Crusaders are given £2.2m to build new 'skills centre' at Seaview stadium in north Belfast
Crusaders FC have tonight announced they have been given £2.2m in government funding.
The money is for its proposed “Shore Road Skills Centre”, with the club providing matching top-up funding.
In a statement this evening, the club said it is “the end of a long process”.
It quoted Tommy Whiteside, project director and treasurer, as saying: "The club developed a very strong application and a robust business case within a very competitive, UK-wide challenge-fund.
"The Shore Road Skills Centre will house a range of current sports and educational initiatives of the club as well as a vocational education offer by our educational partners.
"This is the largest funding award that Crusaders have ever achieved and it is a testimony to the strength and capacity we have here at the club.
"Tendering will now proceed with a 'build' phase creating much-needed employment.
"The Skills Centre will be a vital part of our infrastructure at Seaview as we seek to develop our premises as an open and welcoming modern small stadium.
"We are grateful for the political support we have received from across the spectrum in helping us realize this vital piece of community infrastructure."
And Mark Langhammer, vice-chair of the club and the education programme director for the project, sad: "It is a matter of fact that the Duncairn area within which the Skills Centre will be located is an area of high recognized educational disadvantage.
"We aim, with partners, to tackle that. Sport has the power to change lives, and has the leverage to promote wider social goals, such as in education.
"The Skills Centre will be open to the public and will promote an attractive 'menu' of courses and vocational opportunities as well as progression pathways to further and higher education partners.
"The initiative seeks to offer opportunities for people, young and old, to achieve and improve their lives.
"We, at Crusaders, pride ourselves in being ‘more than a football club’ and the Skills Centre will represent visible proof of that vision."