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*'''Brandywell Pride:'''
*'''Brandywell Pride:'''
Brandywell Pride was founded in 1997 by a group of supporters who had been travelling to Derry City's away games for a number of years. Presently, the club has around 30 core-members, who travel week-in and week-out to support Derry City, five of whom form the club's organising committee. The committee members are Gerry Houston (Chairman), Brian Martin (Vice-Chairman), Fergal Tuffy (Treasurer), Adrian McGowan and Gary Barnfield.
Brandywell Pride was founded in 1997 by a group of supporters who had been travelling to Derry City's away games for a number of years. Presently, the club has around 30 core-members, who travel week-in and week-out to support Derry City, five of whom form the club's organising committee. The committee members are Gerry Houston (Chairman), Brian Martin (Vice-Chairman), Fergal Tuffy (Treasurer), Adrian McGowan and Gary Barnfield.
[[Image:126 Brandywell Stadium.JPG|400px|thumb|Derry City's fans in the [[Brandywell]] on the day of a game.]]

The group aims to assist Derry City and club officials in any way possible, from dealing with ticket allocations to providing player sponsorship. It has been in a position to buy shares in the club itself, as well contributing to several fund-raising drives by selling tickets. The Brandywell Pride Supporters Club has several main goals. They aim to: support Derry City in attempting to be the biggest club in Ireland, through fundraising and generating support on the terraces, both home and away; to provide Derry supporters with an opportunity to attend as many games as possible; to utilise drums, instruments, flags and other equipment to create as noisy and colourful an atmosphere as is possible; to attract younger members of the community to attend the [[Brandywell]] in support of their local team and experience the ups and downs of live football often denied to them due to a developed Irish tradition of supporting English or Scottish teams; and to assist Derry City in whatever way possible, including working with various other supporters clubs and voluntary organisations ensuring that the club reaches its potential. Primarily the club is about colour and noise that contribute to the friendly and enjoyable atmosphere in the Brandywell and various away grounds on match-days.
The group aims to assist Derry City and club officials in any way possible, from dealing with ticket allocations to providing player sponsorship. It has been in a position to buy shares in the club itself, as well contributing to several fund-raising drives by selling tickets. The Brandywell Pride Supporters Club has several main goals. They aim to: support Derry City in attempting to be the biggest club in Ireland, through fundraising and generating support on the terraces, both home and away; to provide Derry supporters with an opportunity to attend as many games as possible; to utilise drums, instruments, flags and other equipment to create as noisy and colourful an atmosphere as is possible; to attract younger members of the community to attend the [[Brandywell]] in support of their local team and experience the ups and downs of live football often denied to them due to a developed Irish tradition of supporting English or Scottish teams; and to assist Derry City in whatever way possible, including working with various other supporters clubs and voluntary organisations ensuring that the club reaches its potential. Primarily the club is about colour and noise that contribute to the friendly and enjoyable atmosphere in the Brandywell and various away grounds on match-days.


[[Image:126 Brandywell Stadium.JPG|400px|thumb|Derry City's fans in the [[Brandywell]] on the day of a game.]]The supporters club has gone from strength to strength since its founding and has received considerable media attention, featuring on both the [[BBC]] and [[UTV]]. On [[24 August]], 2006, Kevin "Scaldy" Cairns of the club, who beats a bass drum during games, received a reception from the Mayor of Derry, [[Helen Quigley]], at the city's [[Guildhall]] for his dedication and commitment in supporting Derry City.<ref>"[http://www.derrycity.gov.uk/Press%20Releases/240806-dcfc.htm Mayor extends best wishes to Derry City FC]", ''Derry City Council press release'', [[24 August]], 2006.</ref> Tommy "Harmonica" Gallagher is also a stalwart and has been an ever-present member since the club's intiation playing songs and melodies all over Ireland, with his trademark tune being his own version of the old Irish favourite ''[[Whiskey in the Jar]]''.
The supporters club has gone from strength to strength since its founding and has received considerable media attention, featuring on both the [[BBC]] and [[UTV]]. On [[24 August]], 2006, Kevin "Scaldy" Cairns of the club, who beats a bass drum during games, received a reception from the Mayor of Derry, [[Helen Quigley]], at the city's [[Guildhall]] for his dedication and commitment in supporting Derry City.<ref>"[http://www.derrycity.gov.uk/Press%20Releases/240806-dcfc.htm Mayor extends best wishes to Derry City FC]", ''Derry City Council press release'', [[24 August]], 2006.</ref> Tommy "Harmonica" Gallagher is also a stalwart and has been an ever-present member since the club's intiation playing songs and melodies all over Ireland, with his trademark tune being his own version of the old Irish favourite ''[[Whiskey in the Jar]]''.
[[Image:IMG 0004flags.JPG|thumb|right|350px|A selection of supporter flags hanging in the [[Brandywell]].]]

