Soccer club exileddue to Mill plight

The famous Sion Swifts club can no longer play in the village after the Herdman’s Mill was placed in receivership last summer, The club had been using two football pitches at the complex.

Swifts - which provides a social and sporting outlet for hundreds of local children and teenagers - is no longer able to play in its home town as a result of the development.

Formerly the club availed of two pitches on the Herdman’s Mill complex on the banks of the Mourne but now the iconic site is up for sale it has been forced to look elsewhere.

The club’s plight was raised at Stormont last week when West Tyrone MLA Joe Byrne remarked: “There are many junior and amateur soccer clubs throughout Omagh and Strabane, some of which have good facilities, such as those in Castlederg and Strabane town. Omagh District Council owns a number of soccer pitches, but quite a few soccer clubs do not have adequate sports facilities of their own

“Unfortunately, an example is Sion Swifts soccer club, which is based is Sion Mills. It caters for about 300 young people on an ongoing basis, yet it does not have any pitch facilities of its own.

“In the past, it has used the two pitches at Herdman’s Mill, but since the Herdman’s project has gone into liquidation, it cannot get insurance cover, and we are left with 300 young people, their coaches and their teams not being able to play in Sion Mills itself.”

Last year receivers were appointed when the trustees of Herdmans Pension Scheme issued a winding-up petition against a subsidiary company due to its inability to meet pension contributions.

It was reported the mill owed its creditors more than £10m when it went into receivership.