North West clubs have been 'shafted' by NI Football Fund snub says Ruaidhri Higgins

​Derry City, Institute and Coleraine have all missed out on a share of the £82 million funding which has been increased from the £36.2m promised to clubs almost 15 years ago.

All three clubs applied for tier 3 of the three-tiered funding which was in excess of £6million for their respective infrastructure projects but Coleraine boss Higgins felt Institute had been 'trampled on' and had been 'dealt the toughest hand' by the Department of Communities.

'Stute has been displaced from its traditional Drumahoe base since 2017 when severe flooding caused irreparable damage to its Riverside Stadium and currently groundshare with Derry City at Brandywell.

The club has plans to relocate to a new home in the heart of the Waterside community at Clooney Park West but have been shot down for a £14 million share of the NI Football Fund.

Of course Derry City had also applied for £11.8m to complete phase two of the Mark Farren Stand and to install new floodlights and a new grass pitch but were also excluded from the list with just Glentoran and Cliftonville moving on to the second phase of the process.

Coleraine were also unsuccessful but the Bannsiders boss was more concerned and 'baffled' by the decision to leave out 'Stute.

"Geographically, for me, the North West has been shafted again," said the former Derry City boss.

"I think it's becoming a real, real common theme.

"And you might say it's sour grapes because of my connection to Coleraine Football Club, my connection to Derry City Football Club but I'm not going to talk about either, I'll talk about Institute.

"If there's one club that needed support, it's them. For me, I never swear in press conferences, but it's a f**king disgrace. It's an absolute disgrace.

"In 2017 they lost their ground through no fault of their own. It's a brilliant football club run by brilliant people.

"And they've been absolutely trampled on from what I can see. And I've just spoken to someone that works night and day for the club on a voluntary basis, and they're absolutely devastated there. I have no association with Institute. It's just a brilliant family-run club, really good people, an absolute disaster eight years ago. and they've been given absolutely no backing at all, which surprises me in one sense. But then when you look at geographically where they're based, it doesn't surprise me at all.

"It's far enough away from Stormont where they probably won't be heard as much. So, aye, listen, I read people saying it's a great day for football in Northern Ireland and all that. Aye, it's a great day for some clubs. It's an absolutely shocking day for others.

"To be honest, it is a part of the world and it is a part of the country, in my opinion, and a lot of people will back me up, it gets neglected and nobody can tell me any difference. "Institute has been dealt the worst hand out of anybody, in my opinion. I can't get my head around it. It's an absolute disgrace and I think it's a disgrace and I'll never understand.

"I'll never understand it because of what they've gone through as a football club. They're crying out for help.

"They don't have a load of money getting ploughed into the club. They could have easily folded as a football club after what happened in 2017. "The good people there kept it going. I'm baffled by it. I'm really, really baffled by that one.

"Yes, I'm disappointed that we didn't get some of it. Of course I am but if you look at the bigger picture of them, they've been dealt the toughest hand, in my opinion.

"I would like to think that I stand up for what's right and what's wrong. And I think this is wrong. It's not a great day for people in the North West. It's not a great day.

"It's a terrible day. Geographically, for the majority of the rest, it's been a good day, aye? And fair play to them."