The club holds monthly meetings in the Oak Grove Bar in Bishop Street, Derry. Here, the club has its own club room, fully furnished with various items of club memorabilia. The Oak Grove is a popular haunt for pre and post-match refreshments, where every kick is previewed and replayed. Brandywell Pride also holds an annual prize giving night for the Derry City players at the close of each season within the establishment.
The club holds monthly meetings in the Oak Grove Bar in Bishop Street, Derry. Here, the club has its own club room, fully furnished with various items of club memorabilia. The Oak Grove is a popular haunt for pre and post-match refreshments, where every kick is previewed and replayed. Brandywell Pride also holds an annual prize giving night for the Derry City players at the close of each season within the establishment.
*'''[http://www.cityexilessc.com City Exiles Supporters Club]:'''
*'''[http://www.cityexilessc.com City Exiles Supporters Club]:'''

Revision as of 13:23, 19 February 2007

Derry City F.C.
Derry City FC crest
Full nameDerry City Football Club
Nickname(s)The Candystripes
Founded1928
GroundBrandywell Stadium,
Derry, Northern Ireland
Capacity7,700 (2,900 seats)
ChairmanNorthern Ireland Hugh McDaid
ManagerRepublic of Ireland Pat Fenlon
LeagueFAI National League
20062nd

Derry City Football Club are an Irish football club based in the city of Derry. The club plays in the 12-teamed FAI Premiership (the top tier) of the FAI National League. It is the only club in the league from Northern Ireland as opposed to the Republic of Ireland. The club, founded in 1928, plays its home matches at the Brandywell Stadium. Derry's colours are red and white in a vertically striped pattern and the club has been given the nickname, the Candystripes, as a result. Others may refer to the club as the Red and White Army, just Derry, or simply, City.

History

The DoubleThe DoubleFootball League of Ireland CupFAI CupLeague of IrelandThe TrebleLeague of IrelandLeague of Ireland First Division ShieldLeague of Ireland First Division ShieldLeague of IrelandIrish LeagueGold Cup (Northern Ireland)Irish CupCity Cup (Northern Ireland)Pat FenlonStephen Kenny (football manager)Peter HuttonGavin DykesDermot KeelyKevin MahonFelix HealyTony O'DohertyRoy CoyleJim McLaughlin (football manager)Noel KingJim CrossanWillie RossBilly GillespieJoe McCleery

The Irish League

Foundation and the attaining of senior status

Eleven years after their creation, Derry Celtic were voted out of senior soccer in Ireland in 1913. This left the city of Derry without a senior team - a situation which was to last for some time. It was a period lengthened due to the First World War, the Easter Rising, and the partition of Ireland. The division of the country lead to the creation of two football leagues when the clubs south of the border broke away from the Irish Football Association (IFA) and their Irish League to form the Football Association of the Irish Free State (FAIFS) and Free State League. The people of Derry were irate that a city the size of Derry did not have a senior team, especially when near-neighbours Coleraine, with only a quarter the population of Derry, had been elected to the Irish League in the mid-twenties.

In 1928, a group of football fans got together to rectify this situation and decided that the name of Derry Celtic would not satisfy their cross-community, non-sectarian requirements so they settled on the name Derry City. At the time, the dispute over the city's official name had not yet become so politicised. On 09 May, 1928, Derry City affiliated to the North-West Football Association and, in a link with the past, Norman McClure son of a Derry Celtic director, was appointed the club's secretary. On 25 May, 1928, William Arthur led a delegation to a meeting of the Irish Senior Leagues Committee (ISLC) to attempt to secure Derry’s senior status.

Along with Crusaders F.C. and Brantwood F.C., Derry City’s application was rejected. The Belfast clubs were not considered to be of senior quality, while Derry’s application had been received two days after the deadline. The directors returned to Derry disappointed but determined. The next year saw them preparing for the inevitable move from amateur to senior status – their confidence buoyed by the fact that after they failed to apply by the requisite deadline, a motion at the ISLC to waive the deadline was only defeated by 17 votes to 15. The president of the IFA, Captain James Wilton, a Derry-man, announced on 30 May, 1929 that he felt confident that Derry City would be admitted to the Irish League, which since 1922, had covered only Northern Ireland, the following night.

During the final of the local McAlinden Cup being played between Derry Celtic and Richmond in the Brandywell on Friday 31 May 1929, the announcement that Derry City had achieved senior status was greeted with a chorus of cheers and applause. Queen’s Island were voted out at the expense of Derry. Joe McCleery, a native of the city, was enticed from his managerial post in Dundalk with Dundalk F.C. to become Derry’s first manager and he quickly signed Fred Mason from his former club. The big Birmingham-born player settled well in the team and the city, and eventually established Mason’s bar in Magazine Street after his playing career. Plans to purchase a pitch ran aground due to the tight timescales and so the Londonderry Corporation was approached for the use of the Brandywell Stadium which had been used for football up until the end of the 19th century. This began an association between the club and the ground which has survived until the present day. The club are still operating under the constraints of the Honourable the Irish Society charter limitations which declare that the Brandywell must be available for the recreation of the community. In effect, the club do not have private ownership over the ground and, thus, cannot develop it by their own accord with that discretion left to the Derry City Council (formerly the Londonderry Corporation).

