| Birmingham City’s New Stadium 07:26 - Oct 27 with 3549 views | Churchman |
Birmingham’s owners really are ambitious and clearly have very deep pockets. They are planning for a 62,000 stadium that will enable other sporting events like NFL to be held.
https://talksport.com/football/3679177/birmingham-city-new-stadium-design-chimne
They are confident they can fill it for Birmingham’s games and given the size of Birmingham I’m guessing they might be right.
The big question for me is what happens if they are not? Will they be playing in a soulless half empty stadium MK Dons style?
Still, I can see where they are going in terms of multi-usage, future proofing, taking the club forward. It’s very ambitious and for them very exciting.
That brings us back to ITFC. There’s no way we could do anything like that and nor would I like to see it. With a limit to the catchment area and its location an empty stadium would benefit nobody. But assuming plans to redevelop Portman Rd haven’t gone in the bin yet (given radio silence from the owners who knows), my question is what would people like to see?
I think the ideas that have bounced around (West Stand extension then a new East Stand) are reasonable with a max capacity of say 35,000 and facilities that can easily hold concerts, conferencing, events. But is that financially viable? If not would anything make it so?
Thoughts? |  | | |  |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 07:46 - Oct 27 with 3117 views | Plums |
They're a strange club. One of those that's well supported locally but you rarely see Bluenose shirts or car stickers etc. away from the city so it's hard to gauge the true size of their support.
With the city's rich history of gunsmiths and jewellery, I'd have thought some sort of gangsta theme rather than chimneys would be more commercially appealing... |  |
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| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 08:00 - Oct 27 with 3034 views | trncbluearmy |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 07:46 - Oct 27 by Plums |
They're a strange club. One of those that's well supported locally but you rarely see Bluenose shirts or car stickers etc. away from the city so it's hard to gauge the true size of their support.
With the city's rich history of gunsmiths and jewellery, I'd have thought some sort of gangsta theme rather than chimneys would be more commercially appealing... |
Given their catchment area always thought they were very poorly supported,
no success/history to speak of
Don't think they would get anywhere near filling a stadium of that size consistently
Reckon the 4000 upgrade to Pioneer Stand and then Cobbold rebuild is very much linked to cattlemarket upgrade, ITFC are just waiting for council go ahead |  | | |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 08:45 - Oct 27 with 2853 views | wrightsrightglove |
Unless they’re consistently in the prem and in and around European places there’s no way they sell out a 62k stadium. It’ll be more about being able to host events there and bring in extra revenue. If they’ve got any sense they’ll tier is so that it can function as a 35/40k stadium with the upper tier closed off on match days unless needed. It would be great for Birmingham to be able to host stadium concerts, NFL etc. but I’m not sure how long the payback would be on a stadium like that (probably a similar build cost to Wembley and they’re still paying that off despite hosting a lot of events every year).
With regards to Ipswich, it’s a similar situation but on a much smaller scale. It’s not necessarily about the extra capacity for match days (although we can sell out 35/40k) but about the additional income from restaurants, corporate, concerts, events etc. I’m sure they’re calculating exactly how long the payback would be.
On a wider note, I hope there’s a lot of joined up thinking and conversations going on about the whole area, it’s a real opportunity to develop the area around the ground and bring money into the town. Hopefully the swimming pool and multi-storey can achieve funding and get underway. I’d love to see a permanent structure on the practise pitch to act as a fanzone on match days but being able to act as a bar / gig venue etc during the week, I think there’s a real opportunity to build something which will bring people to the town. Something like Melkweg in Amsterdam would be perfect |  | | |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 08:47 - Oct 27 with 2830 views | MattinLondon |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 07:46 - Oct 27 by Plums |
They're a strange club. One of those that's well supported locally but you rarely see Bluenose shirts or car stickers etc. away from the city so it's hard to gauge the true size of their support.
With the city's rich history of gunsmiths and jewellery, I'd have thought some sort of gangsta theme rather than chimneys would be more commercially appealing... |
Probably sums up the city of Birmingham as well - Someone says I’m going to Manchester or Liverpool or Cardiff for a weekend away of drinking and fun - brilliant, I’ve heard great things about it. I’m going to Birmingham - yeah, why? Considering it’s been the second city of England (in terms of population) it’s all a bit of a nothing.
