Yahoo News Birmingham City new stadium - what the Sports Quarter could look like and Tom Brady effect
Birmingham’s worst kept secret is now well and truly out of the bag. Knighthead have confirmed that Birmingham City have purchased the 48-acre site formerly known as Birmingham Wheels and plans are in place to build a new stadium.
The site in Bordesley Green will house a ‘super stadium’ and training facilities for all of Blues’ teams. A Sports Quarter is being created in the heart of the second city.
The landmark agreement has been 12 months in the making and reaffirms Knighthead’s commitment to Blues and the city of Birmingham. Not only will this world class facility enhance Birmingham’s appeal, it will also create an estimated 3,000 new jobs.
Knighthead frontman Tom Wagner - who led Blues’ bid for the site alongside chief executive Garry Cook - said: “When we invested in Birmingham City, we made it very clear that we had an ambitious vision to transform the experience for our fans and make a positive contribution to the growth and vitality of the city of Birmingham.
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“The acquisition of the former Wheels site is an important next step in making this a reality. The plans for the Sports Quarter will bring global interest to our club and to Birmingham as a whole. It is going to transform the future of our men’s, women’s and academy teams, and the fortunes of the community that we call home. We are excited to collaborate with the fans, the local community, and key partners in Birmingham to deliver on our plans for the Sports Quarter.”
But what could and should it look like? There have been good and bad examples of stadium switches in recent years. The pinnacle is Manchester City’s Etihad Campus, which comprises a 53,000-seater stadium, training facilities and an academy all within a stone’s throw of one another. Blues have taken some inspiration from City’s state-of-the-art facility when drawing up proposals for their own.
Brentford have recently left Griffin Park for the less traditionally named Gtech Community Stadium and managed to retain an atmosphere. That is easier said than done in new builds where the supporters tend to be further away from the action.
West Ham is a case point. They have struggled to recreate the noisy atmosphere that Upton Park provided in the Olympic Stadium which, let's not forget, was built to host athletics at the 2012 Olympics.
There are few grounds as noisy and hostile for opposing teams as St Andrew’s when it is really rocking. Wagner will have noticed that when he attended the 1-0 win over Leeds United in August. It was even more evident during recent home wins over Sunderland and Preston.
Boxing up that atmosphere and transporting it up the road to a new site will be one of Knighthead’s biggest challenges. They need to create a stadium that helps to generate a racket.
There are other things they will no doubt be looking at. Fan experience is clearly important to Knighthead and St Andrew’s has never really lent itself to that outside of privately owned drinking spots.
The Wheels site is located near to Curzon Street Station, where HS2 trains will arrive in Birmingham from London. Encouraging people to take public transport to and from the Sports Quarter will help ease traffic which has plagued Blues’ home games at St Andrew’s in recent years.
Finding a way to make that journey from the station to the Sports Quarter pleasurable is important, as is maintaining a link to Digbeth where so many Blues fans have gathered before and after matches for years.
The one thing the Wheels site gives Blues that St Andrew’s never could is space. Knighthead now have a site where quite literally anything is possible. Fan zones can be created to house thousands of fans before and after matches.
Knighthead could even bring non-football events to the Sports Quarter to generate extra revenue. UB40 might be the first of many music artists to play in Birmingham City-owned stadiums on Knighthead's watch.
Depending on the size of the stadium Knighthead build, it could also be used to host NFL matches. A club linked to seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady will surely be interested in luring the NFL away from its usual London haunts when it visits the UK. Imagine the interest an NFL fixture outside of London would generate.
The possibilities are endless now that the wheels are set in motion. This could change the landscape of Birmingham City.
