Irish League fans react to latest sub-regional stadia funding blow

Irish League fans have unanimously hit out following news that the £36m sub-regional stadia funding plan is under threat.

It was reported on Monday that the programme had been shelved due to the Northern Ireland Executive collapsing.

However, on Tuesday Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey insisted the funding was "ready to go", but reiterated it required sign-off from the Executive which collapsed earlier in February when Paul Givan resigned as First Minister.

The impasse and doubt over the funding has led to grave concerns within Northern Ireland's football family.

NI Football League chief executive Gerard Lawlor accused Stormont of “slapping football in the face”, while Irish FA counterpart Patrick Nelson said the IFA had "expressed concern" on the lack of engagement from the Communities Minister on the funding programme.

Irish League supporters vented their own frustration and concerns on social media

Coleraine fan Bryan said: "It’s a massive kick in the teeth for the thousands of volunteers up and down the country who give up a lot of their valuable time to keep clubs afloat. They have been there through thick and thin despite some tough times."

KitchyGFC added: "Football is a game that brings people from all sorts of backgrounds together. One of the best things in NI for that. It desperately needs funding to bring the facilities up to date and make them family friendly."

David simply said: "Failure. Failure. Failure."

John tweeted: "Unbelievable but hardly surprising given that both sides are now just going tit for tat with each other, remember when they come to Ur door for their election, tell them where to go ,where the sun doesn't shine."

Irish Football Blog said: "Massively disappointing, but as everyone will