The early years

On 22 August, 1929 Derry City ran on to the Brandywell turf for the first time in claret and blue shirts with white shorts, and McCleery’s full-time professionals lead Glentoran F.C. 1-0 at half-time with a goal from Peter Burke, a recent recruit from the Free State Army. The attendance of 7,500 saw a Derry team captained by Con Hilley lose that lead in the second-half and leave the pitch without any points after Glentoran’s second-half brace. Their trip to Portadown resulted in Derry’s first hat-trick in senior football through Sammy Curran, but they still managed to lose 6-5 in an enthralling game. Their first point in senior football came soon after in a 1-1 draw in the Brandywell against Ballymena F.C; and a crowd of 12,000 saw Derry get their first cup-game win when they beat the dominant Linfield F.C. side 3-1 in the Gold Cup. On 07 September the Brandywell club gained their first league victory with a 3-2 win over Newry Town at the home of the County Down club. It wasn’t until 05 October 1929 that the Brandywell faithful witnessed Derry’s first league victory on home turf when Derry beat Cliftonville F.C. 4-3. The ended the season in an admirable fifth place, and came third in the City Cup.

However, it was not an easy start for the Foylesiders and it certainly was not going to be an easy ride at any stage in the Irish League. The following year, McCleery signed Derry’s first legend. Jimmy Kelly, born in Ballybofey, schooled in the Derry and District FA, and polished in the Anfield training grounds returned to Derry and played his first game on 26 October, 1930 against Linfield at Windsor Park. It took him four matches to get on the scoresheet. That goal against Glenavon F.C. was the first of 363 for Derry City in a career spanning almost 21 years. During that time he was capped by the IFA, the FAIFS, the Irish League, and the League of Ireland. His arrival though did not inspire Derry who ended the league campaign in seventh place.

The next season saw a brief upturn in their fortunes, which could very well have been directly related to Derry’s signing of the club’s second legend. E.D.R. Shearer pulled on the Derry shirt for the first time at the Coleraine Showgrounds in a career spanning 8 seasons. With three games of the 1931-32 season remaining, Derry were top of the table, level with Glentoran, but managed to lose all three games and ended up in fourth place. It was gutting to end the season in such a way, especially as they had scored 107 goals and so rumours of McCleery’s demise began to circulate. The directors also decided to introduce Derry’s second strip at the end of the season – white shirts and black shorts.

In June 1932, McCleery was sacked despite the fact he had just had his most successful season at the helm. A Donegal-man, Billy Gillespie, was given the nod as his replacement after 20 years playing at Sheffield United. Gillespie did not have a great start and could only help the club to another fourth-place finish in 1933. This was the second year in which ground purchase was mentioned. The board decided not to buy Bond’s Field in the Waterside as it was thought to be too far away from the fanbase which had built up on the Cityside, especially in the Brandywell area. They had first option on Derry Celtic’s old ground, Celtic Park, but hesitated on a final decision and the Gaelic Athletic Association bought it ten years later. They also decided not to buy Meenan Park for £1,500. In 1934 the club came ninth and so the dismissal of McCleery was looking worse by the season.

Shortly before the 1934-35 season, the directors decided on another change of strip. They decided on the red and white striped shirts and black shorts of Sheffield United as a tribute to Billy Gillespie who, despite his less-than-impressive managerial performance, was still an extremely popular figure throughout Ireland and especially the north-western region, due to his international performances for the Irish football team. This was to be the jersey that was to become synonymous with Derry City for the next seventy years. The only break being a period of wearing gold and black in the late 1950s. It was in the "candystriped" top that Derry lifted their first major trophy. Having won the North-West Senior Cup in 1931-32, 1932-33, and 1933-34 they went a step further and in front of 9,000 at Brandywell - Hugh Carlyle lifted the old Dunville trophy for Derry City as winners of the City Cup by a clear 5 points over 12 games. Derry were to repeat this feat in 1937 but it was not until 12 years after that that they were to lift another major trophy, having also lost an Irish Cup final replay to Linfield in 1936.

By 1947-48, the directors were seriously considering Derry’s future as the club had entered a demise in the previous decade and were no longer feared. However, luckily, then-manager Willie Ross took advantage of having found some money to spend after the sale of players Eddie Crossan and John Feeney resulted in an annual profit of £2,000 – a figure most Irish clubs would have jumped at in the days of red bank balances.

In 1949 the club won the Irish Cup for the first time.[1] Derry were reduced to 10 men in the final at Windsor Park on 16 April 1949 when Jimmy Kelly was stretchered off. After the opponents, Glentoran, went in front, Hugh Colvan and Matt Doherty put Derry ahead. The team doctor cured Kelly’s concussion and the 10,000 Derry supporters roared him back on to the field of play 15 minutes after he’d been carried off. Barney Cannon’s goal seven minutes from time meant that the 27,000 in attendance saw the Irish Cup going to Derry for the first time.

The fair fifties and the swinging sixties

A few years of failure resulted in apathy within the city and by the time another legend-figure in the form of a past Scottish-international was signed in January 1954, memories of the 1949 silverware had gone. Even in 1954 the club came third from bottom, although the signing of Jimmy Delaney, formerly of Celtic and Manchester United, did provide a shining light. Derry’s club doctor, Desmond Sidebottom had heard he wanted to settle in Ireland so Derry pounced and secured one of the greatest players ever to play on Irish soil. That year Derry met Glentoran, who were favourites just as they’d been in 1949, once again in the Irish Cup final. The first final ended in a 2-2 draw; the replay was a scoreless draw; and the second replay in front of a crowd of 28,000 saw Derry win 1-0 with a Con O’Neill strike from a Delaney assist. At the final whistle the players rushed to celebrate with Delaney but, the Scot, ran the length of the field to celebrate with and thank Charlie Heffron in the Derry goal who had thwarted the "Glens" time and time again. Together, the three finals saw 93,000 attend – a figure unimaginable in today’s domestic Irish soccer.

