The Birmingham City Football Club’s stadium has gone through a few names, one of the worst being the Trillion Trophy Stadium, but the new owners are a bit more graceful than that.
The stadium is set to be renamed St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park, with the Wast Hills training ground to be renamed The Knighthead Training and Academy Grounds.
Chairman of Knighthead and the Club, Tom Wagner, said:
“St. Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park is step one in our plan to create a world-renowned ‘Sports Quarter’ in Birmingham. We invested in Blues because of the opportunity to not only transform a football club but to also be a catalyst for change in the city itself. Our ambition is bold. It is for the Club to become a beacon of excellence for Birmingham. We are at an early stage in the journey, but we have already started to capture the imagination of a global audience. It is only going to grow. That is why the timing of the multi-year naming rights partnership is perfect and why it is so important to Knighthead.”
There has been talk of Knighthead buying land near the stadium known as Birmingham Wheels Park which is a good chunk of land to build the proposed Sports Quarter, but as for the fan entertainment zone, I would have thought something on-site is more preferable.
It seems like something might be developed behind The Royal George and on the Main Entrance car park, which could mean no more car park there and the George properly fenced off.
We’ve only seen concept art so far, so it’s difficult to say exactly where things are going to be built, but the aim is to get the fan zone finished before the end of the current season.
There are certainly exciting times ahead for Birmingham City and not just the football club, having owners who are also investing in the community will really put the club on the global map.
To read more about the renaming and the kind of revenue forecast to be made from all of this, see this article on the BCFC website.