Birmingham City: Blues owners 'have no intention to sell' Championship club - Zheng

Edward Zheng is on the board of Chinese-owned Birmingham City

Birmingham City's Chinese owners have no intention to sell the Championship club, says director Edward Zheng.

Ahead of a reported supporters protest, Zheng answered questions from a select gathering of invited fans at St Andrew's and apologised for the Blues board's previous lack of communication.

"Communication is the key," Zheng told BBC Radio WM. "I noticed something happened on the social networks.

"In Chinese culture we're always willing to do first and then we talk."

Blues are under their second Asian-based ownership, after Carson Yeung finally sold up in 2016 when the club was bought by Trillion Trophy Asia, part of Birmingham Sports Holdings Limited,

"We are humble, quiet and we are willing to do things first," said Zheng. "That is our culture. Not talk first. This is not our culture.

"However, we noticed that something was happening and decided we needed to communicate and correspond with our fans.

"We do believe we need to give communication to fans for what really happened and what is the reality in the stadium and what we need to do."

When asked whether, in the light of the planned protests, the owners might be likely to sell, he answered: "No. We have no intention to sell the club."

Blues are still 'in transition'

Like all clubs, Birmingham have suffered from restricted revenue over the last two years because of the Covid pandemic.

The club banked an appreciable amount from the sale of teenager Jude Bellingham to Borussia Dortmund in July 2020, a deal that could ultimately be worth in advance of £30m.

But that came on the back of incurring losses of nearly £48.8m between 2015 and 2018 - almost £10m more than the accepted adjusted losses of £39m, which broke the EFL's profitability and sustainability rules and led to a nine-point deduction.

Technical director Craig Gardner, who is barely six months into his job at the club, also spoke to the fans' meeting to outline how he wants recruitment to be handled differently going forward.

With that in mind, the club this week brought back former skipper Martin O'Connor in the newly created role of loans manager.

Ex-Aston Villa, Birmingham Sunderland and West Brom midfielder Craig Gardner took on the role as Blues technical director in June 2021

Gardner stressed a need to learn from the errors of recent years - and warned it could be another two seasons before they are truly competitive.

"We're in transition," he told BBC Radio WM. "We have to understand that as a club.

"When you take out the clubs who still have Premier League parachute payments, we're probably in the top five of highest wage earners. You can see why fans are frustrated at us paying so much money and not competing. But my job is to bring down the wage bill.

"We have a three-year plan. This year is about bringing the wages down, the second year about stability and the third year then it's about having a go.

"There is money to spend but we're not just going to throw it away. What we don't want is to be stuck with a 31 32, 33 year old stuck at the club on x amount of money and not playing. Those days are over."

Apart from the inevitable reduction in investment in their playing squad, supporters have also been upset about the delay in ground maintenance which led to this season starting without full use of their stadium.

Corroded metal under the lower tiers of Blues' two main stands at St Andrew's have caused them to be closed all season

Fans were shown photos and videos of the mess and corrosion under the lower tiers of the Spion Kop and Tilton Road Stands, which remain closed.

But Blues' contracted stadium project manager Michael Moran told the meeting that both could be open again for the start of next season if things go to schedule.