Finn Harps have secured additional land for training pitches and want to keep their current stadium as a home for their women's team in what they say should be a blueprint for the rest of the country.
Last week it was announced that their stadium development, which hit rocky ground for several years, will finally proceed again after an allocation of just under €4 million to begin building.
Harps have partnered with local authorities, as well as the FAI and the government in resurrecting the project.
They are now setting a target for 2024 to move to the Donegal Community Stadium in Stranolar.
Paul McCloone, a director with Harps and part of the group steering the development, has said that steps have to be taken to draw down the money to resume the build on what is now very much a rundown building site.
Speaking on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast, he said: "There is a bit of work to be done with the department to fine tune the allocation. You would note in the announcement it said provisional. Planning permission is in place so we could commence (as soon as possible).
"We got a design team in two years ago with the support of the Department of Sport. We examined the site and showed the structure that is in place is still fit for purpose. That was the critical issue.
"One way or the other, it is Finn Harps' ambition for the senior team to play there in the 2024 season."
News of securing more space around the development to host training pitches is another fillip to Harps.
This season the Women’s National League has expanded to a further underage level and in times will reflect all grades of the men’s competition, which range from Under-13 to Senior.
The Donegal side say they will have 16 teams competing in the blue of Harps soon and as a result, they need more than just the stadium project.
Pitches will be placed around the stadium for the academy sides, while more interestingly, Finn Harps could be preserved to host at least five females teams.
McCloone added: "We have great partners involved now, including the Department for Sport, the FAI and most importantly, Donegal County Council who gave us a lease of the site.
"Only last week we leased an adjacent piece of land to develop a couple of training pitches. It is our ambition as a club, because we will have 16 teams in total when the ladies teams come on board, we would need four or five pitches including the stadium and the old Finn Park.
"I've been watching Ireland in international football for 40 years. When I saw what happened to our international women’s team some years ago where they had to borrow tracksuits and no place to change, I say if we're to develop ladies football in Donegal, due recognition should be given.
"We'll have three or four dressing-rooms in Finn Park. We're going to put in a new surface. That would be a good place for women and girls to have their football headquartered. Clubs in the League of Ireland need more facilities, not less. I'm proposing Finn Park and two pitches plus the stadium."
Debate is raging around the future of football in the country following the morale-sapping defeat to Luxembourg, as well as the clear dwindling level of talent in the squad at international level.
As the men’s team struggle and now look to have a bleak short-term outlook, the Irish women’s team have yet to make a breakthrough that their male counterparts were achieving decades ago.
League of Ireland clubs now have the biggest responsibility when it comes to developing players in the country, and as well as struggling with resources, facilities remain a major issue.
For Harps, they see their attempts to arrest shortcomings as something that should happen all over Ireland and address core issues facing the game here.
McCloone said: "Finn Harps need to show leadership and put in facilities for young people of the county. We're never going to develop football in this country if League of Ireland clubs are playing in sub-standard stadiums.
"It is important for us for a club, but also for underage football and women’s football. You can't play football without good pitches. The facilities we have now are not fit for purpose. This is the ambition, that we don't just build a stadium, but a complex that will facilitate 16 teams in total.
"There was a critical statement made last week if you read last week's allocation by government where they said that they recognised the League of Ireland needed significant funding and support.
"Minister Catherine Martin said there needs to be more support given to soccer in County Donegal. It is no accident that we are going to name the stadium Donegal Community Stadium. It is for the people of Donegal, not Finn Harps.
"It is my vision and my passion that we do it right, or not at all. It is time the League of Ireland stepped up to the plate. We need leadership from the FAI as well that the vision of Finn Harps is a model for the rest of the country. If we are to develop young players, and look at the international team now, we need a better standard League of Ireland."
The club, currently top of the SSE Airtricity League, will have to undertake a fundraising campaign to bring their vision to realisation, along with other stakeholders.
McCloone points to Donegal GAA building a new training base in Convoy for €5.5 million through fundraising as an example of what can be achieved.
He added: "There wasn't a grant but the people of Donegal rose to the occasion and supported Donegal County Board in getting that done. The Donegal diaspora in London, America and throughout Europe (supported that) and we'll be talking to business people and the private sector.
"Crucially, we've done this so far as four agencies, not as one. We'll continue to work together (with FAI, DCC and government) and it is achievable. With the partners working with us, and the rest of us rolling up our sleeves, we're going to have to raise a lot of money. But it can be done in County Donegal.
"We have a great sporting tradition. We've been producing international footballers like Seamus Coleman, Packie Bonnar, Shay Given without facilities. The people of Donegal realise that."
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