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The City of Birmingham is officially set to become a sporting haven. Last year, Birmingham City owners Knighthead, led by co-founder Tom Wagner and minority stakeholder Tom Brady, revealed plans for a new stadium. They purchased a 48-acre site in Bordesley Green in the city to create a Sports Quarter and reaffirm their commitment to the club. A £3billion investment is planned to build the Sports Quarter that would include a 62, 000-seater ground, training facilities and community pitches. Plans of the state-of-the-art stadium have seen it compared to a ‘spaceship’, and it would provide a massive capacity increase from 29, 409 at St. Andrew’s. Offices, restaurants and entertainment spaces are also planned for the area, with that in turn creating over 8, 000 jobs and helping to transform an area with a 14% unemployment rate. Chairman Wagner had been petitioning the government to make sure the assistance was given to enable the project to happen. And now, his dreams are set to become a reality as the government granted the West Midlands £2. 4billion on Tuesday to fund vital transport projects. An estimated £300-400million of that cash will be used to build a new Metro tram line that will link the Sports Quarter to the rest of the city. The line will run from the city centre to the Sports Quarter, head to Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham Airport, the NEC and the HS2 interchange at Arden Cross. Funding for the transport line will now allow the full £3billion project to kickstart - the first phase of which is planned to be completed by 2029. Following the announcement, Blues chairman Wagner said: “The Chancellor’s commitment to upgrade transport links in East Birmingham is a huge step forward for the Sports Quarter. “It gives us the springboard we need to advance the transformative project at pace, bringing huge benefits to the people of East Birmingham and the wider region in the shape of jobs and opportunities, as well as economic growth that will be felt across the whole of the UK. ” Interim CEO Jeremy Dale added: “Birmingham City Football Club has a long heritage of contributing to our local community. "The investment confirmed today by Richard Parker will allow us to take this to the next level – creating jobs, building infrastructure for our local community, and creating a world-class sporting venue that will put Birmingham on the map. ” Meanwhile, West Midlands mayor Richard Parker said: “This means we can now deliver a new Metro line to the Sports Quarter - connecting it to Birmingham city centre and unlocking one of the most significant private investments our region has ever seen. “But this is just the beginning. This investment unlocks a nationally significant infrastructure project that will transform East Birmingham and North Solihull into one of the UK’s key growth corridors - driving thousands of new homes and jobs and bringing opportunity to communities that have been held back for too long. ” As stated, the funding will be a ‘huge step’ for Birmingham as a city, but it now also means excitement can build within the football club. Brand new facilities will be built to create an area that could be compared to Manchester City’s Etihad campus layout. The Sports Quarter will also see a new training ground and academy facilities built, and that is something that the ownership wants young players to look forward to. Wagner said in May: “For every young person who walks into that training ground to become a member of our academy, soon they will see images of where they will play when they come of age. “It will be a place unlike any other that exists in European football. ” Those comments came after the Blues chief went into further detail about what his and Knighthead's plans were. He previously explained: “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 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. ” And now that transformation finally has the go-ahead. Birmingham City are coming off the back of a record-breaking season in League One, in which they won the title with ease. The club are now back in the Championship and on an upwards trajectory thanks to the investment of Wagner and Brady. Their spending off the pitch is set to reach new heights, while on the pitch, they've been untouchable. The Blues obliterated the third-tier transfer record to sign Jay Stansfield for a deal worth up to £20million. And they are likely to continue to spend now they're within touching distance of the Premier League. If they could reach the top-flight while also creating the new Sports Quarter, Birmingham could well be set for an incredible rise. © 2025 talk SPORT Limited
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