In the late 50s Derry lost legends Jobby Crossan to Coleraine after he had turned down Nottingham Forest; Jim McLaughlin to Birmingham City F.C.; and Matt Doherty Jr. to Glentoran; but brought in Fay Coyle from Coleraine. In 1964 Derry City lifted the Gold Cup and the Irish Cup once again, after having beaten Glentoran in the final for a third time. Another club legend was signed on 30 June, 1934 - Belfast-man, Jimmy McGeough, came to Derry from Stockport County. Matt Doherty Jr. returned and yet another legend, Willie Curran, made his debut that year. Derry set off on an unbeaten run of 47 games that year that was to span two seasons.

Steaua Bucureşti beat Derry 5-1 on aggregate in the European Cup Winners Cup the following year but the club made up for it by becoming the Irish League champions for the only time in their history. In April 1965 a 5-1 victory over Ards in the Brandywell saw 34-goal captain, Fay Coyle, lift the league trophy in front of a packed Brandywell. Within weeks, Dougie Wood was named ‘Northern Ireland Player of the Year’ and Derry performed admirably in a 3-1 friendly defeat to a Spanish 1966 World Cup preparation select in Madrid’s Vicente Calderón Stadium. The Spanish team had invited Derry to Madrid as they were soon to face Ireland in the qualifying rounds for the competition scheduled to take place on English soil, so they were anxious to test themselves against a team that was likely to possess a similar style of play.

The following season, Derry became the first Irish League team to win a European tie over two legs by beating FK Lyn when, after losing 5-3 in the Oslo, they won 8-6 on aggregate.[2] The second round was not to come to the Brandywell, however, as the IFA prevented the use of the ground, using the excuse that the pitch was not up to standard, even though a game had been played there during the previous round. With sectarianism taking a foothold in Northern Ireland in the run-up to the advent of the Troubles, Derry suspected that such motives may have been at play, due to the fact that Derry played in a mainly Catholic area, while the IFA represented a cultural focal point of Protestant Northern Ireland. Seeing a team from a mainly-nationalist city being the first Irish League club to progress was a bitter pill to swallow for Harry Cavan, the president of the IFA. Derry stated that they would stand their ground in the face of this and refuse to travel elsewhere to play the tie after requesting advice on how to make the ground suitable but receiving no answer. The ban was simply re-inforced. The IFA wanted their representatives to play the tie in Belfast, although, in what seemed like a case of double standards, they deemed the Showgrounds in mainly-Protestant Coleraine suitable also, despite the fact that the grounds were in much the same state as the Brandywell. After Derry had told the IFA that they would not play or represent the Irish League in Europe without a lifting of the ban, R.S.C. Anderlecht, the upcoming opponents, who had been prepared to play at the Brandywell, pleaded with Derry to play the tie and so Derry travelled to Belgium and were hammered 9-0. A second leg was never played, with the fixture being announced as a walk-over due to the withdrawal of Derry. Playing the second leg would have been, more or less, a futile effort while the IFA were not prepared to let the game go ahead in Derry anyway after having recommended to the European Football Union that the Brandywell Stadium be banned from hosting the game. Relations between Derry and the IFA never improved.

Security concerns

Up until the late 1960s most teams' journey to the Brandywell would have been of little consequence. However, 1969 was the year in which the Civil Rights campaign against the province's government disintegrated into communal violence, ushering in 30 years of the Troubles. As the situation in Northern Ireland deteriorated and the region slowly descended into near civil war in the late 1960s, football matches between certain nationalist and unionist teams began to echo the wider trouble of the time. Football rivalries were given an extra dimension by the very nature of Northern Irish society. City's ground, the Brandywell Stadium, was located in a staunchly republican area of nationalist Derry and the club was associated with the Catholic/nationalist community in the city.[3]

File:No1527r.jpg
A mural in Shantallow, Derry depicting Derry City's association with the nationalist community in the city. Derry's crest can be seen in the bottom left, next to a large Celtic crest, along with an Irish tricolour, a Derry GAA flag and a shamrock - all symbols revered by various elements of the nationalist community. Interestingly, the mural, with its domineering Celtic crest, also demonstrates the bizarre and extremely popular trend on the whole island of Ireland which sees the majority of football fans in Ireland primarily support teams from Scotland, or even England, ahead of teams from their own national league. This has had a crippling effect on the development of the League of Ireland.

