Birmingham City have played their home matches at St Andrew's Stadium since 1906, but they could soon move to a brand-new stadium that could modernise the club and take it to new heights.
It seems strange that just a few months after the club suffered relegation from the Championship, the owners, Knighthead, have grand plans for the club. Our guide below provides all the key information on the new Birmingham City stadium, from the latest updates to expected capacity.
Birmingham City new stadium: Latest developments
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Earlier this year, Birmingham City announced that they had purchased a 48-acre site in east Birmingham and unveiled their plans for a new world-class stadium. The site, which was formerly known as Birmingham Wheels, will be transformed into a new sports quarter if all goes to plan and the plans are ambitious, to say the least.
They have since purchase 12 more acres of land next to the former Wheels site and the club are said to be looking to create something similar to what Manchester City have done with the Etihad Campus where all the club's training facilities and stadium are all on one site.
Thanks to the sheer size of the land the club have purchased, there is also space for office blocks, restaurants, bars and places for fans to socialise. Knigthead are said to want the complex to be used all year round and not just on matchdays and it has the potential to transform the east side of Birmingham.
The area is within walking distance of the city centre and Knighthead have said that the “world-class Sports Quarter” will create 3,000 jobs.
Do Birmingham City need a new stadium?
St Andrew's has looked tired for many years now, but the club spent a fortune on renovation works in 2023. This summer, they also upgraded the stadium's hospitality areas, but the decision has been made to leave and move to a new site.
Fans understandably have an affinity for St Andrew's but the new site is literally next door to the current stadium so there won't be any contention around the location of the new Birmingham City stadium.
What will the new Birmingham City stadium look like?
Concept art was also released when the plans were first unveiled, which gave fans a look at what the stadium and the surrounding area could look like if everything went to plan. The Club's chairman, Tom Wagner, was keen to stress that he wanted to build something that is in line with the rest of the city.
While concept art shows a stadium that resembles a spaceship, Wagner also emphasised that the stadium's actual design has yet to be decided. Architects are still working on these designs, and an update could be given in due course.
On the look of the stadium, Wagner said:
“I don’t know if we’re going to go with the spaceship look but I think it (the concept art) gives you a strong idea of what our intent is.
“Maybe the most important aspect is this huge promenade where people are coming in because not everyone will be watching the game in the stadium because obviously all 62,000 seats are sold.
“We want something that fits in the community and critically it’s important that this doesn’t look like a blight on the skyline of Birmingham and that it fits within the context of the city and more importantly, the neighbourhood.”
What will the capacity be at the new Birmingham City stadium?
The capacity plans are certainly ambitious, with early indications suggesting that the new stadium will have a capacity of 62,000. Last season, Birmingham struggled to regularly sell out St Andrew's, which only has a capacity of 29,409.
Throughout 2023/24, their average attendance was just 21,180, so going from that to 62,000 feels like a stretch. The idea is that the stadium can become multi-functional, with the club's owners keen to get NFL matches played there, too, while major concerts would also be held here.
At 62,000, it would become the fifth-largest football stadium in England.
When will the new Birmingham City stadium be built?
Wagner has admitted that the planned completion date is also very ambitious. They want the entire project completed by 2029 so that Birmingham City can play their home matches at the new stadium during the 2029/30 season.
That gives the club five seasons to get back into the Premier League otherwise they face the very real possibility of the stadium being at least half empty in the lower divisions, a situation that wouldn't look good for the club or the ownership.
On the build timeframe, Wagner said:
“My timeframe is lunacy but we'll look to get this completed in five years. In a perfect world, if everyone works with us at the same pace, we're willing to work. I'm going to keep saying it, even if it makes people sweat. A lot of it is outside of our control, but that is the goal.”