Irish League club chairman 'feeling upset and let down' after missing out in NI Football Fund
Ards chairman Warren Patton admits the Co Down club feel “upset and let down” after they missed out in Thursday’s Northern Ireland Football Fund announcement.
In total, 20 Irish League clubs progressed to the next stage of the Football Fund’s Performance Programme with a combined cost of projects in the region of £82million, but Ards were a notable omission when Gordon Lyons took to the stage at the Blanchflower Stadium in Belfast.
Ards have been without a permanent ground since 2001 when they had to sell Castlereagh Park and have since played home matches at the likes of Solitude, Taylors Avenue and currently ply their trade at Clandeboye Park in Bangor.
They’ve secured a site on the Portaferry Road and have underwent expensive surveys in their dream of bringing the club back to Newtownards.
It was thought the likes of Ards and Institute, another Irish League club currently ground-sharing with Derry City, would be amongst the main contenders to earn a slice of the £36.2million up for grabs, but both have missed out at this stage.
Lyons sent a message to those clubs omitted from the list that the door hasn’t been shut on their proposals with Department for Communities staff set to work closely with them in the coming weeks.
It’s a bitter blow for Ards and while Patton confirmed their project met the essential criteria, he revealed they didn’t rank highly enough across the Football Fund’s matrix to secure much-needed money.
“As a club, we are feeling upset and let down after the announcement made this morning on the Northern Ireland Football Fund,” said Patton. “I want to reassure all our shareholders, supporters and the wider Newtownards community that our proposed project for our new stadium met with the programmes essential criteria and the minimum scoring requirements, however did not rank high enough to progress to the next stage in a very robust scoring matrix.
"As a board we will sit down over the coming days and discuss our next step and possibly look into other funding applications that may be available.”
Northern Ireland Football Fund:
Tier 1 (project value under £1.5m): Armagh City, Ballymacash Sports Academy, Lisburn Distillery, Queen’s University, Rathfriland Rangers.
Tier 2 (project value £1.5m to £6m): Ballinamallard United, Ballymena United, Banbridge Town, Bangor, Carrick Rangers, Dergview, Dungannon Swifts, Glenavon, Larne, Lisburn Rangers, Loughgall, Newry City, Oxford Sunnyside.
Tier 3 (project value over £6m): Cliftonville, Glentoran.