Derry City could ground-share with rivals Finn Harps for the start of 2016 due to the multi-million pound redevelopment of The Brandywell.
The first stage of the work began this week with the Glentoran Stand knocked ahead of the start of work on a new stand.
Glentoran Stand at the Brandywell.getting demolished now pic.twitter.com/lPLnoNqfz0
— Derry City FC (@derrycityfc) October 5, 2015
The club will meet with representatives of Derry City and Strabane District Council this week according to the Derry Journal to discuss how the work will unfold. It is expected to occur before Christmas.
There is also the possibility of the club approaching the FAI and asking to play its first round of league games away from home.
Chairman Philip O’Doherty said: “If we get the work underway this side of Christmas it will be touch and go for the start of the season and we might need a bit of leeway from the FAI or even use Finn Harps’ stadium if that’s possible.
“We are going to look at all options including the possibility of talking to Finn Harps about using their ground for a short period.
“We will know later this week but we might have to ask them for that ground-sharing possibility.
“It will be very difficult getting people to the games but it’s such a huge boost for us to get this done and we might have to put up with a bit of disruption to begin with.
“It may not suit Finn Harps at all. And they might tell us they can’t facilitate us. So we might have to look at other options - we don’t know.
“What might have to happen is that we ask the FAI to play our first four games away from home - that’s one of the possibilities.
“We will wait and see what the programme is but ideally we would like work to be finished to coincide with the start of the season. They might still be working around the ground but if they can get the pitch down then that would be something.”
On the ground works, which will transform Derry’s home into one of the finest stadiums in the SSE Airtricity League, O’Doherty said all the funding is now in place for the renovations.
“The letter of offer was emailed on Friday so the full £6.25 million is in place,” he continued.
“The designs are ready to go, all the drawings and specifications are ready so they just have to agree how it’s going to be tendered.
“I’m certainly hopeful they will get going sometime during November or December depending on how things pan out so I’m delighted.
“It’s time to focus on getting it done. We will be meeting with Council this week to discuss the programme of work because it’s vital we get moving very quickly.
“We’re just looking at the options at the minute. We need to talk to Council this week about the programme first of all to get an idea of a project programme, i.e, a start date, a finish date and when are we going to be out of the ground.
“It will have to move very quickly once we do get the programme and then we’ll have to make arrangements."