Even though the club, to this day, still carries the reputation of being a nationalist-supported club with support coming in the main from Derry's Catholic nationalist community, the club itself, at odds with certain other clubs in Northern Ireland in the past, has never employed a policy of squad membership or selection based on the religion of a player and has had both Protestants and Catholics sport the club's colours throughout its history.[4]

During the late 1960s and early 1970s the locality surrounding the Brandywell saw some of the worst violence of the Troubles. The Brandywell first fell prey to this on 25 January, 1969, when a match versus Linfield F.C. was marred by crowd trouble. Fans of the Belfast team had to be evacuated from the stadium by police at half-time after ugly scenes within the ground. The months that followed this event saw the general political situation decline into full-scale civil disorder at locations across Northern Ireland, including areas in the vicinity of the Brandywell. The stadium was located in the centre of one of the most unstable zones - a battle-ground between the forces of radical nationalism, most notably the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association and the fledgling Provisional IRA, and the massed ranks of the Stormont Parliament security machine, including the B Specials, the RUC and eventually the British Army. The stadium was a stone's throw away away from where the Battle of the Bogside occurred in 1969 and where the events of Bloody Sunday later unfolded three years later in 1972. Because of the extreme disturbances, numerous clubs were reluctant to play matches there and some of Derry's home games were moved. Linfield declared that they would no longer travel to the city for matches on security grounds, and for the next two seasons Derry were instead forced to play 'home' games against them at Linfield's Windsor Park stadium in a staunchly Protestant area of Belfast. The game on 25 January was to be the last game played at the Brandywell between Linfield and Derry until 2005.

Despite the social and political turmoil of the day, on the field Derry still managed to perform as usual. Danny Hale finished the 1968-69 season as the Irish League's top scorer with a tally of 21 goals while the club also managed to make their way to the Irish Cup final in 1971, although they were beaten 3-0 by Distillery with Martin O'Neill scoring twice for the winners. However, events off the field took an even greater turn for the worse for Derry City in September 1971. With large chunks of the city a 'no go' area for the state security forces and a Provisional Irish Republican Army bombing campaign focused on the city centre, a gang of youths unconnected to football hijacked the bus of a visiting team, Ballymena United, from outside the Brandywell before a league game and burnt it. As a result, most other Irish League teams joined Linfield in refusing to play fixtures at the Brandywell and the Royal Ulster Constabulary further consolidated this refusal by ruling that it was unsafe for matches to take place there. Through the early 1970s the Irish League and the IFA had been chipping away at Derry and were happy to use the excuse of unrest in Northern Ireland to force Derry to play their home matches elsewhere. There was of course unrest in Belfast too but the use of Windsor Park and the Oval, for example, was not brought into question.

As a result, Derry City were forced to travel to the majority unionist town of Coleraine, which was over 30 miles away from home, in order to play their 'home' games at the Showgrounds. This situation lasted until October 1972 when, faced with dwindling crowds (most Derry fans were unwilling to travel to Coleraine due to the political situation and the 40-minute journey) and dire finances, the club formally requested permission to return to the Brandywell. Portadown F.C. also entered a proposal to go back to playing at the Brandywell. Despite an assessment by the security forces which concluded that the Brandywell was no more dangerous than any other ground in the league and the resulting lifting of the imposed ban, City's proposal fell by a single vote at the hands of their fellow Irish League teams who remained unwilling to travel there. Portadown, Bangor F.C., Cliftonville F.C., Ballymena United, and Derry City voted in favour of the motion while Crusaders F.C., Ards, Glenavon, Glentoran, Distillery, and Linfield all voted against. Coleraine abstained and so with a minority of one vote just like Derry Celtic in 1913, Derry City were left stranded. The 40-minute journey to ‘home’ games reduced the Derry crowd considerably so gate receipts dropped dangerously low and so Derry could no longer sustain themselves. The Irish League and the IFA eventually got what they had been orchestrating on Friday 13 October 1972 when Derry withdrew from senior football. The directors hoped that the door would open soon again to the Irish League but it would not return until they were permitted to play in the Brandywell again. Derry, devastated by the outcome, withdrew from senior football the following day. It was the last straw for the club, which decided that continuing in senior football without a ground was not sustainable, and resigned from the league, being effectively forced out.

The club lived on as a junior team, plying their trade in the local Saturday Morning League to survive, whilst simultaneously seeking re-admission to the Irish League on a number of occasions over the following 13 years. Each time, the club nominated the Brandywell as its chosen home-ground. Each time, the Irish League refused to re-admit them, despite significant improvements in the overall security situation over the years. Suspecting that refusal was at least in part motivated by political and sectarian motives, and believing they would never gain re-admission to the Irish League, Derry decided to turn their attentions elsewhere.

Entry into the League of Ireland and since

Admission, instant progress and ensuing success

Having formerly played in the Irish Football League which, since 1922, covers only Northern Ireland and with the club's almost annual applications to re-join that league being rejected season after season, Derry applied to join the rejuvinated Football League of Ireland (the Republic of Ireland's football league at the time) in 1985 with the Brandywell Stadium as their home ground. People such as Terry Harkin, Tony O'Doherty, Eamon McLaughlin and Eddie Mahon helped in the bid to secure senior status once again for Derry City with an election to the League of Ireland's First Division in May 1985. However, the IFA still saw the chance to thwart Derry City once again. The FIFA vice-president (also the IFA's president), Harry Cavan, who had been instrumental in banning the Brandywell from being used for European competition in 1964, claimed that FIFA rules did not permit Derry "crossing the border" to play in the league of another country. In Dublin, people were undecided about admitting a club from a city with a recent history of political problems but Fran Fields fully backed Derry’s application and Glentoran chairman, John Crossen, was another prominent supporter of Derry’s move as he felt that the time had come for the IFA to refrain from acting as they had done previously. Others within the Irish League were also in favour of Derry’s move as they no longer wanted to have to deal with the club's annual application for re-election to the Irish League.

