Shamrock Rovers Football Club's plans to build a new home stadium in Tallaght, Dublin, have been given a major funding boost by the Irish government.

The club will receive 825,000 euro (£668,065) to help fund the new 9m euro (£7.29m) Tallaght Stadium from the Sports Capital Top-Up programme, as part of the Revitalising Areas by Planning, Investment and Development (RAPID) initiative.

South Dublin County Council own the 13-acre land on which the new stadium is currently being built, providing the football club with their first permanent home since leaving its Milltown stadium 1987. A grant of 2.75m euro (£2.23m) had already been secured from the department of arts, sports and tourism towards the project, which will also provide a municipal facility for the local community.

Phase one of the stadium project involves the construction of the main stand and surrounding areas. Fresh planning permission will have to be sought for proposed stands behind each of the goals, which is expected to follow at a later date.

The four-year RAPID Sports Capital Top-Up programme is part of a wider initiative to help regenerate 46 of Ireland's most disadvantaged areas. Successful applicants from such areas under the department of arts, sports and tourism Sports Capital Programme are eligible to receive up to 30 per cent in top-up funding from the department of community, rural and gaeltacht affairs.

The department's minister, Éamon Ó Cuív, said: "This stadium will be a huge boost for Tallaght, and this project is particularly significant in that it will serve three different RAPID areas. The new facility will be a wonderful community resource, and I understand this stadium will be home to Shamrock Rovers, the most successful club in Irish football history."

Chair of Shamrock Rovers Football Club, Jonathan Roche, said: "This is great news for Shamrock Rovers and the people of Tallaght. It also shows how sport benefits the local community. As well as bringing professional football to the area, Rovers offer sporting and educational opportunities through our scholarship schemes and underage section."