In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever known anyone actually from Birmingham itself. Does it actually exist?
The interior of the train station there is really strangely designed. [Post edited 27 Oct 8:54]
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| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 08:56 - Oct 27 with 2768 views | SomethingBlue |
Think Town's catchment area tends to be underplayed – it really isn't too far short of a million. If we became a stable Premier League club then 40k would feel fine to me but that's some way down the track, if ever. Would sustain 35k as a yo-yo-club I expect, and that seems the way to go right now. | |
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| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 09:20 - Oct 27 with 2615 views | solemio |
Aston Villa is by a long way the top team in Birmingham. And they have by far the more pleasant lot of supporters! | | | |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 09:28 - Oct 27 with 2555 views | Churchman |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 08:47 - Oct 27 by MattinLondon |
Probably sums up the city of Birmingham as well - Someone says I’m going to Manchester or Liverpool or Cardiff for a weekend away of drinking and fun - brilliant, I’ve heard great things about it. I’m going to Birmingham - yeah, why? Considering it’s been the second city of England (in terms of population) it’s all a bit of a nothing.
In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever known anyone actually from Birmingham itself. Does it actually exist?
The interior of the train station there is really strangely designed. [Post edited 27 Oct 8:54]
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I’ve been there many times over the years. It’s a funny place. It’s improved considerably with pedestrianisation and investment. Love Edgbaston too. But it’s still a confusing, sprawling conurbation with plenty of pretty desperate bits to it.
The area around St Andrews was a complete shthole, but it’s either improved or they’ll build their stadium somewhere else that people can get to. Near the NEC maybe?
I’ve known and worked with a few brummies over the years. They’re ok. New Street rail station is odd. Gloomy, split platforms, confusing. Still, I like the mechanical bull Ozzie they constructed for the Commonwealth Games on the forecourt. Always makes me smile | | | |
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| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 09:36 - Oct 27 with 2499 views | 2-5-7 |
Rubbish images of what the stadium might really look like
Looks like a big blue wheat silo |  | | |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 09:37 - Oct 27 with 2501 views | SheffordBlue |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 08:56 - Oct 27 by SomethingBlue |
Think Town's catchment area tends to be underplayed – it really isn't too far short of a million. If we became a stable Premier League club then 40k would feel fine to me but that's some way down the track, if ever. Would sustain 35k as a yo-yo-club I expect, and that seems the way to go right now. |
I guess any future development will also take into account project population growth and the fans that might come with that. Suffolk is relatively underdeveloped compared with other areas although the catchment areas of Essex, Cambridgeshire, etc continue to grow quite a lot. | |
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| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 10:44 - Oct 27 with 2250 views | Guthrum |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 09:37 - Oct 27 by SheffordBlue |
I guess any future development will also take into account project population growth and the fans that might come with that. Suffolk is relatively underdeveloped compared with other areas although the catchment areas of Essex, Cambridgeshire, etc continue to grow quite a lot. |
Problem with Suffolk is that, apart from Ipswich itself, the county lacks communication links towards London. It's either A12 in the coastal zone or A11/M11 from the far west. The A14 is a good spine east-west, but it's a long way round if you're coming from somewhere like Bury.
As for the train, it's the rattler all the way to Cambridge or Ipswich before you can change (unless you're in Sudbury and I don't know what that line is like).
Thus most of Suffolk is more shielded from people fleeing London house prices than the Essex coastal strip and maybe the Newmarket area. |  |
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| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 11:12 - Oct 27 with 2129 views | Blue_Moses |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 08:47 - Oct 27 by MattinLondon |
Probably sums up the city of Birmingham as well - Someone says I’m going to Manchester or Liverpool or Cardiff for a weekend away of drinking and fun - brilliant, I’ve heard great things about it. I’m going to Birmingham - yeah, why? Considering it’s been the second city of England (in terms of population) it’s all a bit of a nothing.
In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever known anyone actually from Birmingham itself. Does it actually exist?
The interior of the train station there is really strangely designed. [Post edited 27 Oct 8:54]
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Birmingham is a quality night out, been out a good dozen or so times over the years | | | |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 11:17 - Oct 27 with 2115 views | Illinoisblue |
They’ll be on their sixth different manager before they break ground. A lot of anger and annoyance towards Chris Davies from a lot of their fans; unhappy with their possession-obsessed backwards football.
