The bracelet was a clever touch. Tom Wagner will have shaken plenty of hands on Tuesday, the Deputy Prime Minister’s included, meaning important eyes noticed those blue-and-white beads.
Given to him by Birmingham-based cancer charity Help Harry Help Others, the bracelet went with the shirt, which was blue, and because the sky was following suit, it was a jackets-off kind of day for Birmingham City’s co-owner in Leeds as he lobbied for support.
Wagner dreams big and talks straight. It is why Bluenoses adore him, with his desire to build a new 62,000-seater stadium within a new Sports Quarter for Birmingham signalling his intent.
The proposal has obstacles, which we’ll get onto, but Wagner’s vision for a 2029 opening remains steadfast. “It’s realistic for us,” he tells The i Paper, while sitting with Birmingham’s chief executive Jeremy Dale and head of infrastructure Nick Smith. “We’ll see if everybody else can do their part.”
Tom Wagner (right) with the Sky Bet League One trophy (Photo: PA)Birmingham have just been promoted from League One as champions with an EFL-record 111 points, but there is no doubt where Wagner wants to be should this stadium open in four years’ time.
“Ideally, we’re highly competitive in Premier League football,” he adds. “When we look at our revenue and trajectory, we’re right there.
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“If we were to be put into the Prem today and receive the additional revenues that are generated by media rights, we’d be in the top two-thirds of the Prem in total revenue, and we’d be in the top two-thirds of the Prem in media impressions.
“I have a high degree of confidence that as we move forward over the next few years, we’ll not only achieve promotion but we’ll continue to grow the revenue so we’re in the position to be competitive in the Prem, not simply a participant.”
Wagner’s Knighthead Capital Management have held the Birmingham reins for two years, and while busy forging their own path, he isn’t afraid to namedrop three teams when asked who he admires.
“The philosophy, culture and energy that Pep [Guardiola] has brought to Man City is something we think is fantastic,” Wagner says.
“Certainly our manager Chris [Davies] is someone we think has a similar vigour. We believe he has the right mentality to incorporate a playing style that will last us a long period of time.”
He also names Wrexham, who will join Blues in the Championship next season after securing a third-straight promotion under owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Sam Smith and Ryan Reynolds celebrate Wrexham’s promotion to the Championship (Photo: Getty)“Purely on the commercial side, it would be impossible to say anyone has done it better than Wrexham, who have created extraordinary revenue streams out of thin air,” Wagner says.
“That is no mistake. It’s a true storytelling genius that Ryan and Rob have brought to that club, and I think it’s to be admired and certainly, to a degree, emulated.”
The third club are Blues’ biggest rivals.
“When we look at clubs that have risen quickly over the number of years, as much as some won’t like me saying it,” Wagner says, “I think Villa has done an exceptional job of growing the club and the organisation and doing it in a way that should allow them to achieve long-term success, which ultimately is what we want, because we want a cross-town rival that’s good. Not a cross-town rival that performs poorly.”
Blues last played Aston Villa in 2019, when both clubs were in the Championship, and it has been 14 years since they met in the Premier League, meaning a new wave of supporters are aching to watch this rivalry on the biggest stage.
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“It’s absolutely a top objective,” Wagner says. “It’s the right rivalry for Birmingham, the right derby for English football, and the right way for each club to achieve its highest potential is by rekindling a rivalry that’s been dormant for too long.
“When I speak to the true fans on both sides of that rivalry, I get the same reaction, which is that they’d love to see it.”
Dale agrees, and he is not only desperate to see this rivalry renewed but is confident the “winning mentality” this season has generated – relegation was good for them, he stresses – can carry them up the footballing ladder.
“It’s huge,” Dale says. “The whole city wants it. Everyone is waiting for it. It’s one of the greatest rivalries in football. Man City and Liverpool, Man United and Leeds, no one has got a true rivalry to the same extent we have.
“London clubs have got multiple ones. This is Blues-Villa, this is Rangers-Celtic, this is that level of intensity, and we all remember the days like ‘The Enckelman’, when the stadium is bouncing, and we just want to be part of that. We can’t wait for the spirit to come back.”
Dale and Wagner echoed that there is alignment among Birmingham’s executives and investors.
“The philosophy is perfectly consistent,” Wagner says, and when asked about the input of Tom Brady – the NFL legend who has a minority stake in Birmingham – he leans back with a mischievous smile, “You see… we really never speak with Tom,” to which Dale adds, “Tom who?”
