Birmingham City owners Knighthead plan to build a Sports Quarter in the heart of the Second City
Verdict… Blues chairman Tom Wagner
Tom Wagner says it would be ‘a crime against the city of Birmingham’ if it was denied its Sports Quarter over inadequate transport links.
American investment firm Knighthead, which is headed up by Wagner, took control of Birmingham City two years ago with the idea of building a state-of-the-art Sports Quarter in the heart of the city centre.
Just over 12 months ago, Knighthead bought around 60 acres of land in east Birmingham to house a 60,000-seater stadium, training facilities for all of its teams and recreational spaces.
But a spade has yet to be put in the ground, mainly because Wagner’s pleas for the Government to fund transport links between the site and the city centre haven’t been actioned.
According to The Times, the update to transport links would cost the cash-strapped local Government between £200m and £300m.
“Without that it would be impossible for us to proceed — we can’t build something that no one can get to,” says Wagner.
“We were presented with an opportunity to build a stadium with accommodation, office space and, most importantly, a training ground for the men’s and women’s first teams and the entire academy, in one place inside the city limits. That is an extraordinary opportunity.
“By building all of those critical elements of the club one kilometre from the centre of the city, it becomes embedded into the community of Birmingham.
“We’re dropping that investment into the middle of one of the most deprived areas in the country. I think there’s a moral imperative to invest into an area like that and to have an opportunity such as the one I just described and not pursue it would be a crime against the city of Birmingham.”
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