Birmingham City chairman Tom Wagner has made a pledge to fans about the club’s future and has provided an update on plans for a new 62,000-seater stadium.
Blues’ record-breaking 111-point season to win the League One title and earn promotion back to the Championship is just the first step of many, with Wagner aiming to build momentum. Birmingham’s owner is determined to ensure the upward trajectory of the club doesn’t stagnate and instead continues for many years to come.
Wagner recently spoke of his delight at the club’s progress at Birmingham’s title celebration evening at the International Convention Centre (ICC). The American addressed around 1,000 supporters and confirmed plans for the new ‘Sports Quarter’ is set to include a new 62,000-capacity stadium. He hopes the prospect can inspire the next generation.
“For every young person who walks into that training ground to become a member of our academy, soon they will see images of where they will play when they come of age. It will be a place unlike any other that exists in European football,” Wagner said.
It certainly won’t be straightforward for Blues’ ambitious stadium plans to go ahead as there are several complex hurdles to overcome. Discussions are underway with local and national government, though, with Wagner determined to build a brighter future for the community as well as the football club.
“I replied, ‘Why do you say that? Because I don’t really care’. He said, ‘You are drawing the ire of some of the biggest clubs in England’. I responded, ‘How? We have only just come out of League One?’. And, do you know what he said? He said, ‘It’s because they know that you’re coming’.
“So, I will say this and I’ll say it right now – we all know where we are going and we will get there. We cannot be afraid to show our pride. We lost a generation of fans to poor results and that won’t happen again.
“I’m proud to be a blue and I will be for life. We are only getting started. Birmingham is on the rise and anyone who doesn’t believe me, well, they know our answer.”
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