​Linfield boss David Healy says Institute Football Club deserve funding for new Waterside stadium

​Healy insists he's an advocate for those Irish League clubs promised their share of funding as part of the sub-regional stadia upgrades which is expected to be released soon to improve infrastructure for clubs in Northern Ireland.

Of course Derry City has been promised its share of the pot for phase two of the Mark Farren Stand but Institute, who have been sharing Brandywell Stadium with their city neighbours since 2018, are hoping to move into a new state-of-the-art complex at Clooney Park West in the heart of their traditional Waterside base.

And Blues manager Healy is hoping those plans come to fruition in the near future.

"I have huge respect for Institute as a club and Kevin [Deery] as a manager," said Healy after Linfield's 3-1 Irish Cup quarter-final win on Sunday. "I've seen Institute quite a bit over the last couple of years and they're a really good side.

"I was at Drumahoe seven years ago for the first time," he added. "Even when I went to Institute the first time everybody said you need to be careful, they play a lot of young players and play in the correct way and the correct manner.

"Institute are one of those clubs, I know they're pushing to get their own stadium, their own ground built and rightly so. As part of the stadia funding which has been promised from 2011 and we didn't get in 2015, so for me being a not only a big advocate for Institute but the other clubs who deserve to have the opportunity to have their own facilities it's important they get reimbursed the money they've been promised for a long period of time."