Wells says more revenue is needed

IFA chief Wells is keen to see the NI stadium issue resolved

IFA chief executive Howard Wells has told Northern Ireland fans that "much higher levels of income" are needed to fulfil the body's new Five-Year Plan.

"The facts are that without a new stadium, or the ability to generate more revenue, the IFA will struggle in future years to maintain its position.

"Without the ability to sell more tickets for international games the IFA five-year plan will come to nothing.

"A new stadium, or a much improved one, is vital to this," said Wells.

The chief executive observed in the match programme for Wednesday's friendly match with Bulgaria that he had been "accused of over-egging the arguments for a new stadium".

"Without a new stadium or a much improved one, the future for football here is gloomy," he insisted.

"The £8 million allocated from Government to improve the running of football will be wasted if there is little chance of the IFA being able to reinvest into the local game in the long term.

"That can only be achieved through much higher levels of income.

"Our marketing efforts have been encouraging and the new revenues derived will help but we must be in a position to sell more tickets.

"Some supporters are unhappy about ticket prices and I have sympathy for that argument but the reality is that budgets have to be balanced and until we can sell more tickets, we are limited in terms of prices that we charge.

"At the moment we sell about 50,000 home tickets per season, a figure that some Premiership clubs in England achieve every week.

"This is the major challenge for the IFA and Government to address and until we do our new Five-Year Plan, 'More than 90 minutes', will prove little more than a few fine words."