Birmingham City could be set to groundshare with a top-flight rugby club once their new state-of-the-art stadium has opened.
The Championship club unveiled impressive images last month of what their new 62,000-seater arena will look like upon its proposed opening ahead of the 2030/31 season.
The Blues’ new home, which has been given the name of ‘The Powerhouse Stadium’ is part of a £3billion project.
It includes a women’s stadium and multiple entertainment venues led by club U.S-based owners Knighthead.
Once completed, the stadium would instantly become the fourth-largest in English club football.
Only Old Trafford, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and West Ham's London Stadium would be capable of hosting more fans on matchdays.
A new tenant?
However, the stunning new arena may also play host to Premiership Rugby in the future which would see the Blues having to share their new home.
According to The Guardian, Rugby Football Union (RFU) has been approached about the idea of a top-flight rugby team being based in the second city as part of the ambitious multipurpose stadium project.
Currently, Birmingham’s best-placed rugby club is Birmingham Moseley – a struggling third-tier outfit.
Other options could see other sides possibly relocating to the area to take advantage of the new facilities on offer.
The stadium is well placed to host rugby matches with NFL games also on the agenda as part of the project.
Exciting plans
Asked about the stadium plans, Tom Wagner, co-founder of Knighthead Capital Management said the benefits will be felt beyond the sporting landscape.
“The goal will be to host a whole range of international events not solely in football but [including] American football and rugby,” he said in July.
“There will be provision for housing and hotels, recreational facilities and plenty of green space.
“If you were to look across western Europe, you would be hard-pressed to find another city with that much land available within walking distance of the city centre, where a project of this magnitude can be created and done so in an economically viable way.”
Following Knighthead's takeover of the club in 2023, Wagner told the club’s supporters in an open letter that his company were specialists in ‘turning around and transforming organisations that are experiencing difficulties’.
So far, it appears that Wagner has kept to his word.
The Championship side have experience of ground-sharing having accommodated Coventry City in the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons.
It came about after Coventry became embroiled in a dispute with CBS Stadium owners Wasps Rugby Club which forced the Sky Blues to find an alternate home.