The Irish League and the League of Ireland met in Dundalk in August 1984 and agreed to talk again. This meeting came shortly after Derry hosted Shamrock Rovers in the Brandywell friendly in front of 4,000 fans. Eventually the IFA relented but, knowing that other clubs would want to follow Derry south of the border, they said that they would give permission "only to Derry City football club" to apply to join the League of Ireland.

After another successful series of friendlies against Irish teams, Dundalk FC and St. Patrick's Athletic, Derry were informed that they would be accepted into the newly-formed First Division, on the provision that the Irish League did not object, and FIFA would sanction such a move. The IFA stated they would not stand in the way if FIFA gave the go-ahead. Neither FIFA nor their subordinate European organisation, UEFA, objected and gave the Derry club special permission to play in the League of Ireland.

With no further hurdles standing in the way, Derry City joined the Republic's league, the Football League of Ireland, in the newly-created First Division in 1985 as a semi-professional outfit. However, if they thought that this would provide an escape from the marginalisation and sectarian politics in Northern Irish football, they would have to think again - Derry's supporters' buses often came under attack from sectarian gangs with stones and other missiles as they travelled through loyalist areas on route to away games in the Republic of Ireland. On occasion, buses still take a detour in order to avoid potential trouble-spots - especially on the days of high-profile games. Nevertheless, the city responded in their thousands. Jim Crossan had been appointed manager and he made Terry Kelly his team-captain. Derry's first match in the League of Ireland was played at the Brandywell on 08 September, 1985 and saw Derry beat Home Farm of Dublin by a score of 3-1.[5] The game itself was actually played as part of the League Cup. Barry McCreadie was Derry's first goal-scorer that day. The club's first League of Ireland hat-trick came when Kevin Mahon fired three past Finn Harps at Finn Park on 15 December, 1985. Jim Crossan did not remain in charge of the team for long, however, and his quick departure by the end of 1985 allowed new manager Noel King to bring worldly flair to the Brandywell in the form of the Brazilian, Nelson da Silva, and South African, Owen Da Gama. A throwback to Derry’s Irish League days saw Declan McDowell solidify the defence while Kevin Mahon worked wonders on the wing. With another local favourite, Tony O'Doherty, in midfield, the club went on to clinch the League of Ireland First Division Shield in their first season of football in the Republic of Ireland with a 6-1 aggregate victory over Longford Town FC.[6] The following season, Derry left Shelbourne F.C. in their wake as they won the First Division and promotion to the Premier Division in 1987.[7] Alex Krstic, with his 18 goals, ended the season as the First Division's top scorer. Derry have stayed in the top flight ever since. The 1987-88 season, Derry's first in the League of Ireland Premier Division, saw Jonathan Speak finish top of the scoring chart with 24 goals to his name.

File:Champs89.jpg
Derry City's historic 1989 treble-winning team.

Derry City have never been relegated, either in Northern Ireland or the Republic. Derry's accession to the League of Ireland was greeted with great enthusiasm in the city and the club attracted huge crowds by local standards for several years. The recruitment of a number of high-profile, exotic players from abroad, such as Nelson da Silva, Owen Da Gama, Dennis Tueart and Luther Blissett, also attracted large crowds to the games.[8][9] Buoyed by this support and motivated by hunger after an FAI Cup final defeat in 1988 to Dundalk, the most successful manager in the history of the League of Ireland, Derry-born Jim McLaughlin, helped the club to an historic treble - the League Cup, the League Title and the FAI Cup - in the 1988-89 season. Subsequently, Derry qualified for European competition and past European Cup winners, Benfica, came to play at the Brandywell in the following season's First Round of the European Cup. The game evoked great public interest and only helped publicise the club further.

Since then, Derry have only won the League championship once in 1996-97, but have been runners-up on several occasions - in the 1994-95, 2005 and 2006 seasons. They also added three more FAI Cups to their trophy-tally in 1995, 2002 and 2006. In 1994 and 1997 they were runners-up in the FAI Cup. The FAI League Cup competition has also brought Derry much success - they won the trophy in 1991, 1992, 1994, 2000, 2005 and 2006, as well as in the 1989 treble-winning season. To add to this, Derry once memorably beat Celtic by a score of 3-2 at Lansdowne Road during the Irish International Club Tournament, which took place in 1997, and made their Sky Sports television debut appearance after qualifying for the final which was to be broadcast live by the company.[10]

