Tom Wagner interview: We expect Birmingham to be in the Premier League in 2026.
The owner is optimistic about promotion this season and thinks the club is prepared to make signings with the help of Tom Brady to achieve their aims.
Tom Wagner, Birmingham City’s chairman, remains committed to the club’s return to the Premier League, and he has a message for anyone who doubts him.
Wagner has heard it all since July 2023, when Knighthead took control. How Birmingham will always be stuck in the Championship, and why playing Aston Villa is years away.
How the new 62,000-seat “Powerhouse” stadium will not be constructed on time. The £3 billion Sports Quarter near the city centre? Pure fantasy.
However, Wagner, the New York-based billionaire who has seized the ‘Blues’ by the collar and given them an almighty shake, is completely consumed with the quest to transform Birmingham as a football club and city.
That never-ending push for development continues, as Wagner explains to Telegraph Sport, seated in his Manhattan office, how naysayers only feed his ambition.
“We love it when folks on the outside take shots at us and explain all the reasons why things won’t happen,” says the man. “Many other football club executives have said it will never happen.
Everything about this project makes no logic.”We’re taking on a club that has consistently underperformed, struggled to stay in the Championship, and failed to do so in our first year of ownership.
“Then we come up with this ridiculous notion to spend more than £3 billion on a development project that would fundamentally reshape a fifth of the city. “All of those things seem insane when you look at them without knowing the facts. But once you get into it, I believe it starts to make more and more sense.
“Keep right on doubting us, and we’ll keep right on moving forward.” Wagner is normally optimistic about the new year. Before Knighthead Capital Management arrived, the club’s supporters were exhausted and experiencing an existential crisis.
He reckons that Birmingham lost half a generation of fans during the turbulent decade under former management, but the future looks promising.
Throughout the conversation, Wagner discusses a range of topics, including the January transfer window, NFL icon Tom Brady’s influence, his thoughts on Birmingham’s season thus far, and, of course, the Sports Quarter.
Plans for the new stadium, which will be at the heart of the mega-ambitious project, were released last month, with the goal of having it ready by the start of the 2030-31 season. The “Powerhouse” will have a retractable roof, an adjustable pitch, and a chimney-inspired design.
Telegraph Sport can reveal that there have been talks about a planned “chairman’s suite” in the form of a nightclub to entertain commercial partners. New entertainment venues are planned for the site, as well as a dedicated space for away fans to have a “really memorable” day out.
“We didn’t want it to look like everybody else’s stadium, and I think that’s what makes English football so special,” Wagner tells me.
“We wanted a design that was distinctive and specific to Birmingham. “Most people appear to grasp what we were attempting to achieve, enjoy it, and appreciate the idea that we were looking to honour Birmingham’s past in a positive light.
I believe it landed as well as we could have expected.” Wagner’s goal of promotion to the Premier League this season, during the club’s 150th anniversary season, remains unshakeable, despite a recent hiccup.
Birmingham have gone six games without a win and are seven points behind the play-off spots heading into the New Year’s Day encounter at Watford. The primary issue is their away form:
only West Bromwich Albion have lost more than their eight road defeats, and head coach Chris Davies must rectify this immediately. Davies broke a Football League record last season, scoring 111 points, but his future is currently being debated by many fans. He is barred from the Watford bench after being sent off in Monday’s 1-1 draw against Southampton.
Speaking only about the club’s results, Wagner says: “I believe we can do better. I believe there are certain modifications we can do to improve the team’s performance on the pitch this season.
“I have the same expectations that I did at the beginning of the season, which is that we’ll be competitive throughout and strive towards the objective of making the playoffs.
“That has been our goal for the season from the beginning. As owners and board members, we must do everything possible to increase the likelihood of it happening.”
Funds will be made available for the January window, with a number of positions including left-back to be targeted.
Birmingham made 14 acquisitions this summer, with varied degrees of success, so this seems like a pivotal time in the season.
Talks are already beginning to turn Patrick Roberts’ Sunderland loan into a permanent contract. “We’re working really hard there,” Wagner says. “January is usually difficult since the amount of possibilities is always limited.
“But we have a few goals in mind, as well as places where we believe we can discover more talent to supplement our current roster. “We’ll run hard at all of those opportunities and hopefully we’ll find some ways to do even better.”
Birmingham does have a special weapon in their pursuit of new signings: seven-time Super Bowl champion Brady.
The iconic former quarterback and minority shareholder is still very interested in all things Blues and plays an active role in recruitment.
“Tom and I are very much engaged with prospective recruits in speaking with them about what we’re trying to achieve here and our commitment to getting there,” Wagner tells me. “I think it’s crucial for new players to understand our expectations.
“We aim to make it abundantly obvious how important this is to us and how committed we will be.Tom is very effective at identifying the right culture and creating a winning workplace.
Brady and Birmingham rely extensively on statistics and analytics, and before the season began, the team’s finish was anticipated to be in the top six based on several performance metrics.
Wagner stated that he intends to reach the Premier League within three years, in 2023, so is this still the case?
“Our expectations are same. We may need to change the approach from time to time, but I think it’s nonsense to decrease our standards,” he argues. “Changing your goals is a dangerous thing, and it is easy to do.
What’s more difficult is determining the problem and resolving it.” While Wagner is hosting nearly 20 family members in Montana over the Christmas and New Year holidays, Blues will never be far from his mind. Formal plans for the Sports Quarter will be filed next year.The men’s and women’s first-team training facilities, plus the academy, will be located on the site.
As part of the project, Adderley Park’s rail station will be extensively rebuilt, providing improved access to Great Western Rail and other transportation options. Knighthead continues to pursue big sponsorship deals.
Earlier this month, a new limited-edition Nike Air Max 95 trainer was produced in collaboration with key partners Undefeated, using Birmingham City’s colours and branding.Birmingham also ranks in the top 15 English football clubs in terms of social media impressions.
As the interview concludes, Wagner has a special message for “Bluenoses” as we approach 2026. “Keep the faith and carry on.”There will be a lot of good in the coming years,” he predicts. “There’s nothing that will prevent us from pursuing the Sports Quarter project.
Nothing is going to stop us from increasing revenues. There’s nothing that will stop us from becoming a much larger club. “If we don’t meet our objectives, we’ll review why, make changes to what went wrong, and then get back at it. We’ll get there.
“It’s not a question of if we’re going to get there – it’s a question of when and how. Right now, I’m just focused on the how.”
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