One of the highlights of this crazy Birmingham City season will be seeing a packed St Andrew’s celebrate the win over Sunderland.
Before a boisterous performance of Keep Right On reverberated across the stadium at full time, we watched wild, unrestrained excitement in The Tilton after it had sucked in two goals during the second half. It is quite uncommon to see a post-match lap of honour in which nobody appears to have departed the stadium.
With 27,449 spectators, it was the largest Blues crowd since an Aston Villa Second City derby in October 2016. While there have been previous sell-outs for the Blues throughout that time, stand closures and roped-off areas have kept attendance from surpassing 29,656.
Both Tom Wagner’s speech to the supporters and the five initiatives designed to betray Sunderland were successful. Some of the tickets were donated to nearby colleges and institutions, while the price of others was lowered. With three paying adults, 15 kids may essentially attend the game for free according to the “Tickets 4 Teams” programme.
For a team looking to boost revenue in order to compete in the upper echelons of the Championship table, doing that for each and every home game isn’t sustainable. Recapturing days like Saturday, however, would require lowering the cost of football so that parents can bring their kids to St Andrew’s more regularly and students who have fallen in love with the Blues keep coming back.
Students can get tickets for the upcoming Category B home match versus Southampton for anything between £20 and $25. In certain locations, admission for under-16s is £5 or £10. However, adults may expect to pay at least £32.50 if they are not seated in the Main Stand’s lower levels.
It costs £95 for a family of four (two adults and two kids) to attend the Southampton game in the Kop. If you add in transportation, meals, and possibly even a programme, their day might end up costing them £200. It goes without saying that in these hard economic times, most families cannot afford to spend so much money every two weeks.
This is the reason the Blues’ 2024–2025 season ticket pricing plan is so important. If Blues strike the right note, some would be willing to swallow the one-time cost in order to save money during the season. Some people just won’t be able to afford it, which is why initiatives that have been adopted for the Sunderland game must occasionally be included.
On Saturday, there were over 6,000 more spectators than at any other home game this year. Halftime was always going to be a crowded time in the concourses.
Season ticket holder Shane Ireland said: “I headed to the top concourse above Block 39 about 37 minutes into the first half, knowing that it could take longer than normal for the traditional pie and a pint at half-time. Even though I had to miss a little portion of the game, I received my food promptly and found a seat in the concourse corner. While some fans gave up trying to purchase refreshments at halftime, the queue for food and beverages formed quite quickly, and those working behind the counter did their utmost to serve supporters as soon as possible.
Although Knighthead is making the most of what they have by adding food vendors and new bars outdoors, the concourse spaces at Blues are actually insufficient to hold a full house.
The traffic was another problem that brought most of us back to reality on Saturday after we left St Andrew’s. As late as 7:30pm, Garrison Lane was jam-packed with automobiles travelling both ways, like a parking lot.
The inability of the city core to be served by a reliable public transportation system presents a challenge for Knighthead in their attempt to consistently sell out the stadium. According to over two thirds of supporters surveyed by BirminghamLive, they drive to games as a result. That was acknowledged by Chief Executive Garry Cook in a pre-Christmas interview with us.
When this stadium was constructed many years ago, the way of living was considerably different,” he remarked. The number of automobiles, buses, and trains on the road had all decreased. In the past, people from the neighbourhood would walk to the stadium.
One of the difficulties facing modern sports is that, given the current climate, it is extremely difficult to run a multipurpose sports facility that generates significant revenue from both hospitality and ticket sales. Specifically, we need to decide how best to increase our revenue. We briefly discussed business partnerships, hospitality, tickets, and other aspects that define a successful club, but it might be challenging when your stadium dates back to the 1920s and 1930s.
Travel and ticket prices, however, are not the main obstacles for the fans who responded to our poll. Results, other obligations, and just not liking St. Andrew’s were cited by the majority of those who don’t go often.
Some have suffered because of the Blues’ hardships throughout the previous 13 years since they won the Carling Cup. To entice fans back to St Andrew’s, or the new stadium that everyone believes is imminent, Knighthead has their work cut out for them.
Although they haven’t stated it aloud, Knighthead has hinted that St Andrew’s may not be the club’s permanent home. Blues won’t be moving very far because of the HS2 construction at Curzon Street Station.
Within ten years, the fast route from London to Birmingham should be finished, and HS2 will be necessary if Knighthead wants to host major non-football events in the Second City, as is to be expected.
Knighthead may benefit from Birmingham City Council’s financial difficulties and need to sell off assets. Although discussions have already taken place regarding potential locations, such as the 51-acre site that was once home to the Birmingham Wheels, the Blues are still not close to relocating.
The Blues announced plans to construct a fan zone on club-owned property near the Tilton and Main Stand when the moniker Knighthead Park initially surfaced in January in accordance with the conditions of the naming rights agreement. Although it couldn’t accommodate many, it might relieve traffic and bring in additional revenue for the club.
