After a trip to Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium, Birmingham City owner Tom Wagner claims his club are going to have steeper stands
Birmingham City chairman Tom Wagner has revealed that he’s been on a fact-finding tour of Hill Dickinson Stadium. But he claims his club's proposed new home will have steeper stands than Everton's magnificent new ground.
Despite a brace of League Cups being the sum total of Birmingham’s major honours, the club spending 33 of the last 40 seasons outside the top flight, and their current ground holding 29,409, their ambitious owners are determined to build a new stadium that is over twice as big with plans for a 62,000 capacity. That would not only make it bigger than Hill Dickinson Stadium, but Anfield too.
Aided by NFL legend Tom Brady, Wagner and the Championship side’s owners Knighthead are envisioning a new sports quarter in Birmingham, with billions earmarked for a vast project which includes a sports campus and training facilities with the new stadium at the heart of it.
Author avatar
Author avatar
A year after their 2023 takeover, Knighthead bought the 48-acre former Birmingham Wheels motorsport site in Bordesley, less than a mile away from St Andrew’s and the city centre.
Owned by the council, more than £17million of the government’s levelling up fund has been allocated for remediation works although chairman Wagner has estimated the cost at between £2-3billion with the hope of a new stadium opening for the 2030/31 season.
As Birmingham seek inspiration for their own plans, Wagner has paid a visit to Everton’s new 52,769-capacity base on the Mersey waterfront and he told his club’s media: “I will tell you, I toured Everton’s new stadium, and I stood on the last row at the end of their steepest stand. We will have two that are steeper.
“The view from that spot is exceptional, it’s so steep, I’m not exaggerating when you look at the goal in front of you it’s just there.
“When you’re at the front of the top tier and sat or standing, it feels like you’re in the front row when there’s 30 or 40 rows in front of you.”
Wagner’s claims over the steepness are curious given that the rake of the South Stand at Hill Dickinson Stadium is 34.99 degrees, just inside the legally permissible limit of 35 degrees.
Architect Dan Meis, who designed Everton’s new home, revealed earlier this month at the SVB conference – at Villa Park, home of Birmingham’s neighbours Aston Villa – that his firm AECOM was “in the hunt” to win the contract for the new quarter and stadium project.
But earlier this week it was announced that the club had hired multi-award-winning British designers Heatherwick Studio partner with Kansas-based architectural powerhouse MANICA.
Content Image
Content Image