Minister of State visits Showgrounds

THE Chair and Board of Coleraine Football Club welcomed Conor Burns MP the Minister of State for Northern Ireland to The Showgrounds, Coleraine on Friday 11 February…

The Minister was visiting projects in the Causeway Coast and Glens area. The Board of Coleraine Football Club used the visit to show the Minister and invited guest the progress made around the grounds since the launch of the development strategy last year.

The Minister heard that the first ever game of football match on the island of Ireland was played in Coleraine and as the club and The Showgrounds reach their 100th anniversary in 2027, the current Board want to ensure that the legacy of football culture and heritage continue with the North Coast.

The project team demonstrated to the Minister that not only is Coleraine Football Club in the centre of the town but it is at the heart of the community and now the board want to open the place up to make it more accessible to the public.

Within what they are calling the “Blue and White Mile” live 22,000 people of which 4,500 are under 16 with limited playing and sports facilities. As part of their phased development, Coleraine Football Club aim to develop a “Community Hub” which will have playing and changing facilities which will cost and estimated £1.8 million.

The club have spent £700,000 to date with no debt on enhancing the pitch, changing rooms, medical facility and more recently the external wall along the Ballycastle Road. The Community Hub will see the grass area beside The Showgrounds transformed with 3G pitch, floodlighting, carparking, pavilion and meeting rooms.

What the board are calling “Coleraine in the Community” will see the football club delivering programs to promote health and wellbeing projects for young people and female participation in football as well as programs for disabled groups.

Coleraine Football Club, endorsed by the local politicians, aim to apply to Westminster for the “Levelling Up Fund” for the money to deliver this project. The Levelling Up Fund is a competitive fund, with funding distributed to places across the UK on the basis of successful project selection. The Fund will set aside at least £800 million across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland over four years from 2021-2022 to 2024-2025. The first round of funding, saw at least 3% of total UK allocations going to Northern Ireland.

The Chairman and Board emphasised to the Minister and the local representative that Coleraine Football Club is in a state of readiness for the Levelling Up Fund, when the next round opens.