Derry City's Brandywell Stadium an ideal location for League of Ireland 'hub' - says Declan Devine

The FAI is understood to be exploring the idea of playing behind closed doors matches at three or four regional centres with the state-of-the-art Lone Moor Road venue earmarked for use by Derry City, Finn Harps and Sligo Rovers.

And Devine is fully behind the use of Derry City’s home ground for north west teams in the event of the league resuming this season.

Devine has also put forward his own potential solution to the current League of Ireland impasse, suggesting the 2020 league campaign should be scrapped and replaced by three new regionalised divisions involving both Premier and First Division clubs.

And he reckons having Brandywell as a football centre for the north west region is a ‘workable solution’.

“The Brandywell is a brilliant facility,” said Devine. “It’s got all the space that’s required. It’s got the changing areas and everything required in terms of how new the stadium is.

“So if they wanted to use the Brandywell, I think that would be great and obviously great for us.

“I would imagine Tallaght would be another hub if that’s the avenue the FAI goes down.

“In many ways, Niall Quinn has mentioned about having three hubs as well so it’s nothing that hasn’t been discussed. But I just think in terms of logistics, it’s more than workable.

“You take every advantage you get but most importantly we just want to get back playing.

“Whatever plans they have, they have to work around the safety of the players, the officials and staff and everybody involved in a match night.”

The City boss said three regionalised leagues would go some way to alleviating concerns surrounding travelling to games and overnight accommodation.

“In the North West, where you would have Derry City, Finn Harps, possibly Sligo and Dundalk, bring two clubs into that from the First Division. It could be a Galway or a Drogheda and have a round-robin tournament with the top two going into play-offs for potential awards or trophies come the end of the season.

“I think regionalising it is a real possibility but I’m sure there are a lot of discussions that would need to take place before then.

“We’ve got to explore every avenue. Some of the guidelines that they’ve (FAI) sent out this last week or two in terms of one venue and two buses per team and all the rest, I just think it’s been unrealistic.

“There are stumbling blocks in terms of where you can play, how you can play, how you can train, where you can train. But I think the First Division clubs need to be looked after in all this as well. Making sure every football club comes through this pandemic is imperative.

“It doesn’t really matter who wins cups or leagues this year, it’s just important football survives in the island of Ireland.

“So if we could just adapt it for whatever amount of months are needed, then it’s a possibility.

“The FAI have been very forward thinking in terms of trying to put plans in place.

“Putting the two leagues together was just a thought I had and I spoke to Paddy (McCourt), Kevin (Deery) and Marty (McCann) about it. It’s just something we thought was getting overlooked.

“It’s important that whatever size of football club you are, you are still in business by 2021 or whenever this virus disappears.”