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BIRMINGHAM LOOK TO SUPER STADIUM

David Gold, chairman of Premier League club Birmingham City, has thrown his backing behind plans for a new 50,000-60,000 capacity all-seater sports stadium in the city.

The Blues would leave St Andrews and become tenants at the new stadium that would also be used for other events, reports the BBC.

Gold said: "Birmingham is one of the great cities of Europe, and it has many cultural centres, but it does not have a great stadium and it should have.”

The proposed 50-acre site, on land owned by the city council, is currently home to Birmingham Wheels Park go-kart track.

The Las Vegas Sands Group, one of America's biggest gambling companies, has agreed to underwrite the whole cost of the venture.

Gold added: "There are four options for us. We could do nothing. If you can survive on a 30,000 capacity without burdening yourself with debt - and we have no debt - then there is a case for that.

"You could rebuild the main stand at a cost of £12million to increase the capacity by five or six thousand - but they would be the most expensive seats in the Premiership.

"We could build a brand new 40,000-seater stadium on our own which I think, unless we received help, does not seem feasible.

"Then there is that fourth possibility that the city of Birmingham builds a stadium which we all share.

"Manchester has proven that it can be done with the City of Manchester Stadium where Manchester City play. I believe that a great city like Birmingham should have the same."