The council of Birmingham have confirmed that St Andrews will be listed as a community asset. The application was covered some time ago by us.
Other grounds such as Old Trafford share this status.
The listing is subject to an appeal. I doubt the owners of the club have the time to make an appeal, they are more than likely also going to be very concious of the current tensions growing amongst the supporters.
One of the perks the listing is that Blues Supporters Trust will be notified if there is to be any potential change in ownership and be given six months to produce a bid of their own.
This development means that the fans will be put on alert should an owner want to mortgage the stadium and it could also be said that it may put off ‘bad owners’ who would seek to exploit the asset after buying the club.
The status lasts for five years, I will not pretend to know of the technicalities of the listing but I’m sure this could be renewed. Also, I see five years as quite a reasonable amount of time.
It may be suggested that this is the first success for Blues Trust and I would agree. I for one would love to see them now aim to seek out some financial backing and/or investors that could make up a potential bid for the club.
Albeit small, this is a victory for the supporters.
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