'Complete certainty' - verdict on Birmingham City new stadium given amid 'unbelievable' spend claim

Football finance expert Stefan Borson says talks over Birmingham City building a new £3 billion stadium at this stage is unrealistic and claims that the debt of funding such a project would be ‘suffocating’ at this stage of their journey.

The Blues are flying high at the top of League One with a tremendous record of 69 points from 29 games this season, giving them a massive nine point lead with a game in hand on second place Wycombe Wanderers and a seemingly insurmountable 11 points gap over Wrexham (also including a game in hand) in the race for automatic promotion.

Birmingham held their own against Newcastle United in a thrilling 3-2 FA Cup defeat and are on course to make it to Wembley Stadium as they prepare to face Bradford City in the EFL Trophy.

They have dominated League One in emphatic fashion since their shock relegation and are slowly building the foundations of a club with the potential to reach the Premier League in the near future. The hierarchy has ambitions to upgrade every aspect of the club from the playing staff to the stadium, but Borson insists talk of a 62,000 ground would not be feasible at this stage.

Birmingham City’s ambitious new plans

Birmingham City are planning to take the club to the Premier League after announcing plans for a new stadium and sports complex.A club statement published on 9 April announcing that – Knighthead – had acquired land to construct a ‘world-class’ sports quarter that includes a new stadium and academy.

The new stadium will improve on the current 29,400-capacity of St Andrew’s Stadium and provide the club with a significant boost to their matchday income. Wagner explained he has plans to build “£20 million” tunnel connecting New Street station and the new complex that would be served by electric buses.

“I’m the ‘crazy American’ talking about this, but we need more local voices with the right accent talking about why this is a good idea,” Wagner explained.

Stefan Borson shares insight into Birmingham City stadium rumours

Football finance expert Stefan Borson says he can say with complete certainty that the board will not spend £3bn on a new stadium. He told Football Insider: They can’t build a £3 billion stadium and make it financially liable.

“I did see the Birmingham chairman being interviewed at the Newcastle game and he was incredibly impressive. He’s a classic, very upbeat, ambitious, driving force for the club, and they’re clearly not hanging around. Some of the spending has been unbelievable. I question how they can make financial fair play in League One with that kind of spending. But put that to one side, they are clearly very ambitious.

“But we need to be realistic and credible. You cannot build a £3 billion stadium without being one of the top clubs in the Premier League. Even then, the debt required to build a £3 billion stadium would be suffocating for the business.

“I have no idea what the actual plan is or who’s going to pay for it. It may be that £2 billion of this is going to be paid for by Birmingham City Council as a big part of a project in Birmingham. I doubt it, but maybe that’s the idea. Maybe £3 billion is the total value of everything that’s going to be spent in the entire area of the new stadium, including a whole 50,000 new homes and all sorts of bells and whistles. We will have to see, but I can tell you with certainty that they are not going to be building a stadium for £3 billion.”

Elsewhere, Paik Seung-ho has opened up about his decision to stay at Birmingham over the summer despite numerous offers from teams in the Championship.