Birmingham City have unveiled ambitious plans for their proposed new 62,000 capacity stadium after chairman Tom Wagner claimed the stands would be steeper than those at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium
Plans for the exterior of Birmingham City's proposed new stadium
Plans for the exterior of Birmingham City's proposed new stadium
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Birmingham City have unveiled their plans for a new stadium featuring 12 ‘chimneys’. It comes after chairman Tom Wagner revealed he’d been on a fact-finding tour of Hill Dickinson Stadium and claimed his club’s proposed future home will have steeper stands than Everton’s new base on the Mersey waterfront.
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. But at the launch of his own club’s plans on Thursday, he told guests that the Birmingham City Powerhouse in Bordesley Green will be visible from 40 miles away and will become a “beacon for excellence for Birmingham.”
The distinctive chimneys reflect brickworks that once sat on the site while providing structural support for the roof, with one tower containing a lift to a bar overlooking the city, while the ground will also have a retractable roof that can close in 20 minutes and a moveable pitch.
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Despite a brace of League Cups being the sum total of Birmingham City’s major honours, the club spending 33 of the last 40 seasons outside the top flight, and their current ground St Andrew’s 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.
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 sought inspiration for their own plans, Wagner paid a visit to Everton’s 52,769-capacity Hill Dickison Stadium and last month 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.
Plans for the interior of Birmingham City's proposed new stadium
Plans for the interior of Birmingham City's proposed new stadium
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“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.”
Architect Dan Meis, who designed Everton’s new home, revealed in October 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 later that month it was announced that the club had hired multi-award-winning British designers Heatherwick Studio partner with Kansas-based MANICA.