'Unique' Birmingham City, Sports Quarter update drops involving Wembley designers | OneFootball

Plans for Blues' upcoming Sports Quarter complex are gathering pace

A new development has emerged in Birmingham City's plans for the upcoming Sports Quarter regeneration project in East Birmingham.

Blues may find themselves in the Championship, but that hasn't stopped the West Midlands club from generating plenty of national and worldwide headlines under the ownership of Knighthead Capital Management.

Tom Wagner is continuing to provide the millions of pounds which he hopes will end with Birmingham asserting themselves as a major force across English and European football over time, as well as thinking of extremely innovative ways in which the club's revenue streams can continue to expand, with finance becoming a key topic in the world of modern football.

New stadium developments are known for sparking plenty of discourse, and the centrepiece of the upcoming multi-billion pound development on the site of the derelict Birmingham Wheels BMX track in Bordesley Green has certainly done that ever since the idea was initially put forward by Wagner at an 'Open House' meeting at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park back in April 2024.

Of course, that was just weeks before Birmingham suffered a first relegation to League One in 30 years in what was Wagner's first season as owner, initially purchasing a 45.98 percent stake back in July 2023, before Knighthead completed a full takeover in November 2025, with the American now owning approximately 96 percent of the club, with the remaining 3 to 4 percent under the name of NFL great and Advisory Board Chairman, Tom Brady.

Image supplied through Grayling

Plans for the upcoming transformative development have certainly gathered pace within the past 12 months, with Wagner meeting with several local and national government officials in order to receive the funds required that will improve transport links to and from the Sports Quarter, which included a £1bn West Midlands Metro extension granted in June 2025, in which trams will run from the City Centre to the complex and, eventually, down Coventry Road to the NEC and Birmingham Airport.

On November 20th at Digbeth Loc Studios, Wagner unveiled the design for the upcoming stadium to the watching world, as well as a room full of high-profile names, manager Chris Davies, his Blues players and several supporters.

Named the 'Powerhouse', the 62,000-seater stadium was designed by Heatherwick Studio and MANICA design, and will be the centrepiece of the Sports Quarter which will also feature new training facilities shared by Birmingham's Men's, Women's and Academy teams, as well as an adjacent indoor arena and further retail and commercial hubs.

On December 23rd at 12PM, it was revealed that Populous had been handed the responsibility of designing a new training centre which will house the aforementioned squads inbetween matches.

At present, Davies and his first-team squad are based at the Elite Performance and Innovation Centre in Henley-in-Arden, and have been since March 2023, when the club's training ground, Wast Hills, was the site of a fire.

Despite a full rebrand at EPIC, which previously housed the now-defunct Rugby Union side, Wasps, Wast Hills is still used by the Women's and Academy sides under the name of the Knighthead Performance Centre.

It remains to be seen what the future will be for the aforementioned sites, with a statement on Birmingham's website describing the training centre at the Sports Quarter as a "unique opportunity to create a beacon of sporting excellence that is also rooted in the community."

Blues' Head of Infrastructure, Nick Smith, claimed that having such plans in place is "another important step as we press ahead with the delivery of the Sports Quarter," whilst Populous' Senior Principal and Global Director, Declan Sharkey, stated: We are extremely proud to be designing the new training centre for Birmingham City.

"Our aim is to combine our global expertise in elite training facility design with a bespoke approach, providing the Club with an innovative, sustainable performance training environment and holistic environment for all of its teams and the staff who will use it."

Populous have previously been involved in several regeneration projects involving sports teams and stadiums, helping deliver the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the new Wembley Stadium, which opened back in 2007.

New training centre plans could help Birmingham City reach the next level

It remains to be seen what the layout of the training centre and its overall facilities will look like. However, this is a development which Blues will hope elevates them to the next level.

We have already seen examples of how complexes can help attract greater sums of cash and, in turn, a higher calibre of player, such as Manchester City's Etihad Stadium and the surrounding areas.

A major improvement in terms of youth facilities cannot be understated too, as Blues will not be at as much of a risk of losing out on potential top talents to the likes of Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion, although the likes of Jude and Jobe Bellingham, Jordan James and current winger, Demarai Gray, are recent standout examples as to how players can forge a pathway into the first-team for themselves.