Glentoran owner Ali Pour knows there will be mixed emotions when they begin the process of making significant changes to The Oval – but insists there’s no other option given its current state.

The Glens were amongst the biggest winners from Thursday’s NI Football Fund announcement made by Communities Minister Gordon Lyons with their £28million project now moving into a due diligence check phase.

Cliftonville were the only other Irish League club to seal success in the Tier Three category with the likes of Ards, Coleraine, Derry City, Institute and Portadown missing out.

It has been widely acknowledged that Glentoran’s East Belfast home is in need of major work and Pour hopes construction can begin at the end of this season as they look to bring their dream vision to life.

placeholder image — Glentoran owner Ali Pour. (Photo by David Maginnis/Pacemaker Press)

The Oval remains one of Northern Ireland’s most iconic grounds with fans coming from around the world to visit a stadium which was opened in 1892 and sustained extensive bombing damage during World War II.

It’s set to undergo redevelopment with a totally new stadium, on the same site, replacing the current one which Pour insists won’t only be of benefit to the football club, but also the local community.

While Pour acknowledges it’ll mark the end of an era for Glentoran supporters, he’s adamant there’s no alternative – citing another example of needing to rent generators for Friday’s ‘Big Two’ showdown against Linfield after their own broke.

"We want to make sure this is done properly,” he said. “Every single penny has to be spent properly, but we also know it won't be enough...I could spend a hundred million easily!

"Whatever we get, we know we'll have to put money on top of that to make this work and we’re committed to that.

"I'd love to (keep character), but it's hard because everything has to go. I mean, our game (against Linfield), the generators just stopped working again.

"There's no floodlights...we're renting generators – that tells you how bad the condition is. The boardroom, that's staying – we're trying to keep that and move it to a new place.

"We want to keep the old look of that one room, the trophies and so on, but everything else has to go.

"We're spending so much money just keeping this place safe, first and foremost, and functional. So it's very badly needed.

"People come from around the world to see this place. There’ll be a lot of emotion when it goes, and we’ll give it a proper send-off, but the future is bright – it’s time for a change.”

While Glentoran are set to receive a major cash boost in the region of £28million, a number of other clubs, including Ards and Institute, who don’t currently have homes, were left disappointed.

Pour has sympathy for those omitted and called for more investment, but believes Lyons’ vision for change can be driven by projects like the one Glentoran are undertaking.

“Everyone needs money, every single club deserves some money and hopefully they'll all get something eventually,” he said. “We know £36million isn’t enough.

"There has to be more money coming through in the future. The Minister could easily give £200,000 to each club, but what would that do?

"It might help smaller clubs with new changing rooms, a new pitch maybe, but if he wants this transformational change which he's talking about, then it has to be big pots of money going to a few clubs, which transforms the whole area...these other clubs can't do that.”