NIFL 'working very hard' to secure extra investment for Irish League clubs with 'a gap in our funding that needs to be closed'
Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL) CEO Gerard Lawlor insists Irish League clubs need more money to improve infrastructure and says the organisation is working hard to secure extra investment.
Football clubs in Northern Ireland were initially promised £36.2million through the Sub-Regional Stadia Programme announced in 2011, but that money was ultimately never delivered.
Fourteen years later, Communities Minister Gordon Lyons launched the Northern Ireland Football Fund (TNIFF) which contains three strands – Performance Programme, Grassroots Facilities Programme and the creation of a National Training Centre.
Irish League clubs, alongside League of Ireland outfit Derry City, were invited to bid for their slice of the available money earlier this year, which still currently stands at the original £36.2million despite significant delays, with an outcome expected soon on the recipients.
It was announced earlier this month that the UK Government would be pledging £50million towards the redevelopment of Casement Park, but Lawlor insisted “there’s no way we can sit back and allow our local football clubs to be forgotten”.
Lyons acknowledged in January when launching TNIFF that £36.2million wouldn’t be enough – it’s estimated £200million is closer to the amount required – saying in an interview with the News Letter: “I see this as rolling investment.
"We will continue to bid for more funding so that we can be in a position to continue to meet the needs of football in Northern Ireland.
"Even if we had an unlimited budget today we wouldn't have the capacity to do everything that needs to be done at the around 80 clubs that would need it. We don't have the ability to do everything at once so let's make sure this is a rolling scheme and we keep going.
"I want to do everything I can at my end to make sure this goes out as quickly as possible. I've put additional resources in to get to this stage as quickly as we could...some of this is outside my control and is now over to the clubs.
"They need to get the proper approvals in place, have their business cases together, have planning permission before construction can begin, but we're not leaving them to that themselves.
"We want to make sure there's assistance from the department as well. We want to work in partnership with people and don't want it to be about winners or losers, pass or fail, we want to help everybody through the process so that they can meet their needs."
Lawlor has been engaged in conversations with stakeholders in order to deliver crucial finances for NIFL clubs and says “the football needs have never been met”.
"For us, football needs money and investment,” said Lawlor. “It's really important to remember there were four strands of the Sub-Regional Programme.
"I hear constantly the message that football’s needs have been met - the football needs have never been met.
"They were split 50/50 between domestic football and Windsor Park. Windsor Park has been delivered, but the other 50% of that commitment has never been delivered.
"Like Casement, which we're happy and delighted with, there is a gap in our funding also and that needs to be closed.
"The minister and the Executive know that, we continue to discuss that situation with partners and stakeholders. I don't think it's a surprise to anyone we need more money and we're working very hard to achieve that investment."