Exclusive: Birmingham City receive mammoth £400m boost in plans for 62,000-seater stadium | OneFootball

Blues could be a step closer to getting their multi billion-pound project off the ground

Birmingham City have received formal recognition of the government’s commitment to support their transformative Sports Quarter with a £400m boost, Football League World understands.

The West Midlands Combined Authority plans to ring-fence the cash at its meeting on November 14 as the first part of a tranche of public money aimed at helping to deliver the £2.5 billion-£3 billion development.

The latest report being considered by the WMCA board confirms the promise made by chancellor of the exchequer, Rachel Reeves, to Birmingham’s owners, Knighthead Capital, that money would be forthcoming from central government coffers to support their ambitious plans.

Birmingham City set to land major windfall for Sports Quarter project

The Sports Quarter development forms a key part of a Major Investment Prospectus, launched at a Regional Investment Submit, hosted in Birmingham last month.

These funds were part of a larger chunk of cash aimed at delivering overall transport infrastructure improvements and the decision has been taken to support the Blues in their bid to transform the 125-acre site.

Details regarding the new 62,000 all-seater stadium at the heart of the project are due for release later this month.

But the £400m will aid the vital infrastructure necessary to transport people to and from the venue and open up a route through east Birmingham to north Solihull, in what is a major step towards getting cracking with the project.

It has been allocated to the first phase of the above tram system. The money will also be used to upgrade nearby Adderley Park train station.

The latter is seen as being vital to ferry spectators to and from the new stadium as part of a larger infrastructure play.

Birmingham City stadium plans are already taking shape with 2029 launch date targeted

Much has been made of Birmingham's planned new stadium as part of the Sports Quarter, with the plans in place being to DOUBLE the current capacity of St. Andrew's at their proposed new home.

Plans are already in motion for that to begin, with Blues owner Tom Wagner naming architechts - British designers Heatherwick Studio as well as American company MANICA - to come together with the design, with boyhood City supporter Steven Knight - a film writer and director - also assisting with the vision.

There is a plan for the new stadium and the sports quarter to be up and running for the year 2029, in what is an ambitious time-scale for Birmingham's American owners, with NFL legend Tom Brady being one of the figureheads that is spearheading the movement for it to become a hub for the Midlands city's sport.

City are also set to sell the naming rights to the new stadium to the highest bidder, which was confirmed by Wagner last month, meaning the Knighthead brand may not actually be emblazoned on the future stadium when it's all said and done.