Tom Wagner makes exciting claim about Birmingham City’s new stadium | OneFootball

Birmingham's Sports Quarter project has been handed further boosts

Birmingham City owner Tom Wagner has stated that the club's proposed new 62,000-seater stadium "will be an entertainment venue unlike many others in the world".

The American issued such words after the Sports Quarter project which will surround Blues' new home was given further boosts on Wednesday, as government funding for a tramline extension from Birmingham City Centre towards North Solihull - which will stop at the complex -was given the green light.

Talk of moving from the club's traditional home - St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park - began in April of last year, when it was announced that Knighthead had acquired the currently derelict Birmingham Wheels site which spans 48 acres, for a sum of £51m, and as of last month, had acquired land as far back as Tilton Road, where the current stadium is located.

On the pitch, Chris Davies' side are gearing up for Championship football once more after a record-breaking season in League One which saw them hit a world-record point haul of 111, but off it, Wagner's ambitious plans have once again been spelled out.

Tom Wagner issues "unique" claim on new Birmingham City stadium

Birmingham's new stadium is at the front and centre of a complex which is reported to cost between £2-3bn, spanning 125 acres, whilst generating thousands of job opportunities for those in the city and West Midlands region.

Wagner recently assured supporters that Blues' and the Second City's identity would be key when producing the final design, saying: "One thing I am very clear about - we want to see stadium designs that are uplifting and visionary but at the same time feel authentic - rooted in the industrial heritage of our immediate site and the city of Birmingham.

The 55-year-old has continuously referenced how important accessibility to the new stadium is, having met with numerous government officials alongside Mayor of the West Midlands, Richard Parker, amid plans of a £20m underground tunnel linking the Sports Quarter as far as Birmingham New St and the HS2 line from Curzon St to London. This was, once again, a key talking point in an interview with the BBC, as well as how the stadium will differ from many in the UK and Europe.

"We needed the transport links to ensure the site was viable," Wagner began. "This will be an entertainment venue unlike many others in the world."

"We have a unique opportunity. If you look across western Europe you'd be hard pressed to find another city with that much land available... where a project of this magnitude could be created," the New York-born owner claimed.

"This will be a venue that is used 365 days a year, we'll create 8,500 jobs... the goal would be to host a whole range of international events, not solely football but American football, rugby."

When asked about financial ramifications a new stadium would have on season ticket prices, with some current packages at St Andrew's coming in at an average of £12.50 per fixture, Wagner stated that Bluenoses would not be priced out, as it wouldn't align with the club's values.

"If you price out the fans that are here you have different people sitting in the stands, you lose the singing, you lose the passion and then you've lost your product," he continued.

"We have to remember this is a club of the people and that means the solution for growing commercial revenue is not solved through ticket prices, it's solved through making a better product."

When plans for the complex were first mooted 14 months ago, Wagner was rather ambitious in his thinking, hoping that Blues would move into the stadium at the start of the 2029/30 season.

"My timeframe is lunacy but we'll look to get this completed in five years," he said at the time.

"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."

It has since been revealed, alongside the further boosts provided by the extension to West Midlands Metro that the Sports Quarter will hopefully be finished by 2030, with the new ground surrounded by a 20,000-seater arena, hotel and training facilities for the mens and women's teams, with Knighthead's estimated figures stating that it could provide £450m to the local economy within the next decade.