Birmingham City chairman Tom Wagner has issued a defiant and ambitious New Year message for 2026, vowing that the club's owners will not stop until their transformative goals are achieved.
A Year of Progress and a Blueprint for the Future
Reflecting on the year gone by, Wagner highlighted significant milestones for the club under the ownership of Knighthead Capital Management. The 2025 season saw Birmingham City promoted back to the Championship and reach a Wembley final, marking a return to competitive form. Alongside this on-pitch success, the club unveiled ambitious designs for a new stadium, dubbed 'The Powerhouse', which is set to be the centrepiece of a major Sports Quarter development on the outskirts of the city centre.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Wagner made no secret of the ultimate objective, which has been clear since the takeover in 2023: to guide Blues to the Premier League. This vision is intrinsically linked to the stadium project, which is earmarked for opening in 2030 and aims to reshape the local landscape and dramatically increase club revenues.
Embracing the Doubters
The chairman directly addressed the critics and sceptics who have questioned the club's ambitious plans at every stage. Wagner adopted a combative tone, suggesting that external doubt only fuels the project's determination.
"We love it when folks on the outside take shots at us and explain all the reasons why things won’t happen," Wagner stated. "Keep right on doubting us, and we’ll keep right on moving forward."
A Promise to the Supporters
For the Birmingham City faithful, Wagner's message was one of steadfast commitment and a call for continued belief. He assured supporters that the club's trajectory is firmly upward, with concrete plans in place to ensure growth.
"Keep the faith and keep right on. There’s a lot of good that’s going to come in the next few years," he urged. Wagner emphasised an unwavering focus on key projects: "There’s nothing that’s going to stop us from pursuing the Sports Quarter project. There’s nothing that’s going to stop us from growing the revenues. There’s nothing that’s going to stop us from really becoming a much bigger club."
Adopting a resilient mindset, the chairman outlined Knighthead's philosophy towards potential obstacles. "If we don’t achieve our goals, we’ll reassess why, we’ll make corrections to what went wrong, and then we’ll go back at it, and we’ll get there," he explained. Concluding with absolute certainty, Wagner framed the mission not as a possibility but an inevitability: "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."
