What will happen to St Andrew's when Birmingham City move? Hopeful prediction made | OneFootball

FLW's Birmingham City fan pundit has told the club what to do with St. Andrew's once their new 62,000 seater stadium is complete

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Birmingham City are working on the development of a brand-new Powerhouse Stadium to replace St. Andrew’s.

Owner Tom Wagner has been quite involved in the plans to replace the club’s home ground, with a new 62,000 seater stadium set to be opened for the beginning of the 2030/31 campaign.

It will be a part of the general Sports Quarter, which will also include new training facilities, with the American businessman hoping to establish the Midlands outfit as a Premier League side in the long run.

However, no plans have yet been confirmed for what will happen to Birmingham’s current home, which has a capacity of around 29,000.

If everything goes as expected, then the Blues will have just four more full seasons in the ground before moving into their new home in 2030.

Birmingham City will move on completely from St. Andrew’s

When asked what they expect could happen to St. Andrew’s, FLW’s Birmingham fan pundit Jason Moore claimed that there won’t be much use for the stadium once the new ground is finished because of the scale of the Sports Quarter plans.

He believes that the likeliest outcome is that their current home will be sold and potentially developed into something like housing, similar to what happened to Highbury Stadium when Arsenal moved into the Emirates in 2006.

“To be honest, from the plans I’ve seen for the new stadium, everything just seems to be in that Sports Quarter, or whatever they want to call it, everything that a football club needs to survive functionally,” Moore told Football League World.

“To be honest, I don’t think anything other than, sadly, it being knocked down and houses go down on it.

“In the nicest way, I don’t know if you’ve been around St. Andrew’s, but the surrounding area is an absolute sty.

“Love the history of the ground, I love that we’ve had it as our home [for our] whole existence, but you’ve got to move with the times.

“And St. Andrew’s, there is nowhere for us to develop on that land, so I will miss it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s just sold, and they make money off it.”

Moore has outlined his hope that the owners will ensure there is still a nod to the club’s history with St. Andrew’s, but that he’ll have no issue with it being knocked down at the end of the day.

“One thing I will say about these owners, I would like to think they’re going to do something where there’s an element of St. Andrew’s still there, so when people go there there’s like ‘that’s where Birmingham City Football Club was originally’,” he continued

“So, I don’t know, the centre circle for the pitch is still there, and there’s like a plaque saying ‘here lies Birmingham City,’ all that stuff.

“Just a little nod to our past for anyone that goes by, like Highbury when Arsenal had the Emirates made.

“I’ve got no issue with it being knocked down, it is what it is, I’d just like us to have a little nod to the history kept there, that’s all.”

Birmingham are currently chasing a play-off place in the Championship, with the team eyeing back-to-back promotions after winning the League One title last season.

St. Andrew’s likely isn’t part of Knighthead’s long-term plans

Building a brand-new stadium at the cost and size of this proposed new ground means that there likely won’t be any plans to use St. Andrew’s longer term.

Everton moved away from Goodison Park, but have continued to use the stadium for their women’s side, which could be an option for the Midlands outfit.

However, it’s far more likely that the land will be sold as the revenue that could generate could prove quite useful in the short-term.

It will be a big change for Birmingham supporters when they have to move home, but there is at least a lot of time between now and then for them to get used to the idea.