Simon Jordan discusses Tom Wagner stadium aims and Birmingham City’s relegation ‘tragedy’

The former owner of Crystal Palace has been discussing Birmingham City’s plans for a new stadium and the club’s on-field troubles.

Simon Jordan believes Birmingham City fans should look beyond the club’s on-field troubles and instead focus on Tom Wagner’s larger vision of creating a Sports Quarter with a new Blues stadium at its center.

Blues have had a rollercoaster week, beginning with the club stating that they had purchased the 48-acre Wheels site and that they intend to extensively reconstruct the land with the goal of erecting a 62,000-seater stadium and facilities capable of holding pop concerts and NFL games.

At an Open House on Tuesday, Chairman Wagner impressed fans with the scope of his goal and the depth of his financial commitment, only for the club to perform poorly in a 1-0 loss to Cardiff City 24 hours later.

It was a defeat that puts them second bottom of the Championship with four games remaining and in serious danger of relegation to the third division. However, former Crystal Palace owner Jordan not only predicted that the Blues will avoid relegation, but also stated that it would not be a ‘catastrophe’ if they did – due to the scope of Wagner’s intentions.

Jordan told talkSPORT: “You need a mix of both; there’s nothing wrong with having vision. There’s nothing wrong with considering the possibility of living in a country where you’re the second city. There is plenty of opportunity, a large population, and high expectations.

“Birmingham City is one of those football clubs that, when successful, can attract a large fan base. So I believe that all of these points are correct, and that they should be thinking along those lines. The football is currently causing them problems.

“This is a long-term project. If they are relegated from the Championship, it is not a calamity for them; it is simply a step back. They’ll have to put their hands in their pockets.

“The revenue difference between the Championship and League One is not as significant as you’d think, as you only get about £4-5 million more from broadcasting deals in the Championship…”

“There are a lot of twists and turns, and Birmingham and Huddersfield must play each other in the run-in. Both clubs have games in the last game of the season that might be very important. Birmingham will face Norwich in an attempt to reach the playoffs, while Huddersfield will face Ipswich in an attempt to gain promotion…

“Relegation may have taken a long time to occur due to the many ownership types established after Sullivan and Gold, as well as the decisions made by these owners. This new ownership cannot be held accountable for the mistakes of the past.

“They caught up on some of the poor judgments that were made, the overpayment of wages, and the difficulties that Birmingham faced for a few years…I still believe they have just enough in the tank to get themselves out of it. Huddersfield lost 4-1 to Preston in midweek. They are their direct opponents. Plymouth could be pulled into it. Millwall can be hauled back in. “They probably need 49 points to stay up.”

Jordan was pressed on the scoffing of Aston Villa fans who feel the Blues will never rival their neighbours. He went on to say, “I’m sorry, but I imagine a lot of Manchester United fans laughed at Manchester City when they were relegated to League One, and it took a Paul Dickov penalty to get them out.”

“These men have made mistakes, which they obviously have on the football field…but their general position, when I stepped into Palace, I said similar things, that it is my objective to get Palace into the Premier League within five years. It is my desire to make them the third or fourth largest club in London, and everyone at the time would have said, “Oh yeah, really.” Your club has been in administration for 18 months.’

“You have to be ambitious. You must have visions and bring others along with you.What other business would recommend that? Football is now a business, with a stadium that opens once every two weeks and is used for nothing other than paying expenses.

“Sometimes in life, regrettably, things do not go as planned, and you must take one step back in order to take two steps forward.

“Right now, Birmingham on the pitch is making their owners appear ridiculous because they have made foolish judgments. Now, whether their owners will abdicate responsibility or go ‘Right, whatever comes our way…’ which I believe they will do is ‘We will be the ones who have to bankroll this. We will be the ones to bridge the gap for our own mistakes, and I apologize to fans; we have let you down since the team isn’t performing as we expected, and we made decisions based on Wayne Rooney’s autograph.

“But you got on move past just the micro-management and low level thinking of It’s just the appointment of Wayne Rooney and look at what they will build there in the end.”