Derry City approved to enter long-term lease of Brandywell Stadium

A proposal offering Derry City Football Club to enter into a long-term lease of the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium so they can bid for an £11.8 million share of the NI Football Fund has been approved by councillors.

Stadium owners Derry City and Strabane District Council voted at a meeting of Council's Health & Community Committee on Thursday to agree to a proposal to offer the club a minimum 25-year lease and move towards making them outright owners of the stadium.

According to the NI Football Fund criteria, if the council, the current owners, were to apply for a share of the £36.2m fund, they would need to match 40% of total project costs.

However, should Derry City enter into a long-term lease to eventually become stadium owners and apply, they would only need to match 5%.

The deadline for the NI Football Fund is Friday, March 14, at 5pm, but council officials were told that a long-term lease would not need to be in place until Stage 7 of the NI Football Fund process, which is the tender of appointment of a contractor, following any successful award of funding. 

The proposal will now go before a meeting of the full council at a later date to agree on a lease that suits all parties.

Council heard at Thursday’s meeting that the estimated overall cost of planned works at the stadium was in the region of £11.8m.

Sinn Féin councillor Christopher Jackson has welcomed unanimous support for his proposal to offer a long-term lease of the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium to Derry City Football Club.

He said: “The football club is a thriving hub at the heart of our community, and it deserves this long-overdue funding. 

“Creating a first-class experience for local football supporters and unleashing the huge potential of Derry City remains a priority for me and my party. 

“I am committed to working with the club to ensure it can continue to succeed, grow, and flourish in our city.”

The license between Derry City Football Club and the council is currently issued for periods of 51 weeks at a time, and council officials said any proposed changes to this would require Stormont intervention, with the club being unable to take any official ownership or long-term lease of the stadium due to Section 273 of the Londonderry Corporation Act 1918.

Sinn Féin councillor Sandra Duffy believed the long-term lease is a ‘no brainer’.

She said: “It is the only course of action we can actually take if we want to see the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium as part of this football fund and being taken forward.

“The opportunity is here, and we would be mad to not take it at this stage.

“We have waited for this for a very long time, and I certainly don’t want to be part of missing the boat.”

The SDLP’s Rory Farrell supported the proposal to attempt to get investment in the Brandywell Stadium for the city; however, he believed the lease was the ‘least worst option’.

He said: “It is really, really unfortunate that a decision has been made at Stormont where councils are being asked to contribute 40% to this fund, when soccer clubs across the north are getting away with 5%—it's not fair to this council, not fair to ratepayers, not fair to Derry City, and it is not fair to the entire footballing fraternity across this city.

“If council were to submit this application, we would be asked to contribute nearly five million that we don't have readily available, and it's not an option at all.

“So the least worst option is that we work with Derry City FC to agree on a lease that will allow the football team to submit that application.”

Ulster Unionist Party Alderman Derek Hussey believed it is the best way forward for the club and other users of the stadium.

He said: “If the football club are willing to go ahead on it, then let's go for it.”

Various other stakeholders would be impacted by Derry City's long-term lease, including Institute Football Club, Derry & District Youth F.A., The Ryan McBride Foundation, North West Saturday Morning League, Maiden City Soccer, and Ballymoor Football Club.

Independent Councillor Gary Donnelly welcomed the proposal that these interested groups ‘may get the opportunity if they have issues to address’ them.