Northern Irish football club Crusaders FC has drawn up proposals for a new 4,000-capacity sports and educational facility to be shared with Newington Youth FC.

The proposed site, close to Crusaders’ current home Seaview Stadium, is owned by Belfast City Council, meaning the authority would have to agree to be part of any development.

A number of preliminary discussions about the project are already underway, according to Crusaders, involving the Belfast Education and Library Board (BELB), the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) and the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE).

Plans were initially revealed in 2008 to build a shared stadium in the area, although they eventually fell through. But, both Crusaders and Newington hope that building a shared education campus will provide stimulus for a new development.

January saw the Department of Education call on interested parties to submit proposals to move into a shared education campus, with education minister John O’Dowd aiming to create a further 10 similar campuses. The deadline for groups to express interest in developing such sites is 31 March.