Exclusive: Aston Villa hero Lee Hendrie tells Birmingham City 'it will take time' for Blues to rival Villans success | OneFootball

Speaking exclusively with FLW, the former Villa man feels that it'll take more time for the Blues to match the successes of their second city rivals.

Sky Sports pundit and Aston Villa icon Lee Hendrie doesn't believe that Birmingham City's ambitious 62,000 capacity stadium plans and the new sports quarter will put them on par with Villa's recent success.

The Blues are looking to double the capacity of St Andrew's by building a 62,000 capacity stadium at the heart of a brand-new £3 billion sports quarter, which will span 125 acres.

Tom Wagner is keen to improve Birmingham off the pitch, with the hope that more people will get behind the players on the pitch and push them to heights many Blues fans haven't seen before.

However, Hendrie believes that more patience is needed, and in an exclusive interview with Football League World, the former Aston Villa man stated that it'll be a little longer until their ambitious plans see them overtake their second city rivals as the best side in Birmingham.

Lee Hendrie tells Birmingham City to be patient when comparing success to Aston Villa's

Aston Villa recently built from the Championship to the Champions League in the space of six seasons, and some optimistic Birmingham fans may be feeling that they can do something similar, but the resources available for their city rivals have been there for a lot longer than the Blues'.

Villa's stay in the second tier was quite shocking at the time, as they had been one of the best of the rest for the majority of the Premier League era, winning multiple FA Cups and registering even more top six finishes, whereas Birmingham have spent the last 30 or so years moving between divisions.

Because of this, Sky Sports pundit and Villa hero Lee Hendrie feels it'll still take some time for success to start coming.

"I know that they've got this ambitious stadium situation, but I'm not sure if that will directly put them on par with Villa," Hendrie exclusively told FLW.

"I think Villa have taken a lot of time to get where they are, and with their recent success.

"Over time, Birmingham will be a successful football club, but at this time, they're still rebuilding and progressing from promotion from League One.

"The plans look exciting, but I think it's going to take time for them to get the success that Villa have had, and that's not me being biased towards my club."

The foundations are being laid for success at Birmingham City

Since the turn of the millennium, Birmingham has spent just seven seasons in the Premier League.

Despite the fanfare which surrounds the club at this moment in time, it'll be a surprise if the Blues hit the ground running immediately if and when they get back to the top flight, such is the nature of the Premier League beast for newly promoted clubs nowadays.

In comparison to Aston Villa, their three Championship campaigns in the late 2010s were the only ones outside the top flight since the Premier League was created in 1992.

They've been able to craft a competitive side over several decades, which has helped them earn Champions League nights, and crucially, they were able to get back in before this current trend of newly promoted clubs finding it almost impossible to survive in the division.

That doesn't mean that Birmingham's ambition won't get them there, and indeed keep them there, however.

If the timeline is right and the new stadium opens in 2030, the Blues will be playing in the eighth-largest stadium in England. Clearly, the new ground will be designed to host Europe's elite, but it may take a while to get there.

As Aston Villa have found out, staying sustainable and being competitive at the same time can be a tricky scale to balance, and Birmingham will need to ensure that they don't get carried away and progress the right way. Ultimately, that means being patient.