Sporting future for Birmingham

October 28, 2008

Sporting future for Birmingham

The last few weeks have seen two sporting announcements with Birmingham City Football Club reawakening plans for a new stadium after requests from the Football Association for progress with it's stadium ambitions in support of a 2018 World Cup bid by England and news from Edgbaston Cricket Ground on a redevelopment of it's ground to maintain it's competitiveness to continue to attract national and international cricket.

September 17th saw the Birmingham Post report on news that Birmingham City stadium plans revived to help 2018 World Cup bid with David Sullivan revealing the Football Association were keen to reignite stalled plans for a City of Birmingham Stadium.

The FA are keen to use Birmingham as part of a bid for the 2018 World Cup and a new stadium would deal with the fact that Villa Park, home of Aston Villa Football Club, is not big enough for the World Cup or to host the Commonwealth Games, another ambition held by Birmingham. Moves towards a new stadium would require clear support from Birmingham City Council after an earlier plan for a sport's village with accompanying Super Casino was rejected in favour of the City Council supporting the National Exhibition Centre's (NEC) bid for a Supercasino. The above image represented the ambition of Birmingham City Football Club with a sport's village and new stadium being supported financially by a Supercasino.

The plan for the £250 million complex in Saltley, in conjunction with Las Vegas Sands gaming group, had to be shelved when a super casino licence was denied.

But after prompting by the FA, who want a new arena in the city to boost their 2018 World Cup bid, it’s back on the agenda.

Blues are trying to persuade the city council to press ahead with a 50,000-seat world class landmark facility that could host the Commonwealth Games.

Jointly they have paid for a feasibility study – the results are due soon – and Sullivan says Blues are excited about the resurrection of the project.

“This would put us on the map, as a city and as a club,” he says.

Stadium plan is crucial to future of Birmingham City

The other news to be announced recently was the plans by Warwickshire County Cricket Club to redevelop Edgbaston Cricket Ground expanding its capacity to 25,000. This announcement follows an earlier aim to redevelop the ground, (an earlier image is show below), and consultation with the club's committee on borrowing money to fund the redevelopment together with a consultation with local residents.

The new redevelopment proposal comes from developer MCD which has worked on Brindley House in Birmingham and is behind the regeneration of Essex County Cricket Club. Advising the scheme are Broadway Malyan.

Steven Byrne, chief executive at MCD, said: “The plans for this project create a landmark stadium that will serve as a hub for a new area to live and work in the city. The breadth of support for the project reflects the pride that exists within Birmingham for its international cricket ground.”

Mike Guy, from Broadway Malyan, said: “We’ve worked extremely closely with the club to ensure that we uphold the traditions of the club and provide for the needs of everybody from the members and players to the written press, VIPs and spectators. We feel we have created a design which gives the ground a tremendous uplift to embrace the requirements of a 21st Century stadium."

http://www.birminghampost.net/news/newsaggregator//tm_headline=163-30m-edgbaston-cricket-ground-scheme-unveiled%26method=full%26objectid=22122021%26siteid=65233-name_page.html

The existing layout of the cricket ground is shown below with images of the proposed redevelopment.