East Londonderry MLA Sugden welcomes £400k boost for Coleraine FC

The money, from the Department of Culture Media and Sport and administered by the IFA, is part of a £5.66m fund, which is being used to help 17 different grass-roots projects in Northern Ireland.

The independent MLA said: ““Poor weather conditions here can often limit the ability of teams to train on normal grass pitches. Having this additional option for training will ensure this is no longer the case.

“I hope that this work can be built on with the long-awaited roll-out of the Sub-Regional Stadia Programme for Soccer, which Coleraine was due to benefit from, once an Executive is up and running.

“This would see their plans to vastly improve the Showgrounds and their connections to the local community finally realised after nearly 15 years of waiting.”