’If we don’t address the stadium situation, we won’t have a football club’

The need for Finn Harps to complete their long-awaited new stadium in Stranorlar was laid bare on Monday.

At a press conference to unveil new manager Darren Murphy, Harps Chairperson Ian Harkin warned that the club would simply cease to exist were the stadium saga to continue its drag.

The purse strings will be tightened in terms of team expenditure as Harps look to make every possible inroad into their stadium plans.

“Where we are right now, in terms of priorities with the club overall, if we don’t address our stadium situation - and that has to be the highest priority - we won’t have a football club,” Harkin said.

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“We have been told this. We been told that Finn Park will no longer be fit for purpose in the very immediate future so addressing that our highest priority. In some ways, other things take sacrifice for that. It doesn’t mean that you have to cut everything completely.

“The plan for having funds available is to focus on the infrastructure. The infrastructure will develop into more income streams that will allow the club to compete at a higher level.”

Nineteen years ago, in December 2004, shareholders at the annual general meeting of the Finn Harps Co-Operative Society Ltd were briefed on ambitious plans for a new stadium across the Finn in Stranorlar.

At that stage, Finn Park was showing its age. Some touch-up works have been undertaken, including the construction of new dressing rooms on the gantry side of the ground to enable the club host games during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the Navenny Street venue has passed its time.

The construction of the new stadium has hit a series of roadblocks with work halting in 2014, leaving the shell of what is planned to be the main stand. While a grant of €3.991m has been awarded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, under the Large-Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF), Harps still have to provide matching funding - which means they need to raise €700,000.

The site of the new Finn Harps stadium, pictured in 2020. (Sporsfile)

The total amount needed for Harps’ matching funding share is €1.2m. Harps have secured a facility from a subcontractor for €0.5m allowing repayments on their final installed payment over 10 years.

Revised costs for the stadium have jumped to €7.3m. To allow contractors back on site, Harps have to come up with an initial €200,000.

Harkin said: “I don’t want to put a time period on it, but I am very confident that it will happen.

“I’m spending 20-30 hours a week working on it, volunteering my time to doing that. It is my biggest area of focus. There is that many balls in the air at the moment and it has never been closer. We have got engagement from the Chief State Solicitor’s Officer, from the Department of Sport, from the FAI and everyone wants it to happen. It is only a matter of time.

“We have an element to do ourselves as a club where we need to fundraise. We will be doing that.”

In terms of the playing staff, Harps’ focus will be on the development of young players.

Harkin said: “We want to build towards the future. The future should always be having players from Donegal.

A couple of seasons ago, we might have had one or two from the region in the club. Even when we started last season, we didn’t have a single player form our academy playing in the first team in the first game, but in the last game of the season we had five in the first 11.

“We have a responsibility to the people of Donegal. Success has different measures. There is the pressure of being able to deliver the infrastructure and there is also being able to develop your own players. We have ignored them for too long. Now, that is happening.”