IF you thought when Sports Minister Gordon Lyons announced that £36.2 million in government funding was now available for Irish League football clubs it would see Ballinamallard United receive a much-needed cash injection, think again.
The £36.2 million Sub-Regional government funding was finally released last week and renamed as the Northern Ireland Football Fund. However, Ballinamallard chairman Tom Elliott, pictured below, confirmed that his club would not be receiving a penny of it.
“There is a bit of history to all this, but the bottom line is that this £36.2 million in funding doesn’t include Ballinamallard,” Mr Elliott explained.
“Most of the Premiership clubs and Portadown in the Championship were approved for business plan development funding. This was the first phase in the process as it gave them a business plan template to follow that would prepare them for the £36.2 million Sub-Regional money now available.
CONCERN… Ballinamallard United Football Club missed out on major funding from the Northern Ireland Football Fund.
“We were not selected for this first business plan development phase so it means we won’t get any of the Sub-Regional money that now follows on from it.
“It’s frustrating because it means that the clubs who got this business plan funding are a step ahead of everyone else.”
The criteria used to choose the clubs for the initial business plan development funding was described by Mr Elliott as “totally flawed”.
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