Due to the historical political situation in Northern Ireland, the fact that the Brandywell Stadium is situated in a largely nationalist area, and the long-term continuing existence of a degree of scepticism within that community towards a police service perceived as being a continuation of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, Derry's home games remain unique in that they are not policed by a state security force (the PSNI) - rather, Derry City employs its own voluntary and private stewards to overlook matches.[11][12] Every other club in the League of Ireland has a Garda presence (the Republic of Ireland's police force) at their stadiums. Derry had to receive special dispensation from UEFA back in 1985 as it was felt that the presence of the Royal Ulster Constabulary in areas like the Brandywell would be more likely to provoke trouble than help prevent it. This policy has proven effective, and for the last 20 years the Brandywell has peacefully entertained crowds of up to 10,000 without a single police officer present. However, the policy has also had the effect of further solidifying Derry's identity as a nationalist club and further alienated a number of its original or potential Protestant supporters. Nevertheless, the political situation in Northern Ireland is improving, largely due to the peace process and the subsequent Good Friday Agreement, and recent games against teams with unionist fanbases - such as Linfield - have passed off without major incident within the ground,[4] although minor trouble did flare outside the ground on one occasion after a friendly game (which was also somewhat of a security trial) in 2005 in preparation for Derry's likely competing in a near-future Setanta Cup, where the chances of meeting Linfield in a competitive fixture would be very high, when a Linfield supporters' bus in the process of passing through the mainly-nationalist Foyle Road area was pelted with bricks and stones by youths on the road-side.[13] With the incident, obviously sectarian in nature, occurring outside the ground and being instigated by individuals who were not actually present at the game, though, the PSNI accepted that it should have been their responsibility to ensure the safe passage of the fans.[14] After the match itself having passed off peacefully, Jim Roddy, who was chairman of the club at the time, commented:

Football can bring people together and in these times of peace and a return to normality, we can show an example to the entire community.[15]

Both sets of fans had obliged board requests to refrain from bringing to or displaying at the game, overtly political or religious emblems. In the era of building bridges and increasing tolerance, the Brandywell Stadium is usually left free of nationalist symbolism by fans during matches regardless, although Celtic jerseys can often be seen worn by some individuals in attendance. Tricolours are rarely, if ever, hung by official supporter groups unless the club is representing the League of Ireland abroad, for fear of alienating those members of the Protestant community who do actually attend games or to prevent the possibility of turning away potential supporters from that community, as well as in an effort to ensure that everyone is made to feel welcome in the Brandywell regardless of social, political, religious or cultural background. While the debate and political situation as regards the policing of nationalist areas in Northern Ireland is losing heat and becoming less hostile,[16] it remains to be thought that the adequacy of Derry's own security personnel discards the need for state policing of games as far as the safety of match-goers is concerned.[17]

Financial difficulties and flirtation with relegation

Despite the club's successes, Derry City's path has not always been a smooth one. In September, 2000, the club was in a crippled position from a financial perspective and on the verge of bankruptcy due to an unpaid tax bill. The British Inland Revenue totalled the debt in the region of £180,000. The position had not been helped as the club was hit with misery on 27 July earlier that same year when the then-chairman, Kevin Friel, was killed in a road accident near Raphoe, Co. Donegal.[18] Nevertheless, Jim Roddy convened a meeting of the club's shareholders and supporters to inform them that the club had debts nearing £180,000. Prior to that meeting Martin O'Neill, then manager of Scottish giants, Celtic, contacted Roddy, the stand-in chairman, to inform him that he would bring his side to the Brandywell in order to help raise funds for the beleagured club. A number of other fund raising projects were also put together to help pay of the debts. Local band, the Undertones, played a benefit concert on 29 September, door to door collections took place around the city, while Phil Coulter, a singer from the city, hosted a golf classic on 27 September.[19] Significantly, Derry-born politician John Hume, then a Member of the European Parliament for the local constituency, also helped by using his contacts in the parliament along with his powers of persuasion to convince a number of former European Cup winners to come to the Brandywell and play friendly matches to raise funds through gate receipts and save the club from extinction.[20] Manchester United,[21] FC Barcelona[22] and Real Madrid,[23] as well as Celtic, all visited Derry with star-studded teams between then and 2003 in order to help the club survive. The game against Barcelona is fondly remembered on the Brandywell terraces as the day that firm fan-favourite and club legend, Liam Coyle left the Catalan club's Carles Puyol "on his arse" as he utilised his trickery to beat the defender.[24] The money brought through the turnstiles helped to keep the club in operation, but just about, as results on the field continued to deteriorate and Derry soon came dangerously close to relegation - something which would have been a financial nightmare for the club.

Although the club has never been relegated, in 2003 it came within a whisker of losing its long-established place in the Premier Division after finishing in 9th position and having to contest a two-legged relegation/promotion play-off with local Donegal rivals, Finn Harps, who had finished 2nd in that season's First Division. However, Derry won the game 2-1 on aggregate after extra-time in the Brandywell and remained in the top-flight. The second leg of the fixture was the last game ever that veteran, Liam Coyle, played for the club as he announced his retirement soon afterward.[25] The next season - 2004 - was not much of an improvement and Derry struggled with relegation once again, finally finishing in 7th position. This poor display led to the sacking of Gavin Dykes, who was the manager at the time since 29 September, 2003 after having taken over from Dermot Keely.[26] Morale was at an all-time low after a couple of dire seasons.

