Glentoran manager Declan Devine believes the facilities for football in Northern Ireland “needs to move with the times”.
When the £36.2 million was initially announced in 2011, the club’s Oval ground in east Belfast was earmarked for £10 million to help towards its redevelopment.
“If we want football in Northern Ireland to grow, we’ve got to provide our fans – irrelevant of what club – with modern facilities to enjoy what is a brilliant product,” said Devine.
“We need a hub which we can use all of the facilities for the people of east Belfast. We have to work with our community.
“We need to bring this back into the 2025 world because I left here in 1996, came back last year and the thing hasn’t changed one bit.”
Devine, who has also managed Derry City and Bohemians in the League of Ireland, feels the stadia “aren’t up to scratch” and that Larne’s success in Europe will only be replicated with better facilities.
“We’ve just had a club qualify for the Conference League Group stages [in Larne],” he said.
“If we want to showcase our country, we need to showcase our facilities. We need investment.
“If you look at the current Northern Ireland international team, the many players who have come through this league. We have a brilliant product.
“We have a brilliant future ahead of us but we need the stadia, the grounds and the clubs to be supported by our government to take us to the next level.”
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