Home win for Purplebricks: Kenny Bruce buys football stadium

One of the brothers behind Purplebricks has bought a football stadium in his home town.

Kenny Bruce last year put £500,000 into Larne Football Club, the historic team - established in 1889 - which represented the town where Bruce grew up. 

Then the money was invested in renovations at the club’s ground, Inver Park, but earlier this year Bruce suggested he wanted to buy the stadium itself, following it being put up for sale by the local council.

Now news media in Northern Ireland report that the ground has been sold to Bruce for £117,500; it is subject to a covenant prohibiting the use of the land for anything other than sports or recreational purposes, and it has been purchased through a charity established for the deal. 

Bruce has told the Belfast Telegraph: "We are delighted our charity's offer to purchase Inver Park has been accepted and now finalised by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council. We have been very impressed by the support we have received from the local authority for our project to create first-class sports facilities at Inver Park for the Larne people. 

"We set up a charity to purchase Inver Park and the trustees will hold that asset for the Larne people so that it remains a centre for sporting excellence for hundreds of years to come.”

Improvements to the ground - including a grandstand extension, a new playing surface and new floodlights - are reported to be already underway. 

"Kenny Bruce and his team set out ambitious plans for the venue and a fantastic vision for the future of Larne FC and the community" explains the Mayor of Mid and East Antrim Lindsay Millar.

In an interview with the Belfast Telegraph last year, Kenny Bruce said: "I am very much in love with Larne ... I played schoolboy football at Inver Park and grew up watching Larne as a fan. My grandparents and mother were born and bred there... I feel working with the football club would be a great opportunity to give something back."