Wagner continues: “Tom is engaged 365 days a year, literally. Not a day goes by where I don’t speak to, Zoom with, or text with Tom on a topic of direct interest with the club.
Tom Brady (c) owns a minority stake in Birmingham (Photo: Getty)“His area of focus is sports performance, which includes nutrition, hydration, recovery, the mental philosophy behind success and a winning mentality, culture. Those are all things Tom participates in.
“One of the areas he has been most often misjudged is during his playing career, his ability to drive culture and to attract players that brought the right winning culture to his organisations. If you need any proof of that, just look at the success, or lack thereof, of the NFL franchises for whom he played after his departure.”
New stadium plans at ‘critical phase’
The walk from Ozzy the Bull inside New Street Station to the site of the Birmingham City’s proposed new stadium takes 38 minutes.
It’s not a serene stroll, more a cacophony of cars and construction, taking you past the future HS2 station Birmingham Curzon Street, where you can spot tracks finally being laid through gaps in the wall.
From there you arrive in Bordesley Green, statistically one of the most deprived areas in England, where Wagner wants to build Blues’ new stadium.
Birmingham don’t plan to move far away from St Andrew’s (Photo: Google Maps)He wants to transform the Birmingham Wheels Park site, which is less than a mile away from St Andrew’s, and make the stadium the centrepiece of a Sports Quarter complex that will also hold concerts, feature the club’s training facilities, and house students.
He has acquired the land. His company are willing to invest £3bn, and what he needs is a “modest”, in his words, investment from the government to improve transport links between east Birmingham and the city centre.
The project has therefore reached a critical phase, with Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivering her first multi-year spending review on 11 June, a key date for Birmingham fans to look out for.
And that is why Wagner has been busy lobbying. The project hinges on the government’s backing, and in his keynote speech at UKREiiF on Tuesday he notably addressed Angela Rayner directly, the Deputy Prime Minister who followed him on stage in Leeds.
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He didn’t hold back. He had recently told The Times it would be a “crime against Birmingham” if the plans fell through, but he expanded on that.
“From an economic point of view, it’s actually worse than that,” Wagner said. “It would be a crime against the UK, because the growth benefits of the project will be felt far beyond the region.”
Regenerating Bordesley Green ‘key’
Wagner forecasts the Sports Quarter will generate £450m a year, and says there will be 10,000 jobs during the construction phase and 8,000 then employed on-site full-time.
He said boosting the local area – with Bordesley Green one of the most deprived areas in England – is a “key element” and promised jobs for the immediate community.
“There’s not another opportunity like it in the UK, and I might argue in Western Europe,” he said. “A site that lays in waste, within touching distance of the city centre, a population that feels ignored and marginalised. The potential is vast, we are ready and eager to move ahead at pace.”
In his bid for funding, Wagner is part of a double act when it comes to championing the Sports Quarter, with Mayor of the West Midlands Richard Parker joining the Blues co-owner at 10 Downing Street in April.
Listening to Tom Wagner at @UKREiiF today, it’s clear: as Mayor, you don’t get many opportunities like this.
When someone’s ready to invest in something that will change thousands of lives, you break down the barriers. That’s the job. pic.twitter.com/KWzPBZhizQ
— Richard Parker (@RichParkerLab) May 20, 2025
Together they have spoken with chancellor Reeves and transport secretary Heidi Wagner, lobbying for this new tramline that would also pass through Digbeth, an area where Steven Knight, the creator of Peaky Blinders, is heavily involved in regenerating.
“We’re in this job to improve people’s lives and opportunities,” Parker tells The i Paper. “What Tom recognises is that he’s sitting in a community of some of the poorest wards in the country.
“I know, and this is why we get on so well, that he knows projects like this can be a stimulus, can get people into work and hopefully turn the page for another three or four generations.
“The most important way is giving young people skills and being able to build careers. The opportunity that Tom’s brought to us, we can’t afford to let it slip through our grasp.
“I’d love Rachel to mention this project in her spending review, but it sometimes takes a month or two after for departments to work through priorities. But we’re doing all we can.”
Parker said there is no direct competition with Manchester United’s own plans for a new stadium, and remains in contact with Wagner or his team every week at the least.
“He’s an impatient man, very driven, and that’s been helpful,” he added. “We’re making sure we’re working collectively and consistently. It’s been great to work with him and to work with someone who’s as impatient as I am.”
Parker notes this is a reverse of the norm, where the private funding is already in place and what is required is public money. Whether that comes to fruition, and whether Wagner can take a major step closer towards his vision, we should soon find out.
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