Birmingham City issue ‘positive’ update on St Andrew’s stadium repairs

Birmingham City have provided an update on the structural issues with St Andrew’s stadium.

Sections of St Andrew’s have also been shut for more than a year, with the club being forced to close the lower sections of the Kop and Tilton Road End due to structural issues.

Although the Main Stand and Gil Merrick end are fully open for supporters, the lower tier of the Kop and Tilton Road End have been closed since 2020.

The closure of the tiers has been a source of frustration for supporters, who have cited it as one of the reasons for the #BSHLOUT protests against the club’s owners - Birmingham Sports Holdings Ltd - in recent months.

The club revealed back in January that it was left with three options to progress with the stadium repairs, but needed to undertake a site investigation beofre moving forward and making a decision.

The club has said it is now waiting for the full report from a stadium site investigation which will help them to decide how to repair the Tilton and Kop areas.

What has the club said?

A statement from Blues, read: “The club is still waiting for the full report from the site investigations undertaken across the lower Tilton and Kop. However, early indications communicated to us are positive.

“Once we have received the detailed results of the site investigations, along with additional surveys and phasing plans, we can come to an informed decision around how to undertake the next phase of the remedial work.

“It has been recommended that work begins to expose the underside of the lower tiers at the earliest opportunity, following the conclusion of the season, to allow the works to begin as quickly and efficiently as possible.

“Furthermore, the works must be sequenced around the pitch renovations (detailed below), and other off-season activities which include servicing the LED boards and floodlights.

“Over the next few weeks, the club is aiming to share phasing plans and more detailed information, including prospective timelines, to allow supporters to start thinking about next season.

“We will continue to communicate with our supporters on the progress of the repairs as frequently as possible.’

The club said it had these three options back in January to work on the stadium repairs. They were:

• Concrete encasement of steel rakers: this would include removing the current precast concrete terrace units, encasing the steel rakers in concrete to reduce ongoing maintenance and meet the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations and reinstating the terrace units.
• Refurbishment of current beams: this would be the quickest solution if suitable access was available to work under the stadium. With that not being the case, the precast concrete terrace units will still need to be removed to facilitate the works. However, the problem of poor access for future maintenance and inspection will remain which is in contravention of the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations.

• Ground bearing stand replacement: this option would consist of removing the current stands and rebuilding them to comply with the Green Guide. This option would take much longer than the previous two and would require pitch access, however, would be more cohesive to facilitate safe standing in the future.

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