The Department for Communities have said it will “consider its response to any action being brought as and when it has been formally notified” after Crusaders and Derry City teamed up to commence legal proceedings following their NI Football Fund omission.

Last month, Communities Minister Gordon Lyons announced 20 clubs progressing to the Football Fund’s next stage – projects totalling around £82million are set to undergo due diligence checks as Northern Irish teams look to make crucial infrastructure upgrades.

While the likes of Cliftonville and Glentoran were big winners, there were also a number of high-profile omissions, including Ards and Institute, two Irish League clubs currently without their own ground.

Coleraine, Derry City, Portadown and the Crues were also amongst those who missed out on taking the next step towards completing their own respective proposals.

placeholder image — Communities Minister Gordon Lyons (centre) with Irish Football Association (IFA) president Conrad Kirkwood (left) and NI Football League (NIFL) Chief Executive Gerard Lawlor (right). (Photo by Liam McBurney/PA Wire)

Now, League of Ireland outfit Derry City and Crusaders have confirmed they’ve started the process of commencing legal action to challenge their omission with the former claiming “we were left with no other option”.

"Derry City Football Club have made the decision to join with Crusaders FC to commence legal proceedings to challenge the exclusion of both clubs from Stage 2 of the Northern Ireland Football Fund process,” they said in a statement. “We believe we were left with no other option. A further statement will be issued in due course.”

Crusaders posted: “Following an extra-ordinary general meeting of Crusaders Football Club members on Wednesday 8th October 2025, Crusaders FC have determined to join Derry City FC to commence legal proceedings to challenge the exclusion of both clubs from Stage 2 of the Northern Ireland Football Fund.”

It’s unclear at this stage how the legal challenge will impact delivery of the NI Football Fund, which has a ring-fenced budget of £36.2million and was first promised to Irish League clubs in 2011.

When approached by the News Letter for comment, a Department for Communities spokesperson said: “The Department will consider its response to any action being brought as and when it has been formally notified.”

Lyons admitted at last month’s announcement he understood frustrations from those clubs who missed out, but underlined his willingness to meet with them to discuss next steps.

“We did not have a scoring based on geography, this was based on need, and this was based on the impact that it was going to have in the community,” he said at the time. “I understand there will be frustration, I understand there may be some anger about this as well, but we had to treat everybody fairly.

"We had to put it through the same process, and I can assure you that the disappointment and frustration with those clubs in other parts of the country will just be the same as it will be in the North West.

"But again, my message is, it's not no, it's simply not yet, let's do everything that we can to make sure we can get people where they need to be, and that's why I will be allocating staff to those clubs to talk to them, to tell them about the next steps and where we need to go from here.”