American football: Donegal Derry Vipers find new home in Greysteel

The team, founded in 2014, have been without a permanent home pitch for about six years

A Londonderry-based American football team has found a new home in Greysteel after years of uncertainty.

The Donegal Derry Vipers have struggled to find a permanent site after serious flooding forced them from their original home in Drumahoe in 2017.

The Vipers have jumped from venues in Letterkenny, Limavady Rugby Club, Lisnagelvin and Prehen Playing Fields.

They will now train and play games at a disused soccer pitch near the Vale Centre in Greysteel.

"The hope is that we can secure all the funding and grants now to get a purpose built pitch," Mark Gillen told BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today.

Mark Gillen hopes that the new pitch will interest more people to take up the sport

Mr Gillen, who is the chairman of the Vipers, said: "We trained at the Vale Centre before but it's great that this can now become permanent.

"We have a vision and want to promote American football in the north-west. We are confident and excited about this new adventure.

"We are visiting the site this Saturday to identify what needs fixed up and we are already working on funding and grants to help us along.

"We have three teams to facilitate and this good news has brought former players back into the mix.

"People want to be part of what's to come and includes a real mix of ages."

A mock-up shows the new American Football pitch on the banks of Lough Foyle

Columba Mailey, centre coordinator at the Vale Centre, said: "We couldn't help much back in 2017 because our soccer pitch was used for matches.

"Fast forward through Covid and I saw they were still looking for a permanent home.

"Things became more available here with our grass pitch being underutilised.

"I came across a purpose-built American football pitch that the Causeway Giants use and thought that would look great in Greysteel.

The team are discussing plans to see the purpose-built pitch be installed, Columba Mailey said

The team have signed a 10-year lease for the pitch, Mr Mailey added.

"We have struck a relationship and this is going to be massive... people are excited to see things built," he said.

"They are already in talks about funding and putting plans on paper into reality.

"This can only be a good thing for the north-west."