Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
MAXIE SWAIN It’s Boys Own comic stuff as school pals join forces to put a rags to riches plan in place that will see Larne compete with the Irish League’s best
IF it was politics, they’d probably be talking about Larne parking their tanks on Linfield’s lawn.
Or perhaps, if you’ll indulge the extravagant military analogies, tossing a hand grenade into the Irish League’s established order.
In football journalism, not usually noted for its restraint, the more prosaic ‘statement of intent’ might be used.
Whatever your metaphor of choice, the Invermen’s capture of muchcoveted striker Davy Mcdaid last month from under the nose of the Blues was nothing short of seismic as far as local football is concerned.
In its sheer audacity, it was both historic and unparalleled, when has a second tier club – moreover, one battling to avoid relegation and with an average gate of a measly 50 at the start of the season – managed to successfully outmuscle and outflank the mighty Linfield in a transfer tug-of-war?
But that is exactly what lowly Larne did, and in an impressively effortless and nonchalant way too, with the former Cliftonville and Waterford striker providing the first incontrovertible evidence the new ownership is prepared to put its money where its mouth is.
Match On Tuesday understands up to £5million has been pledged over the next few years, a staggering level of investment for the Irish League, and one which has the potential to totally transform the harbour minnows.
For new chairman Gareth Clements, the boots on the ground as it were for Us-based millionaire owner Kenny Bruce, and a trusted guardian of his interests, it’s a hugely exciting time to be a Larne supporter.
Close pals since childhood, both he and Bruce were raised Larne fanatics before life and business saw them fly the nest.
But their affection for their hometown team never diminished with the passing of time, and after answering an SOS from Graham Mcconnell and Sammy Smyth, two Larne old boys deeply concerned by the travails of their club, they were jolted into action.
Nevertheless, Clements insists this is no exercise in dewy-eyed nostalgia for the halcyon days of his youth. He insists Bruce is approaching this with the hard-headed coldness of a ruthless businessman.
The online real estate magnate knows there will be little return on his investment but is adamant his generous contribution must make the club self-sufficient and sustainable, with their strategy founded on four pillars: leadership, management, commerce, and youth.
On the field of play, money will be made available to sign players good enough to get the club back into the top flight after almost a decade in exile, while off it, Inver Park will be transformed into an all-singing, all-dancing 4G sportsplex and community hub.
If, or when, it comes to fruition, it will represent one of the most remarkable, rags-to-riches stories in the annals of the Irish League.
“We’re not here for a short period, we are here for the long haul,” Clements told Match On Tuesday.
“To explain how this all started, Kenny contacted me to say he had been approached about saving the club and he asked me what I knew so I gave him the whole nine yards about the way the club was, that it was just like every other club in the Championship, it relied on a band of volunteers working 24/7 to keep the club afloat.
“So I said, ‘Kenny, if you want to make a donation to the club, certainly, go ahead but if you are looking to make an investment to get a return, you’ll wait a helluva long time, if ever, to get a return out of Irish League football.
“But he came back to me straight away and said, ‘No, it would be a donation, I’m prepared to put in £3m to £5m over a period of time to leave a legacy to the town.’
“He said, ‘The morals and the values that growing up in the town gave me have stood by me in business and, at some stage, I was going to make a donation to a charity and I can think of nothing better than to invest some money into my hometown club to try and boost both the club and the town.’
“So we are trying to build a football club, we are trying to build a brand and build unity and to put the football club back at the heart of the community and get people in the town with smiles on their faces.
“And, in a short space of time, already it seems to be working. We are hearing people say that when they go into work, yes you are still hearing about Man United, Celtic and Rangers and whatever, but Larne is nearly the first thing on everybody’s lips at the minute which is what we want.
“And to see people winging their way up Inver Road on a Saturday... we had a queue at the turnstiles one game where people didn’t get in until 3.15pm, and attendances have multiplied five-fold since the start of the season so people in the town have really bought in to what we are trying to do.
“There have been big changes but there is continuity too. The board who were already there before us have stayed on and are playing their part, doing some vital work and they are coming on the journey with us, too.”
Outlining his vision for Inver
Park,
Clements said he hopes that, far from being solely the home of Larne FC, the ground will in time become the beating heart of the town.
“That’s where the main investment is going to