When Birmingham City's new stadium will open as Tom Wagner issues update | OneFootball

Plans for the club's major project are now moving in the right direction after receiving a Government boost.

Birmingham City chairman Tom Wagner has said that the club's Sports Quarter will be open in 2030, and not 2029 as originally planned.

Plans for the massive 125-acre project in the east of the city have been on hold for a bit but received a major boost on Wednesday when it was confirmed that the Government had allocated £2.4 billion to improve transport in Birmingham. An estimated £300-400 million will be used to build a new tramline between the city centre and the Sports Quarter site in Bordersley.

Wagner has campaigned to get backing from the Government on this matter since October, stressing that this project couldn't go ahead unless plans to boost the transport network were improved.

"The Chancellor's commitment to upgrade transport links in east Birmingham is a huge step forward for the Sports Quarter," said the chairman in the aftermath of the announcement.

Tom Wagner makes revised Sports Quarter claim for Birmingham City plans

The 55-year-old is an extremely ambitious man. He believes that the Blues can seriously challenge for promotion to the Premier League next season based on the revenues that they are expected to generate and can therefore use to improve their record-breaking team.

Some may consider it wishful thinking, but Wagner is self-aware in this regard, and has already made one concession about his plans for the club.

Originally, he wanted the Sports Quarter to be open in 2029. Even after delays to the project, he later reiterated that his goal to have it in use before the end of the decade remained.

Those hopes have now been revised, as Wagner has stated that the Sports Quarter, which will include a new 60,000-seater home for Birmingham, new training facilities and new spaces for the academy and women's teams, should be open in 2030.

"We’re in the process of interviewing architects to put together the design," the chairman said to Birmingham Live.

"The site plan is well advanced and, as that is happening, there are quite a few people working on the planning application that will be submitted in January.

"Hopefully it takes a year or less to get approval and the day we get approval is the day we start digging."

Birmingham City's Sports Quarter will be a transformative project on many fronts

The £3 billion project will be revolutionary for the club and the city.

If you think that the money the Blues are bringing in now is lofty, wait until they can potentially more than double their ticket revenue and benefit from all the other commercial opportunities that will come as a result of the Sports Quarter.

It will also help those who live in the area, revitalising a section of the city in the same way that Manchester City's Etihad campus, which is set to be 45 acres smaller than Birmingham's new home, has helped the east end of Manchester.