Birmingham City: Blues owners complete purchase of new home site

Birmingham City have moved a step closer to a new stadium after their owners completed the purchase of land to the east of the city – less than a mile from their St Andrew’s home.

But there is not yet any timescale on when the club will move.

Blues are currently in the Championship bottom three, in danger of relegation.

Following Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Leicester City, Blues, currently under interim boss Gary Rowett for the rest of the season, are a point from safety with just five games left.

Knighthead say the new stadium and training facilities at the site, within walking distance of the city centre, will create a “world class” Sports Quarter and create three thousand jobs.

Birmingham City Council first confirmed last month that the site was in the final stages of being sold off.

Talks over the sale have been ongoing for weeks, involving US-based club chairman Tom Wagner, Blues chief executive Garry Cook and the council’s lead commissioner Max Caller, with West Midlands Mayor Andy Street acting as a mediator.

A government grant of about £17m was secured to help clean up the site through the levelling-up fund – and work to clear the site has already started as a result of the funding.

The city council will inject a further £1.9m as a condition of receiving the money.

The club say the site will have “a new multi-use stadium, high-performance training facilities and other mixed-use real estate development including a range of entertainment options”.

“Our owners have an ambition that is greater than anything this club has ever seen,” said Cook. “When we deliver it the impact on the global reputation of Birmingham will be seismic.”

Chairman Wagner added: “When we invested in Birmingham City, we made it very clear that we had an ambitious vision to transform the experience for our fans and make a positive contribution to the growth and vitality of the city.

“The acquisition of the former Wheels site is an important next step in making this a reality. The plans for the Sports Quarter will bring global interest to our club and to Birmingham as a whole.

“It is going to transform the future of our men’s, women’s and academy teams, and the fortunes of the community that we call home.”

Blues have played at their existing home in Small Heath since 1906.

Birmingham City currently have two training grounds.

The men’s first team are based at Henley-in Arden, having taken over the former Wasps training base, while the women and Academy sides train at their long-standing establishment in the south of the city at Wast Hills, in Kings Norton.