They all thought they were going to walk the championship. |  |
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| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 11:39 - Oct 27 with 2015 views | gsoly |
I read a great comment here recently regards our stadium development. I think as fans we typically view it through the lens of bigger, more seats etc. But actually, adding say 5k seats but transforming the interior or building new facilities on the site could be huge for the club, additional revenue streams etc.
I think that's mainly what Ashton is thinking of when it comes to PR development - and likely is what the grand Birmingham plan is too. Believe there's talk of a big NFL link (Brady, etc) and this would guarantee the option of playing games there, as they do at Wembley + Spurs. |  | | |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 11:42 - Oct 27 with 1995 views | Freddies_Ears |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 11:17 - Oct 27 by Illinoisblue |
They’ll be on their sixth different manager before they break ground. A lot of anger and annoyance towards Chris Davies from a lot of their fans; unhappy with their possession-obsessed backwards football.
They all thought they were going to walk the championship. |
And quite a few of them, this time last year, added that they'd then make Europe in their first season in the Prem. Utterly disparaging of our measly back-to-back promotions. I am delighted they are struggling. | | | |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 11:59 - Oct 27 with 1885 views | edd |
Doesn't mention that they've already secured the funding for the tram extension - direct links from the ground one way to the city centre and NEC/airport the other. | | | |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 12:02 - Oct 27 with 1862 views | MattinLondon |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 11:12 - Oct 27 by Blue_Moses |
Birmingham is a quality night out, been out a good dozen or so times over the years |
I’m sure it is but in comparison to Manchester or Cardiff etc it has an image problem. It kinda gets forgotten about despite how big the actual city is. | | | |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 12:12 - Oct 27 with 1795 views | Illinoisblue |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 11:42 - Oct 27 by Freddies_Ears |
And quite a few of them, this time last year, added that they'd then make Europe in their first season in the Prem. Utterly disparaging of our measly back-to-back promotions. I am delighted they are struggling. |
Same. Hope they struggle for a while. Ok the flip side, nice to see Coventry doing so well after years of struggle. | |
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| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 12:22 - Oct 27 with 1734 views | HighgateBlue |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 08:45 - Oct 27 by wrightsrightglove |
Unless they’re consistently in the prem and in and around European places there’s no way they sell out a 62k stadium. It’ll be more about being able to host events there and bring in extra revenue. If they’ve got any sense they’ll tier is so that it can function as a 35/40k stadium with the upper tier closed off on match days unless needed. It would be great for Birmingham to be able to host stadium concerts, NFL etc. but I’m not sure how long the payback would be on a stadium like that (probably a similar build cost to Wembley and they’re still paying that off despite hosting a lot of events every year).
With regards to Ipswich, it’s a similar situation but on a much smaller scale. It’s not necessarily about the extra capacity for match days (although we can sell out 35/40k) but about the additional income from restaurants, corporate, concerts, events etc. I’m sure they’re calculating exactly how long the payback would be.
On a wider note, I hope there’s a lot of joined up thinking and conversations going on about the whole area, it’s a real opportunity to develop the area around the ground and bring money into the town. Hopefully the swimming pool and multi-storey can achieve funding and get underway. I’d love to see a permanent structure on the practise pitch to act as a fanzone on match days but being able to act as a bar / gig venue etc during the week, I think there’s a real opportunity to build something which will bring people to the town. Something like Melkweg in Amsterdam would be perfect |
They get good crowds at the moment, but they're not straining at the seams. If they're not regularly selling out a ground of less than 30,000, then talk of more than doubling that is pure vanity, even in the Premier League. And (checks notes) they ain't in the Premier League.
I appreciate they gave us a good game, and their record this season is not unlike ours, but they're in the bottom half right now. Don't run before you can freaking walk.
