New Cliftonville director Conor Devine believes Champions League nights at Solitude are “not too far away” after the Toronto Investment Group‘s [TIG] takeover of the club.

Cliftonville members voted in favour of a TIG takeover on Monday, and the group have said they will invest £3million in first 36 months.

TIG will have a 90% share of the 147-year-old club, with the remaining percentage retained by the membership.

“We make no bones about it, this is not a plaything for us, this is an amazing opportunity,” Devine told BBC Sport NI’s Thomas Kane.

“From a Cliftonville perspective, Larne were playing a few weeks ago in the Champions League at Inver Park – I want to be back [there].

“I sat in this ground when Cliftonville played Celtic in the Champions League [qualifiers in 2013], and it was full. Those are the nights I don’t think are too far away if we can execute and hit the ground running.

“If everyone buys into this, the community, the members and even the members who were not so sure, collectively as a team and an organisation, other teams and other people right across the island of Ireland will know that Cliftonville is a force to be reckoned with.”

Devine is one of four directors at TIG alongside Drew Green, John Muffolini and Ron Davidson.

The 48-year-old played for the Reds as well as Dungannon Swifts, Glenavon and Donegal Celtic and believes his football career will help Cliftonville, who he believes will eventually move to a full-time model.

“I have been involved in this football club for over 30 years,” he continued.

“I am from the area, I coach football in the area, I am a season ticket holder and my daughter plays for the club. There were lots of reasons for me to want to be part of this amazing development opportunity that has come before us.

“If you ask the other guys, they also have their personal reasons but for me, the opportunity to create a huge amount of positive change in north Belfast was too good to turn down.”

The takeover also means that Cliftonville meet their match-funding commitment for the stadia improvements being delivered through the long-awaited NI Football Fund programme.

Cliftonville are one of just two clubs who successfully progressed in the fund’s third and most expensive tier and have a funding application of more than £6m.

“We want to transform this ground,” Devine said.

“We made sure from the start that all the things that were non-negotiable in the contract would not be touched.

“The ground, the colours, the badge and the culture cannot be sold. It was really important to be that they were protected and they are.”

TIG’s takeover has been a far from a smooth journey and has taken over two years with their first attempt halted when club members stopped talks before the group took their offer off the table in January.

However, in June, the members authorised for the club’s management committee to enter formal negotiations with TIG and Monday’s eventual vote passed with 81% in favour.

“If you stand back and look at this, Cliftonville is a club that is held dearly by so many people,” he added.

“It was owned and controlled by the membership, so obviously, members are going to be reluctant to let it go effectively, especially to a private company. I understand all of the complexities around that.

“If you want to be open and honest about it, it just goes to show how much this club means to people. I just hope when it is complete, we can move together stronger as a team.”

Devine added that the Canadian consortium will be investing long-term and that it is a “passion project” for the group.

“This is a long-term play, this is not a five, six or a seven-year thing,” said Devine.

“One of the first things the guys said to me when we looked at this was that they are 25-year people, they are long-term. That is very unusual.

“These guys have spoken about ROIs [return on investment] or return in money; this is a passion project and an impact investment into the local area.”