Reacting to the announcement on Thursday, Coleraine manager Ruaidhri Higgins, who is a former Derry City manager, said: “Geographically, for me, the north west has been shafted again.”
Coleraine fan Helen Wilkinson said she was very surprised to hear that the Bannsiders had not progressed with their funding application.
“Even looking beyond Coleraine, I struggle to see how so many clubs in the north west, especially with the likes of Institute, weren’t successful with their proposals for funding,” she said.
“Unfortunately, the issue goes beyond Coleraine and, once again, our region, the north west, which has given so much to football in Northern Ireland, has been overlooked.”
She said the youth football tournaments, SuperCupNI and the Foyle Cup, were among the events that benefitted the north west region.
