Finance expert drops claim on £3 billion Birmingham City plans | OneFootball

Stefan Borson has given his verdict on Birmingham City's plans to build a £3 billion stadium

Football finance expert Stefan Borson has poured cold water on Birmingham City’s potential £3 billion stadium plans.

It was reported earlier this month by The Sun that the Blues have drawn up plans for a stadium that could cost up to £3 billion to build.

Owner Tom Wagner has made it clear that his plans for the Midlands outfit involve a new home ground, with up to 60 acres of land already acquired in his bid to transform the club.

The plans also include a sports complex, which will not just include a new stadium but also a new training ground, however any conclusion on this project will likely take years to come to fruition.

Borson makes £3bn Birmingham stadium claim

Borson believes that a new stadium at a cost of £3 billion would not be financially viable and could cripple the club’s business.

While he is impressed by the Blues’ ambition, he thinks that these plans are not realistic.

“They can’t build a £3 billion stadium and make it financially liable,” said Borson, via Football Insider.

“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.”

Borson raises Birmingham funding question

Borson has also questioned how the £3 billion figure will be paid for, and what actually makes up this valuation, claiming that it simply can’t be just the stadium.

“I have no idea what the actual plan is or who’s going to pay for it,” he added.

“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.”

Premier League side Everton are currently building a new stadium, and it has been reported by the Liverpool Echo that this will come at a cost of around £500 million to the Toffees.

Birmingham City's promotion ambitions

Birmingham are currently leading the way at the top of the League One table, with Chris Davies’ side ahead of Wycombe Wanderers by nine points, with a game in hand.

The Blues suffered relegation last year, Wagner's first full season as the new owner, but he has not let that deter from his obvious ambitions for the club.

Promotion to the Premier League will be their ultimate aim, but Birmingham have not competed at that level since their relegation in 2011.

Next up in the league for Davies' side is a trip to face Reading on 22 February in a 12.30pm kick-off.

Birmingham’s ambitions need to be matched with on-pitch success

Birmingham are doing well in League One at the minute, and will surely earn automatic promotion to the Championship this season.

However, these stadium plans are so ambitious that simply being in the Championship won’t be good enough long-term.

As Borson outlines, a stadium of this size and scope would have to require the team being in the Premier League, and being competitive at that level consistently over quite some time.

While there is no harm in being ambitious, Wagner has to take it one step at a time and these stadium plans should only be coming to fruition once their status as a top flight club is secure.