Two sports clubs in Sion Mills, County Tyrone, have become the owners of their home grounds for the first time, helped by a charitable trust set up by EuroMillions winners Frances and Patrick Connolly.

Sion Mills Cricket Club finalized the purchase of the Holm Field earlier this week, ending a 162-year wait. The club has played at the ground since its foundation in 1864 by the Herdman family, local mill owners. The same week, neighbouring Sion Swifts Football Club completed the purchase of its ground, The Brae.

The cricket club is Northern Ireland's oldest and most successful in the north-west, with 28 league titles and 29 senior cups. The Holm Field is also remembered for the day in July 1969 when the Ireland national team bowled out the West Indies for 25.

Club secretary Simon Galloway said the acquisition was a momentous day for the club. He explained that the club had spent years trying to secure ownership, encountering legal complications and false dawns. Without ownership, the club could not access grants to improve facilities and develop youth programmes. Now, he said, those pathways would open, helping to secure the club for the future.

The club's fortunes declined after the closure of Herdman's Mill, which had employed over 1,000 people and provided the ground as part of a model village. The mill ceased linen production in 2004 and its parent company entered receivership in 2011. An arson attack in 2019 threatened the club's survival, but Frances Connolly, who has family ties to the area, provided assistance at that time.

The purchases this week were made possible by grants from the Kathleen Graham Trust, a foundation the Connollys established in memory of Frances Connolly's mother. The couple, originally from Moira in County Down and now living in England, won £115 million in the EuroMillions lottery in 2019 and have given away more than half of their fortune.

Sion Swifts FC chairman Kevin Boyle said the football club was delighted with the acquisition. He outlined ambitious plans for new pitches, floodlights and a clubhouse.

The two clubs now own the grounds they have long called home, with aspirations to develop facilities for the next generation of sports players in the village.