Coleraine deserve to be in the upper echelons of Irish League and we want to facilitate that, say new owners Patrick Mitchell and Ranald McGregor-Smith

The London-based businessmen, who grew up and were educated in the town, have agreed to invest a seven-figure sum at the club after the deal was completed following months of negotiations.

The Bannsiders were owned by the Friends of Coleraine but members voted to sell the share back in August, paving the way for new owners to take the keys at The Showgrounds.

It now means top-flight clubs Larne, Glentoran, Carrick Rangers and now Coleraine have been bought over in recent years.

Speaking to the News Letter, Mr Mitchell, who was a former pupil at Coleraine Academical Institution, believes living in the north coast should be used as a selling point for the club.

He said: "One of the most exciting things about the club is that it does have a really strong support.

"The last few years it has been in the top three for home gates, sometimes second only to Linfield.

"The game against Linfield here back in August I think there were over 3,000 here, and with a bit of support we'd like to think that could be even higher.

"The catchment area is very big, within a 30-mile radius I think it's about 140,000 people.

"We put together, alongside the club, a little teaser about the opportunity to invest in Coleraine and we put a few lines in about the attractiveness of the area because that's important.

"It is a prominent area of the world now thanks to the Game of Thrones, the golf, the tourism industry but there's other things that'll follow like fishing.

"I think there's potential for a summer league but you can see an attraction for it as the population here almost doubles in the summer.

"If the fraction of that came to The Showgrounds, it would be great."

The duo confirmed that Board of Director, Simon Magee, will be installed as the club’s new CEO as they aim to maximise revenue.

“We see our role as a facilitator. It's not all our money, people who are prepared to commit money, going in share capital not a loan so there's no guarantee we'll ever get it back,” Mr Mitchell added.

“We have some ideas from an outside perspective.

"Neither of us has ever run a football club but we have run businesses where you look at everything.

“Everything counts here - merchandising, catering, beer sales, everything like that, how welcoming it is for women and young children.

“Something we haven't talked about - possibility of getting more students from the university, either at a playing level or just coming along to support.

"There's no guarantee of success but you've got more chance if you don't stand still as other people are moving.

“We're passionate about it and we believe the club should be up there in the top echelons.

"Board members all have jobs behind them and we have a whole army of volunteers.

“Simon, we hope, will go full-time and will focus efforts off the pitch in helping to raise sponsorship, commercial side of things, and supporting the manager.”