Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has announced a significant milestone in the modernisation of Northern Ireland's sporting infrastructure, with the first financial awards now being issued through the Northern Ireland Football Fund.

Letters of offer have been sent to 20 "performance club" projects currently being progressed under the fund's Performance Programme. This initial phase provides up to £400,000 in resource funding to assist clubs in preparing the detailed business cases required to unlock major capital investment for stadium and facility upgrades.

The funding is divided into two categories based on the clubs' previous engagement with development schemes:

• Group 1: Ten clubs that previously received support via the Football Ground Business Case Development Fund (FGBCDF) will receive up to £10,000 each to update their existing plans. These include Ballymena United, Bangor, Carrick Rangers, Cliftonville, Dungannon Swifts, Glenavon, Glentoran, Larne, Loughgall, and Newry City. • Group 2: The remaining ten clubs, which are first-time recipients, will receive up to £30,000 each to create entirely new business cases from scratch. This group includes Armagh City, Ballinamallard United, Ballymacash Sports Academy, Banbridge Town, Dergview, Lisburn Distillery, Lisburn Rangers, Oxford Sunnyside, Queen's University, and Rathfriland Rangers.

Welcoming the release of the funds, Minister Lyons said: "When I announced the cohort of football club projects progressing to the next stage of the Northern Ireland Football Fund, I undertook to support clubs so that projects would move forward as quickly as possible. I am delighted that these first offers of support have been made. Clubs have waited long enough for this funding to be made available."

The Minister emphasised that the responsibility now lies with the clubs to finalise their proposals, which must detail project costs, community benefits, and long-term sustainability. "It's now over to clubs now to develop or finalise their business cases which set out their detailed project proposals, costs and benefits. They will be doing that over the next couple of months, and my officials will be on hand to help them," he added.

The Performance Programme is the first of three strands within the wider Northern Ireland Football Fund. While these 20 projects move forward, future announcements are expected regarding the Grassroots Facilities Programme and the development of a National Football Centre.