Kenny Bruce has revealed he has invested £5 million in Larne during his five years as the club’s owner.
The co-founder of an online estate agency took over the then-Championship outfit in September 2017.
On Friday night he was speaking at half time of a 4-1 home victory over Crusaders which returned Tiernan Lynch’s side to the top of the Irish Premiership table.
“What has come into the club so far is about £5 million,” he told BBC Sport.
“We are in a really good, sound financial position. We have got no debt, we own all of our facilities and we don’t have to pay rent to anyone else, so we are in a good solid position to move forward.”
Asked if Larne would be sustainable if it were not for his own personal investment, the native of the East Antrim town said he feels positive about the direction the club is heading.
“Every single month we are getting closer and closer to sustainability,” he continued.
“Of course, developing players and securing transfer fees for those players is going to be very, very important, as is getting into European football. But from our perspective we are seeing really good signs that it is becoming sustainable.”
‘Laying solid foundations’ with new Academy of Sport
Larne secured promotion to top flight by winning the Championship in 2019, and have finished in the top six in each of their three Premiership seasons – playing in Europe for the first time in 2021.
Bruce was speaking on the day when the club officially launched its new ‘Larne Academy of Sport’ facility.
Formerly known as the Cliff, it has become the training base for the first team, full-time scholarship programme and academy teams, while also being used for community events and by other sporting organisations.
“It really shows that what you can do when you get public money with private money and the community support. It is going to be a facility that all around Larne are going to benefit from,” Bruce commented.
“We tried to make sure that we laid really solid foundations and have invested very heavily in making sure that all the facilities are top-class.
“We also want to make sure that the academy, scholarship and educational programme is progressing as well. I think fundamentally we have got lots of things in the right place, and we are going to continue to try and grow and develop.
“Our scholarship programme is really, really developing. We are stating to see the early signs of developing one or two players coming through, so we are super-excited.”
