Stadium owners Derry City and Strabane District Council has agreed in principle to a proposal for the club to hold a lease that will expire not earlier than January 2nd 2051 at a meeting of Council's Health & Community Committee sitting in Strabane on Thursday evening. The club, which was initially offered a lease by Londonderry Corporation upon their formation in May 1928, has been long-term anchor tenants of the Lone Moor Road ground. However, with the deadline for applications for the £36.2 million NI Football Fund on Friday at 5pm, Council members approved a proposal which will enable Derry City to meet the criteria for its share of the pot as a 'performance club who intend to become the owners' of its football stadium. According to the NI Football Fund criteria, if the council where to apply for a share of the funding they would need to match 40% of total project costs. However, if Derry City were to enter into a long-term lease to eventually become stadium owners and apply, they would only need to match 5%. The ground-making move is a step towards Derry City becoming outright owners of the stadium. Due to the provisions of Section 273 of the Londonderry Corporation Act 1918, Council is currently unable to let the stadium for a period of more than 12 months. The law dating back over 100 years states: “The corporation may from time to time let for terms not exceeding twelve months to any club, company, body or persons any portion of any park or place or public resort or recreation set apart from them for the purposes of cricket, football or any other game or recreation under section 76 of the Public Health Acts Amendment Act 1907.” Therefore the current license between Derry City and Council is issued for periods of 51 weeks at a time. Council will seek to amend or repeal this provision which will now require the intervention of the Northern Ireland Assembly and while the risk is that it will require time to resolve this matter, the full lease would not need to be in place until Stage 7 of the NI Football Fund process – tender of appointment of Contractor (following successful application process/award of funding). With various other stakeholders impacted by Derry City's long term lease including Institute Football Club, Derry & District Youth F.A, The Ryan McBride Foundation, North West Saturday Morning League, Maiden City Soccer and Ballymoor Football Club, the terms of any lease agreement would seek to address the interests of these groups, while simultaneously being agreeable to Derry City. There will be negotiations required between Derry City Football Club and Council to agree a lease which suits all parties and the proposal will now go before a meeting of full council at a later date. Should Derry’s application for the £11.8 million prove successful, it will be used towards the completion of phase two of the Mark Farren Stand which was built in 2018.