarter', housing training facilities for the men's, women's and academy teams, plus the potential for commercial sites, and that it will create 3,000 local jobs.

"This begins to show a vision of something different, where Birmingham City can achieve its rightful place as the main team in England's second city," said Wagner, whose Knighthead group completed their takeover last summer.

"We've done a lot in nine months so I can only imagine what we'll do if you give us five years."

Wagner says a "critical" part of that investment will be Birmingham's women's team, who are currently mid-table in the Women's Championship. He added: "It's really important to understand how quickly women's sport is growing.

"I'm an enormous believer in the popularity of women's sport in the UK. You'll see some big changes and some big investment in the next year or two."

Despite the difficulties experienced on the pitch during the first year of Knighthead's ownership, Wagner is convinced their ambitious plans are winning over Birmingham supporters.

"Ninety-nine per cent of the comments I get are positive," Wagner insisted. "We've got to work on that one per cent because I won't be happy until we're providing something to our supporters that makes everyone happy.

"As long as we have this vision and people know we will not quit, people will get behind us."

Watch Birmingham vs Cardiff on Wednesday live on Sky Sports Football Red Button; kick-off 7.45pm.

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(c) Sky Sports 2024: Birmingham owner Tom Wagner says relegation would not prevent new 60,000-seater stadium being pursued