Birmingham City have chosen the designers for their new, 62,000 capacity stadium, and the creator of Peaky Blinders has been working with the winning bidders.
Last week it was announced that London-based architects Heatherwick Studio, in conjunction with Kansas City-based Manica, landed the gig for the £3bn project and have been speaking to Bluenose Steven Knight about what fans would like to see from the new venue.
Plans are not due to be released until next month, according to Tom Wagner, whose US-based Knighthead group owns the Championship club.
Wagner, who counts NFL legend Tom Brady as a co-owner, promised ‘something internationally special’ while Knight told a recent conference ‘it will be one of the most-talked about stadium designs ever’.
Only insiders have seen the plans so far but Daily Mail Sport understands that there may well be a ‘chimney theme’ in a nod to the city’s industrial heritage.
Only insiders have seen the plans so far for the proposed new stadium – despite the emergence of mock-up images online
Tom Wagner and Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight are promising ‘it will be one of the most-talked about stadium designs ever’
At one point the tallest chimney in the world was located in Smethwick, with the Adams’ Soap Works Chimney taking the record between 1835 and 1842, standing at an imposing 312 feet.
The Second City played a key role in the Industrial Revolution and was known as a manufacturing and metalworking centre, with mills commonplace, along with 100 miles of canals.
Knighthead want the stadium to be at the heart of a vast new Sports Quarter and visible for miles away, and so such an addition would fit the bill.
The hope is for the Blues to be in their new home in 2030. While they have promised it will be football-centric, the desire is for it to have the ability to stage other events, including NFL matches.
Giggles have been few and far between at Nottingham Forest so far in what has proved to be a miserable season. However, the hope is that the arrival of former player Sean Dyche will have a much-needed galvanising effect at the City Ground.
Inside Sport can reveal that there has already been an uplift in morale thanks, unwittingly, to previous manager Ange Postecoglou, whose tenure lasted for just 39 days. During the short time he was there, the Australian was surprised to find that, when he arrived at the side of the Trent the club did not possess one of the giant, mobile touch screens that are now commonplace in the top-flight and are a key tool when heading to away grounds. Eager to back Postecoglou, Forest officials were quick to order one of the high-tech devices, which cost tens of thousands. The screen finally landed on Wednesday last week – four days after the Antipodean had been shown the door.
More turnover at Tottenham Hotspur, with highly-regarded executive Rebecca Capelhorn to depart the club in the new year, Inside Sport understands.
Capelhorn is Spurs’ director of football administration and governance and has been a key figure behind the scenes for more than a decade after arriving from Queen’s Park Rangers as head of football operations in 2015. While her work on the men’s side has been extensive, Capelhorn has also been a driving force in establishing Tottenham’s women’s team in the WSL. She also represents the Premier League on the FA Council and has been heavily involved in Spurs’s dealings with the European Football Clubs (formerly ECA).
Known as a sound operator, there are likely to be a number of suitors for Capelhorn, in a development that those within the industry will view as a blow for the club.
Her pending departure follows the exit of former chairman Daniel Levy and a host of execs as chief executive Vinai Venkatesham puts his mark on the club’s leadership team.
Much rejoicing among Sheffield Wednesday supporters for obvious reasons after Friday’s administration, which Inside Sport predicted earlier this month, spelled the end for despised owner Dejphon Chansiri.
The situation has also been helped by the fact that Sheffield 3, a separate company linked to Chansiri that owns Hillsborough, also entered administration. That means the Thai businessman will effectively not have any further influence on the club – unlike the situation Derby County faced in 2021 when former owner Mel Morris retained ownership of Pride Park.
However, Chansiri, whose reckless tenure brought one of the country’s major footballing institutions to its knees, may have provided a sting in the tail on his way out. A charge on the stadium, lodged by Sussex-based lender New Avenue Projects, now totals £7.3m and will need to be carefully dealt with by Begbies Traynor, who say they will take their fees from a resulting sale of the club.
Manchester United’s press box security officer departed the club this weekend – but it may well not be the last that journalists have seen of him. Luke Owens was presented with a signed shirt from club legend Bryan Robson as a thank you for his 15 years of service at Old Trafford. Owens has a full-time job through the week but is thought to be leaving his United role to spend more time with his two-year-old son Jude, who has become a social media sensation thanks to his uncanny ability on a snooker table. Little Owens junior, who uses a special stool to allow him to access the table, has thousands of followers on his Instagram account, judey147, and a video of him sinking pots with ease now has more than 10m likes. A future involving reds of a different kind for father and son may well be on the cards.
LAST week,
reported how Indonesia had self-delivered a seemingly fatal blow to their ambition to host the 2036 Olympics when they chose to ban Israel’s team for the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. Right on cue, a thoroughly unimpressed IOC released a statement which revealed that it had ended any dialogue with the world’s most populous Muslim nation over hosting future events until their government could provide specific guarantees over access for athletes. The foot-shoot may well be good news for rival bidders Qatar and Istanbul.
