Northern Irish plan for future

By Kenny Archer

Financial fillip
The game has been promised €12m over the next three years, a significant amount that will help improve stadia, coaching and playing standards. But while Northern Ireland sports minister Angela Smith confirmed that €4.5m would be available forthwith, the other €7.5m is dependent on the formation of a single governing body to run football in the province.

A new body
That was scheduled to happen next year after the Irish Football Association (IFA) backed proposals that would effectively see the IFA subsume the Irish Football League - a body created as far back as 1890 - and form a 17-member Executive Committee to run the game, headed by IFA president Jim Boyce.

Government hope
Last week the government's Football Advisory Panel supported those proposals at a special meeting in Belfast. But addressing the panel, sports minister Smith expressed the hope that the new IFA Executive Committee could be set up before the start of the 2003/04 season.

Sooner rather than later
"I have listened to the Advisory Panel's views and I am in full agreement with their concern about the delay in the formation of an executive committee," she stated. "That is a fundamental reform involving accountability. I would like to see such a structure in place sooner rather than later.

The right time
"It seems to me that the start of the coming season would be an appropriate date for its introduction. However, assuming the IFA's proposals are passed and provided everything is in place, the government will certainly keep its side of the bargain.

Future's bright
"In anyone's language, this is big money and an investment of this magnitude will ensure that the agreed strategy is not going to be just a paper exercise. What we are doing here can make a tangible difference to football in Northern Ireland. It is a long-term plan to help secure a brighter future for football at all levels throughout Northern Ireland."

'Pleased and delighted'
IFA general secretary David Bowen welcomed the news, saying: "I should like to say how pleased and delighted we were to learn of the announcement. The IFA are also pleased about the acceptance by the government of the Association's five-year development plan. We now look forward to early discussions to establish exactly how, and for what, the funding will be allocated."