Glentoran fans 'have right to be frustrated' - Pour

Glentoran owner Ali Pour says the club's supporters "have a right to be frustrated" as the Irish Premiership outfit continue to underachieve despite continued significant investment from the British Iranian businessman.

The Glens finished a distant fifth in this year's league title race, 30 points behind champions Larne.

Their only silverware success since Pour purchased the east Belfast club in July 2019 came courtesy of an Irish Cup final win over Ballymena United 12 months later.

He told BBC Sport NI that he has now poured almost £3m into the Oval outfit but has "no regrets" about getting involved with Irish League football and remains committed to achieving success with Glentoran.

"The men's first team has not performed as we expected and that’s been hugely disappointing," explained Pour.

"The players we bought on paper individually were brilliant, outstanding, big names, but just didn’t work out as a team, didn’t gel. We can’t pinpoint the reason behind that.

“Maybe we overpromised, we came in with a bang, breaking records, buying players, maybe overpromised and underachieved, but any football club has a journey.

"The potential of this club is still bigger than any other club in the country I’d say.

"Our time will come, Glentoran will be back on top again. I don’t doubt that for one second.”

The Glens have failed to produce a sustained bid for the Irish Premiership title since Pour's takeover and inconsistency led to the discontent among the fans which played a significant part in the departure of former manager Warren Feeney in mid-March after nine months in charge, a decision Pour said "was not easy to make".

"The fans have a right to be frustrated. The amount of money that has gone in isn’t reflected in the results.

"I want to make sure that in this upcoming season and thereafter we perform much better and are serious contenders."

Pour points to progress in the club's women's team, academy and community work as benefits of his substantial investment but concedes that the men's senior team remains the barometer by which the club will be judged.

"A big chunk of it [the close to £3m he has spent] has gone to the players, we've had a highly paid big squad, but cost of living has affected us too, plus we're a full-time business with a lot of people working other than the players.

"A few good runs in Europe helps your revenue shoot up so that is desirable. With not qualifying for Europe this season I've been forced to bring more money in to support the club."

Pour believes the appointment of former Derry City and Bohemians manager Declan Devine as permanent Oval boss after a spell in interim charge has the potential to set the club on an upward trajectory once again and outlines his aim to make the club sustainable in the long term.

"Declan has a lot of experience in full-time football as a player and a manager, also experience in rebuilding, which is what we need.

"It was obvious at the end of the season that things weren’t working out. He was by far the most qualified candidate we had at the time.

"We may look at changing our strategy as regards the make-up of the team. Maybe younger, hungrier, fitter guys to play alongside the more experienced ones, but still a few marquee signings.

"The main thing here is to make sure this club survives without me. I have no intention whatsoever of walking away, of course I’m here for the long term, but if something happens me the club has to be sustainable.

"My job is to make sure there is enough revenue coming in to cover the costs so that if I’m not here one day the club will survive.

"We’re almost there. Hopefully by next season we’ll be at the stage where there is enough money coming in to cover our costs and not affect performance on the pitch."

The Glens owner welcomed Communities Minister Gordon Lyons' announcement on Wednesday of the release of long-awaited funding of more than £36m for football grounds in Northern Ireland, with the east Belfast club expected to be one of the beneficiaries.

"The Oval has great history, great character, but it’s falling apart, it’s not safe," said Pour.

"We have 15,000 capacity but I think only 6,500 we’re allowed to bring in, so we need a new stadium, there’s no doubt.

"It depends how much we get and then we can plan accordingly. Realistically, we need two stands, a new pitch and some ancillary facilities, which could cost about £20m in total, so it may not come from this batch of 36m.

"With architects, planners etc, over £100,000 has been spent already just for us to qualify for this money and much more has to be spent moving forwards for us to receive this money and deploy it."