My first ever Town match was at St Andrews in 1988, and I have no antipathy towards them especially, but the attendance that day is recorded as 5,932. Yes, attendances were pretty depressed at that time, but even as a base level, that is pretty pathetic. They are not a club which will ever justify 60k, 50k or even 40k. If 62k will cram into it to watch NF flipping L, then I fear for the future of sport in this country. |  | | |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 12:28 - Oct 27 with 1702 views | ArnieM |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 08:00 - Oct 27 by trncbluearmy |
Given their catchment area always thought they were very poorly supported,
no success/history to speak of
Don't think they would get anywhere near filling a stadium of that size consistently
Reckon the 4000 upgrade to Pioneer Stand and then Cobbold rebuild is very much linked to cattlemarket upgrade, ITFC are just waiting for council go ahead |
I thought Town were working in collaboration with IBC, but stand re vsmp waiting for PL stability? |  |
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| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 13:32 - Oct 27 with 1513 views | TheBoyBlue |
I think 35,000 for us would be about right, but the important thing for generating money would be making Portman Road somewhere that could be used 365 days a year for club, commerce and community. I guess therefore it needs to be set up for concerts (which as we've seen it already is), conferences, hotel, that sort of thing. Although they will hopefully be speaking to people with more expertise on such matters than me! | |
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| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 13:43 - Oct 27 with 1463 views | RIPbobby |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 13:32 - Oct 27 by TheBoyBlue |
I think 35,000 for us would be about right, but the important thing for generating money would be making Portman Road somewhere that could be used 365 days a year for club, commerce and community. I guess therefore it needs to be set up for concerts (which as we've seen it already is), conferences, hotel, that sort of thing. Although they will hopefully be speaking to people with more expertise on such matters than me! |
I think we need a kind of conference room sized hall built on. Think they size you see when you watch PDC darts venues. That want to be able to seat that sort of 2000 people and have ample bars and eateries around the outside. In that way you can offer a lot more options and like many have said before 365 days a year use. You can make some serious dollar if you have that.
As for Portman Road. It is clear we are going to have a 4k tier on top of the Pioneer stand and thus the roof will be rebuilt in order to get the most out of the atmosphere. Currently the roof is cavernous and thus the noise it generates does not make it onto the pitch. Obviously the 7k capacity of the Cobbold Stand will be increased when time comes. I think the important thing here is the depth. If anybody has been in the Newcastle room beneath their big extension will know that it is massive under there. Probably big enough for conferences too.
But at the moment we have other projects that are more important like the training ground. |  | | |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 14:20 - Oct 27 with 1345 views | Sharkey |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 08:56 - Oct 27 by SomethingBlue |
Think Town's catchment area tends to be underplayed – it really isn't too far short of a million. If we became a stable Premier League club then 40k would feel fine to me but that's some way down the track, if ever. Would sustain 35k as a yo-yo-club I expect, and that seems the way to go right now. |
That’s about the same as the population of Dorset. I wonder how big Bournemouth are thinking. |  | | |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 15:31 - Oct 27 with 1185 views | LA_Tractor_Boy |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 13:43 - Oct 27 by RIPbobby |
I think we need a kind of conference room sized hall built on. Think they size you see when you watch PDC darts venues. That want to be able to seat that sort of 2000 people and have ample bars and eateries around the outside. In that way you can offer a lot more options and like many have said before 365 days a year use. You can make some serious dollar if you have that.
As for Portman Road. It is clear we are going to have a 4k tier on top of the Pioneer stand and thus the roof will be rebuilt in order to get the most out of the atmosphere. Currently the roof is cavernous and thus the noise it generates does not make it onto the pitch. Obviously the 7k capacity of the Cobbold Stand will be increased when time comes. I think the important thing here is the depth. If anybody has been in the Newcastle room beneath their big extension will know that it is massive under there. Probably big enough for conferences too.
But at the moment we have other projects that are more important like the training ground. |
I know designs etc haven't been released, but I'm curious about how the club intend to add 4k seats to the West Stand.
Obviously the roof will be replaced and I suspect more lounges will be added, but are the club considering adding a fourth tier or extending the existing third tier? | | | |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 19:28 - Oct 27 with 926 views | brazil1982 |
| Birmingham City’s New Stadium on 13:32 - Oct 27 by TheBoyBlue |
I think 35,000 for us would be about right, but the important thing for generating money would be making Portman Road somewhere that could be used 365 days a year for club, commerce and community. I guess therefore it needs to be set up for concerts (which as we've seen it already is), conferences, hotel, that sort of thing. Although they will hopefully be speaking to people with more expertise on such matters than me! |
I'm in season 2067/8 on FM19 and the club are building a new stadium with a capacity of 104,000. Make of that what you will. |  | | |
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