A key player in a consortium trying to takeover Albion Rovers and rename the club Shamrock Rovers Coatbridge claims they would have the Monklands side challenging in the top 10-15 teams in Scotland within five years.
Lanarkshire Live Sport revealed on Friday that Rovers met with the ‘Project Phoenix’ consortium last year to listen to their plans, but Rovers rejected the proposals as it “was not in the best interests of the club.”
As well as a name change, the consortium proposed a 10,000-seater stadium which would also be home to a local GAA team, host concerts and provide facilities for community groups and schools to use.
Paul Reilly is part of the 'Project Phoenix' consortium who unsuccessfully tried to acquire the club in June 2022, but they still have designs on Rovers being part of the proposal, despite the club being relegated from the SPFL earlier this month.
And he insists the revenue streams they claim their plans would provide by ‘tapping into the town’s Irish heritage’, would help the club climb up the ranks of the Scottish football pyramid.
The likes of Championship side Queen’s Park and Cove Rangers, who this season played in the second tier having played in the Highland League in 2019, have stormed up the SPFL in the space of a few years.
And Mr Reilly said: “People might think this sounds crazy, but our model projects that within five years we would be looking for promotion through the leagues because we would be increasing revenue from multiple streams and getting a far better product on the pitch.
"We have investors there to do that but this would be a business that survives on its own merits and profits, which would be reinvested back into the club.
"We estimated that we could be up there challenging between the top 10-15 clubs in Scotland within five years or so, with a product on the pitch that would be good for the customers.
"The product has to be better on the pitch.
“There is an element of risk, as there is in any business, but bold ideas require bold people to implement them and execute them.”
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