Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL) CEO Gerard Lawlor believes the Northern Ireland Football Fund has provided Irish League clubs in line to receive a slice of the money with a “chink of light” – and has reaffirmed Gordon Lyons’ message that the door isn’t closed for those that missed out in Thursday’s announcement.

Twenty clubs from across the Irish League pyramid were successful in progressing to the next stage of the Football Fund process which will now include due diligence checks before funds are dished out for projects.

Cliftonville and Glentoran are in line to pocket more than £6million as they look to redevelop their respective stadiums, but there were some notable omissions from the list with the likes of Ards and Institute, who currently don’t have their own ground, and Coleraine not included.

Lyons, who is the Minister for Communities, has ensured those clubs who missed out that the process remains open for them to avail of vital funding, and Lawlor hopes to see all parties satisfied in the future.

placeholder image — Gerard Lawlor (left) pictured at the Northern Ireland Football Fund announcement. (Photo by Pacemaker)

"Fourteen years is a long time to wait for anything and I suppose while we don't have the full exposure, there's a chink of light today for the 20 clubs that are going forward,” he said. “To see iconic spaces like Solitude, The Oval, going as far as Dergview and Distillery, it gives the many volunteers that work very hard to keep those clubs going a chink of light to know that some of those clubs have a future.

“I have to praise the Minister. He has delivered everything that he told me he would deliver. He's always been very straight with us and we continue to try and work towards that.

"Obviously there are a number of clubs that are unhappy. My phone is already going.

"There is a second part of this and hopefully that's not too far away...we want to see it all delivered. This is a good day for football.

“The GAA have had theirs, but wouldn't it be great for this current Minister and this current Executive if they had a legacy for sport in Northern Ireland...maybe building Casement Park and a whole restructure of the domestic infrastructure of Northern Ireland, to have our future sporting stars here in the country really on a great stage.

“Hopefully we can all come together. I encourage the political parties to come together. Let's move all the projects forward now. For us today it's a good step. We've taken one step after 14 years.”

While a successful day for many clubs, Lawlor feels it presents an opportunity for those omitted to finetune business cases and work with others to potential bring their visions to life.

“I have always said throughout this process and I've said it to the department, to go out and build 38 new stadia is a little bit for me unrealistic,” added Lawlor. "I think some of our clubs need to be realistic and look at maybe, and I'm not saying just the two that don't have homes, but is there other projects that could marry up? You know, if AC Milan and Inter Milan are able to share a ground.

“I think some of the clubs need to unite, be realistic and build sporting arenas maybe in projects within their local communities. I think there's more than two ways to skin a cat for some of the clubs going forward.”