Birmingham City have announced ambitious plans to build a brand-new stadium that will replace St. Andrew’s.
The Blues will be back in the Championship next season after clinching promotion from League One at the first time of asking in a comfortable fashion.
Chris Davies’ side have won the third division title along the way, with planning now underway for how to maintain their competitiveness in the second tier.
Owner Tom Wagner will be keen to see the team competing higher up the table, well clear of any possible risk of going back down again.
New stadium plans will be part of a clear strategy to get Birmingham back to competing at the highest level, having been out of the Premier League since 2011.
Here we look at when the Midlands outfit’s new stadium is set to open.
Birmingham City’s new stadium opening date
Speaking in 2024, Wagner opened up on a potential timeline that will see the development completed within five years.
He described a 2029 opening date as lunacy, but it highlights his clear ambitions to take the club forward quickly.
“My timeframe is lunacy, but we’ll look to get this completed in five years,” said Wagner, via the BBC in April of last year.
“Five years from August, we’d be in.
“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.”
| Championship top 5 stadium capacities 2024/25 (per Transfermarkt) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Stadium (Club) | Capacity | ||
| Stadium of Light (Sunderland) | 48,707 | ||
| Hillsborough (Sheffield Wednesday) | 39,859 | ||
| Elland Road (Leeds United) | 37,645 | ||
| Riverside Stadium (Middlesbrough) | 33,746 | ||
| Pride Park (Derby County) | 33,597 | ||
A project of this size being completed within five years is ambitious in its own right, but the American businessman has remained committed to that timeline even 12 months on.
As recently as 14 April this year, the 55-year-old once again described the plans as lunacy, but reiterated his desire to see them through no matter what.
“Now it’s like incredible lunacy,” said Wagner, via Birmingham Live.
“We are still pushing ahead as if nothing had stopped us or slowed us down, which I think is a fair statement.
“We’d like to be in that stadium 4.5 years from now or sooner and that’s the objective and I’ll certainly die trying if I can’t get it done.”
New Birmingham City stadium capacity
It is hoped that the project, when completed, will leave Birmingham with a stadium capacity of 62,000, far exceeding St. Andrew’s current capability.
Their current home ground can hold up to 29,409, meaning it will more than double in size when finished, if all goes according to plan.
It is estimated that the cost of this development could amount to somewhere between £2 and 3 billion.
However, it is still in the early stages of development and planning so it is too soon yet to say definitively what the total cost will come to when it is completed.
Birmingham will be hoping that by 2029 the team will be back competing in the Premier League, with Davies’ side already setting their sights on a return to the Championship later this year.
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