Northern Ireland football clubs welcome stadium funding comments

Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said he would consider going further than the £36.2m already promised

Football clubs in Northern Ireland have welcomed news that the new minister in charge of sport is considering more funding for stadium improvements.

Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said on Tuesday he would consider going further than the £36.2m already promised to local football.

Gerard Lawlor of the Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL) said the remarks were "hugely encouraging".

But with Stormont budgets stretched, extra funding is not guaranteed.

As part of a package of measures agreed more than a decade ago, the Stormont executive is committed to improve football facilities, in funding known as the sub-regional stadia programme.

"I've tasked my officials to urgently come forward with options for me, as a matter of priority, so that we can get this money out as soon as possible," Mr Lyons said.

Given the passage of time and rising costs, there have been calls to increase the funding from £36.2m to more than £100m.

The minister said he would speak to fellow ministers about the "next phase" of funding.

"The £36.2m is available but I will want to go to executive colleagues because I do believe we need more, especially as we get beyond Premiership clubs into grassroots facilities as well," he said.

'Explore all options'

In response, Mr Lawlor, chief executive of the NIFL, said funding was long overdue.

"Like so many other areas of society in urgent need of funding, our clubs - who are the heartbeat of their respective communities - have been waiting over a decade for this support," he said.

"As the minister has acknowledged, the original funding no longer meets the needs of our member clubs and we look forward to working with him and his department to explore all options for the progression and expansion of this programme."

As the new communities minister, Mr Lyons has a long list of issues in his in-tray, many of them involving demands for extra funding.

He has already said that full financial support for the planned redevelopment of Casement Park GAA stadium in west Belfast has not yet been secured.

Mr Lyons outlined his departmental priorities in an interview with BBC News NI.

"My first priority is to make a difference in the lives of people," he said.

"It is a big department, there is a lot to do in terms of housing, welfare, benefits, sport, arts, culture, regeneration."

He said he wanted to make sure there was enough social housing, and also affordable housing.

Mr Lyons, 37, is an assembly member for East Antrim and was previously economy minister and agriculture minister before the collapse of the Stormont executive in 2022.