Toal’s Co Antrim Shield semi-finals: Cliftonville v Glentoran (tonight, Solitude, 7.45pm)
CLIFTONVILLE and NIFL chief Gerard Lawlor is seeking more detail over the financial breakdown of the Stormont Executive’s £15m bail-out for local sport.
Speaking ahead of tonight’s Co Antrim Shield semi-final against Glentoran at Solitude, the Reds chairman was “cautiously optimistic” that football's slice of the cake would go some way to alleviating some of the fiscal worries of Irish League clubs – but warned the gradient on the road was still daunting.
Communities Minister Carál Ní Chuilín announced the financial package for sports governing bodies in the north last week.
Lawlor said: “There is £15m for sport. We need more details, more clarity and we await that. In this climate the money has to be welcomed but we need to see what impact it’s going to have on football. We’d hope we’d have clarity this week.”
While government support will help local football in the short-term, Lawlor said clubs face a serious rebuild. Just yesterday the Irish Government announced a Covid19 resilience fund for soccer (€13m, FAI clubs), Rugby (€18m) and GAA (€15m).
“After this bail-out it’ll be up to ourselves to rebuild,” he said.
“My concern is, supporters who have been at Solitude every weekend [pre-lockdown] are now doing something different with their time… But it’s important for us as a club that we just don’t lock people out. We’re continuing that engagement with people and that’s why the ‘streaming’ of games has been a major element for us.”
A restricted number of fans are still able to attend Irish Premiership games and associated competitions, with all Covid guidelines observed, even though Rugby and GAA have decided to lock their gates during the second Covid wave.
“Having some fans is a bit of normality. Football is nothing without fans. I’ve been to games this year where there have been no fans and you’re saying to yourself: ‘What is the point of us being here? What’s the use of doing this?’ Football is about people and relationships and a feel-good factor and our mental health.
“It’s far from normal but there’s a little bit of normality in it for some people. We have a responsibility to the community. It would be much easier to lock the doors and allow nobody in, I have to confess, because there is a lot of work that goes into every game but we are there to provide a service to people who have supported us and we have to offer them something back in return. We haven’t had a problem at Solitude since football restarted.”
The Reds avenged their Irish Cup semi-final penalty shoot-out loss to Glentoran back in July by beating them 1-0 at Solitude last month. But the Glens, who are likely to field former Reds duo and brother Rory and Jay Donnelly tonight, will be keen to bounce back after suffering a 2-1 loss to Coleraine last weekend.
Elsewhere, Larne will hope to send out another signal of their ambitious intentions by taking Linfield’s scalp in tonight’s other Shield semi-final at Inver Park. Both have 7.45pm kick-offs.
