Rangers aim for home advantage

“We have registered the Crusaders pitch as an essential part of our licence application because Taylor’s Avenue, as yet, does not have the required documentation,” said club chairman, David Hilditch.

“However, we are working extremely hard to ensure we will be welcoming senior football back there for the new season.

“There are lots of safety features that have to be put in place and a huge amount of paperwork has to be obtained to ensure we can use our own ground and we are working our way through that.

“We have cleared everything that needs to be provided for the Irish Football Association, so there’s no problem with them. But the various local authority requirements have all to be put in place. All sorts of things such as electricity, crowd safety and emergency exiting arrangements and things like that.

“We are currently working in conjunction with the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council to ensure Premiership football returns to Carrick and is brought to the wider community.

“Remember, football at top level attracts lots of people from other areas to the town every other Saturday and they spend money when they come, so there’s a direct benefit to the local businesses and other aspects of the community.

“There is a lot of work to be done, and I don’t want to suggest otherwise, but I would be confident that everything will be in place before the season starts.

“Taylor’s Avenue has changed since the last time it had this licence, with a different lay-out now, but I believe it will happen and we’ll be ready to host the first home game on our own ground.”