Originally Posted by
A N Mouse
Stute are from the city, they chose to site their ground there for 'reasons' when seeking to progress from the intermediate league.
With the advent of the NIFL things may have changed, but it wasn't that long ago Oxford United Stars were refused entry to inagural Championship because they nominated the Brandy as their home ground. They did not own or have a long term lease on the venue. Now the apocryphal tale when I was growing was that this rule came about after Derry resigned from the league so that the IL clubs could have something to point to each year when Derry came back looking to reapply.
Now Stute 'own their own ground', or had some kind of long term arrangement. They were warned at the time about the potential risk but pressed ahead. There were better options, but like the Brandy most of the public/recreational space in the city comes with covenants on use or ownership. So they gave it a wide berth.
So whether the rules have changed, or something else has Stute are now eyeing up something closer to where they should have been these past twenty odd years. What comes it of remains to be seen, use and ownership would continue to be issues, but access will likely be a bigger issue than it would have all those years ago. And if that rule, or a variant of it, remains in place then the clock is ticking for them to find their own ground. Because a long term lease on the Brandy is not possible.
With the good talk, before the announcement about POD's business sale, about legacy and infrastructure then the sensible thing for both clubs would be some kind of joint football campus out of town, with a stadium. But thats another can of worms,if as seems likely was on donegal side of border