Birmingham City ‘want second team’ to play at new £1.2bn ‘Powerhouse’ stadium

Birmingham City are planning to share their new £1.2 billion stadium with the England women’s national team.

Plans for the 62,000-seater arena called ‘The Birmingham City Powerhouse’ were unveiled on Thursday by the club’s owners Knighthead Capital.

The new stadium, which is located in Bordesley Green, will sit at the centre of the planned £3bn Sports Quarter development, which aims to transform the area into a vibrant sporting and cultural destination.

The designs feature twelve chimney-form towers and include a retractable roof and moveable pitch to accommodate different sporting events as well as music concerts.

However, Birmingham City are also keen to speak with the Football Association about potentially hosting the Lionesses.

Currently, Sarina Wiegman’s side are not tied to playing at Wembley for their home fixtures and have played at several grounds across the country.

Last month, the Lionesses played their two friendlies at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester and at Pride Park in Derby.

‘The Lionesses do not have a permanent, or even semi-permanent, home to call their own,’ a senior figure at Birmingham City told The Sun.

‘We believe we are ideally situated to host them.

‘It’s less than an hour’s drive from St George’s Park and, once HS2 is operational, we estimate that around 80 per cent of the country will be able to access Birmingham within two hours.

‘The Powerhouse presents a fantastic opportunity to showcase the Lionesses in a home they can call theirs which will be accessible to a huge number of people.’

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