I couldn’t be happier that Tom Brady and Co are destroying St Andrew’s

ST ANDREW’S, the home ground of Birmingham City Football Club, was the first place where I was allowed to swear.

It was the first place I tasted beer — at the age of eight — and the first place I tasted Bovril. It was also where I placed my first bet.

It was where I’d go with my dad to watch the Blues from the Tilton Road Stand and, when I was old enough to go without him, me and my mates would travel there on the No 93 bus from Chelmsley Wood for a fare of 50p and go on the Kop.

That place holds so many memories for me. So many rites of passage.

But despite all that nostalgia, I was delighted to hear this week that St Andrew’s is going to be bulldozed to make way for a new stadium less than a mile away, which may hold up to 60,000 fans.

That’s bigger than Villa Park, by the way, and that sort of thing always matters.

I’m very nervous that the club I supported, and then captained for two seasons until last summer, are going to be relegated to League One this season.

But the fact that the club’s American owners, Knighthead, are determined to go ahead with a new stadium whatever happens on the pitch, proves they will drag Blues into the 21st Century.

At times like this, with Blues next to bottom in the Championship and in a desperate relegation battle, hope for the future is crucial.

The owners are talking about a £2billion investment and intend to hold NFL matches and concerts at the new ground, along the lines of the impressive Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

It will be the sort of stadium where Blues fan Jude Bellingham might want to return later in his career.

More importantly, if a new Jude Bellingham comes along, he might not be in a hurry to leave.

The scale of the planned redevelopment of the Bordesley Park area is similar to