Tom Wagner will have Birmingham City new stadium doubt after what happened v Preston | OneFootball

Blues' lofty plans will see them leave St. Andrew's for the Powerhouse in 2030

Birmingham City's first year back in the Championship hasn't exactly lived up to the pre-season hype which surrounded the West Midlands outfit both on and off the pitch.

Since his initial takeover of Blues in July 2023, Tom Wagner and his American investment firm, Knighthead, haven't been afraid to reach for the stars when setting out an array of lofty future plans and ambitions in this part of Birmingham.

No longer is it a club where mid-table obscurity and relegation escapes are to be accepted, although, unfortunately, from his, Chris Davies' and the fanbase's perspective, that is what Blues have had to settle for in the current campaign as a poor run of form in March effectively ended their dreams of gatecrashing the top six.

A settled season of consolidation for a side promoted as League One champions would normally be deemed satisfactory, but off the back of a record-breaking campaign in the third tier in which 111 points were amassed, Wagner continued to heavily back Davies with two more large spending sprees in the transfer market, with a major announcement on the club's future sandwiched inbetween.

Indeed, it is well-known how hostile St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park can be when Bluenoses and the team are at their best, but a chance to grow the club further left Wagner with very little choice but to moot plans for a new stadium, and they first became a future reality when the 62,000-seater Powerhouse was revealed at Digbeth Loc Studios.

Given the club's current status, the plans became instantly mocked by rival supporters as a result of its capacity - twice as much as St. Andrew's - and the chimney-themed design.

However, whilst Wagner's day-to-day running of Blues has slowed down in recent weeks as he recovers from a stroke, developments against Preston North End in midweek may have left the American nervous about the aforementioned plans.

Birmingham City had their lowest attendance of the season in Preston North End success

As previously mentioned, Birmingham have very little but pride to play for at this stage of the season, with Davies' position as manager also coming under scrutiny, yet again, as a result.

Despite a return of four points from their two previous outings versus play-off chasing Wrexham and Hull City, a midweek encounter against the Lilywhites in B9 wasn't exactly a game that sent excitement levels through the roof.

That said, Blues did continue to build on their recent relative upturn in form and performances and won 2-1, with Ibrahim Osman making a real difference before his 37th-minute withdrawal through injury, supplying Jay Stansfield for the club-record signing's first goal since February, as well as netting a second of his own loan stint from Brighton and Hove Albion.

Andrew Hughes would pull one back for North End later in the half, but the three points saw Blues hit an overall tally of 60 for the campaign thus far, moving up to 10th.

However, one concern, perhaps, for the hierarchy at St. Andrew's was the attendance figure which dropped after the game, as the dead-rubber encounter was played before a crowd of 23,798.

Pictures have since surfaced of an extremely sparse away crowd that hadn't helped those numbers, but it is still Birmingham's lowest league gate of the season, with the only other home matches this term seeing lower gates recorded being EFL Cup fixtures against Sheffield United and Port Vale in August.

Tom Wagner may have slight doubts over Powerhouse crowds if Birmingham City aren't successful

In the modern age, it has become a trend to see clubs mocked when attendance figures shoot up, with the argument being that a number of supporters were not attending matches during periods of struggle.

Blues, of course, saw half of St. Andrew's closed off earlier in the decade due to mandatory repair work, meaning attendance figures were somewhat skewed.

However, since the full complement of stands have reopened, sell-outs have been a regular at the 29,409-capacity ground, and that is reflected by an average gate of 27,321 from 22 home fixtures in the Championship, with one to come against Bristol City.

The Powerhouse isn't just about football, with it being a part of a £2-3bn Sports Quarter complex that will provide commercial and retail opportunities for locals when it opens in four years time.

However, there will be some doubts as to whether the 62,000 capacity will be filled if Birmingham are not successful in their aims for the years to come, as they are competing against Aston Villa, who are also redeveloping Villa Park and have re-established themselves as regulars in European competitions at this moment in time.