The new stadium for Detroit City FC is set to be built in just a year and a half. During this time, the club will not only have to erect the facility, but also drain and demolish an abandoned hospital. However, the extremely tight schedule has a justification: Les Rouges want to enter the new first-tier created to compete with the MLS.

18 months to design and build the stadium

Normally, it takes at least three years from the presentation of a design to the completion of a stadium. Meanwhile Detroit City FC doesn't yet have a final design but assumes that it will already be playing in its new home in spring 2027 - meaning just over in 18 months. Co-owner and club president Sean Mann admits it's an aggressive timeline, but believes the rush is justified.

Fans have been watching their favorite players at the aging Keyworth Stadium since 2016, a venue shared with two other teams. It’s no surprise, then, that there’s growing pressure to build a modern facility – and fast. The world of online entertainment is evolving just as quickly, with Premier League forecasting players enjoying top-tier experiences through best football betting and offering best welcome bonuses.

Our league [the USL - editor's note] has announced that it is going to be launching a first division, similar to MLS, in the coming years. Our intent is to be in that division, he explains. Today, the club plays in the second-tier USL Championship. Although there is already a first-tier league in the US - the MLS, in which Leo Messi's Inter Miami, among others, plays - the USL is planning to create another, called USL Division One. This one is due to come into being in 2027 or 2028, and Mann wants Les Rouges to become part of it straight away. One of the main requirements is a stadium with a capacity of no less than 15,000 fans, and that is the number of seats the club is targeting.

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Today, the team plays at Keyworth Stadium, which has a capacity of no more than 8,000, so Detroit City has bought the site of the abandoned Southwest Detroit Hospital to build a new home there. Before they can build, however, they will need to pump water out of the hospital's flooded basement and demolish it.

Visualisations of the project released by local media indicate a facility with three stands and a huge screen on one of the ends. Fans, however, were particularly pleased to see a parking lot for 685 cars, the lack of which is particularly troublesome for those who commute to Keyworth Stadium by car. The club's chairman warns, however, that the visualisations are not final. The final design - as well as the name of the new stadium - will probably be announced in the summer.