The introduction of full-time professional football and the reign of Stephen Kenny

Fortunes began to improve for the club when team-captain, Peter Hutton, took the role of player-manager for a temporary period until a new permanent manager was found. The club became the first club in Ireland to be awarded a premier UEFA licence in February, 2004.[27] The subsequent appointment of Stephen Kenny as manager later that year and the introduction of full-time football by the club helped these fortunes expand and the club soon began to regain past form. In 2005, Kenny's first full season in charge, they finished in second position in the league. The league was lost on the last day in a game against Cork City at Turner's Cross, which had turned out to be the title-decider. Derry went into the game in the top spot and needing anything other than a defeat to secure the title but ended up losing the game, which meant that Cork by-passed them into first place.[28] Nevertheless, Derry's team performances saw Mark Farren and Patrick McCourt rewarded as they scooped the Professional Footballers Association of Ireland's 'Premier Division Player of the Year' and 'Young Player of the Year' awards respectively,[29] while Derry's finish in second place allowed them to enter the preliminary rounds of the 2006-07 UEFA Cup. The staggering progress of the club on this stage in the following season proved just how far Derry City had come. Derry City's FAI League Cup victory in 2005 also saw the club compete in the second ever cross-border Setanta Cup in 2006. The creation of this tournament in 2005 was greatly aided by the lessening of sectarian tensions on the island of Ireland as a whole due to the Northern Ireland peace process and for the first time since their withdrawal from the Irish League in the early 1970s, Derry City hosted competitive matches against Linfield and Glentoran - teams with largely unionist fanbases.

Derry City competing with St. Patrick's Athletic in the 2006 FAI Cup final at Lansdowne Road, Dublin.

Despite the encouraging progress, on 10 November, 2006 manager Stephen Kenny announced he would be leaving the club to join Scottish side Dunfermline Athletic F.C. at the end of the 2006 season in order to further his career. His success at Derry had raised eye-brows across the water, and especially in Scotland, after the club's 5-1 demolition of Gretna on Scottish soil in the Second Qualifying Round of the UEFA Cup. Early speculation linked Joe Kinnear to the soon-to-be-vacant managerial post at Derry City.[30] However, by the end of November 2006 Pat Fenlon emerged as the preferred target of the Derry board.[31] Kenny took up his position in Dunfermline on 18 November, which was the day after Derry City's last league game against Cork City at the Brandywell - a game which Derry won 1-0. However, Kenny's last game at the helm for Derry was when he returned from Dunfermline in an 'advisory role' for the Lansdowne Road encounter with St. Patrick's Athletic in the FAI Cup final. The game was a positive send-off for Kenny after Derry came back from being a goal down on three separate occasions and clinched the game with a 4-3 scoreline after extra time. With the club having won the FAI League Cup earlier in the season (for the second year running), in as equally dramatic fashion (the game went to penalties after Derry had been reduced to 9 men),[32] the claiming of the FAI Cup amounted to a cup double for the team. The cup-win could easily have concluded an historic second treble-winning season. However, Derry just missed out on this after having come second in the eircom League to Shelbourne FC on goal-difference prior to the FAI Cup final. In total, 32 players represented the club under Kenny. His win percentage was 58 per cent while his teams managed to keep 57 clean-sheets out of 112 games.

After the FAI Cup final and a civic reception organised by the Mayor of Derry to honour the successful 2007 season,[33] it was announced that coach, Declan Devine, would also be on his way to Dunfermline Athletic to take up a coaching post under Kenny, while Kenny's assistant manager, Paul Hegarty, was associated with the vacant managerial position left by Anthony Gorman at Finn Harps. Similarly, first-choice goalkeeper, David Forde, decided to move on from the Brandywell and signed with Cardiff City on a free transfer as he was out of contract.[34]

The Pat Fenlon era

After a period of much speculation and rumour, Pat Fenlon was finally appointed as manager of Derry City on 08 December, 2006 for a three-year long contract to fill the void left by former boss, Stephen Kenny.[35] He is Derry's twelfth manager since the club joined the League of Ireland. During a press conference on 12 December Fenlon confirmed that he had already undertaken the challenge of finding a replacement for departed goal-keeper, David Forde, as well as convincing the club's out-of-contract squad-members to re-sign for the 2007 season. He outlined these as his priorities before he would begin searching for new signings from other clubs.[36]

On 12 December, 2006, it was also announced that Derry City had not only been accepted into the new-look FAI Premiership for the 2007 season, but had scored the highest number of points between those teams accepted - 830 - for on-field and off-field criteria determined by the FAI's Independent Assessment Group.

Prior to this, Derry City were entered into the draw for the 2007 Setanta Cup (qualifying due to their successes in 2006) on 7 December, 2006 and were drawn in a very competitive Group 1 with Drogheda United, Glentoran and Linfield.

Shaun Holmes, Mark McChrystal and Stephen O'Flynn all joined David Forde on the way out after they were released by the club on 14 December, 2006. Likewise, on 15 December, 2006 Paul Hegarty announced that he would be moving on from his role as assistant manager due to difficulties in relation to Pat Fenlon's new training schedules for the 2007 season, while Colm O'Neill, a fitness coach at the club, also left to join Stephen Kenny in Dunfermline.

Although some reports claimed that Curtis Fleming was to take the vacant assistant manager's position left at the club by the departure of much of Stephen Kenny's staff,[37] Pat Fenlon revealed that Anthony Gorman would fill the spot on 31 December. Fenlon also helped commit Ruaidhri Higgins to the club for another two seasons just two days later, but decided that Clive Delaney was not in his plans and let the club release him on 21 December, 2006.[38] With goal-keeper Pat Jennings Jr. signing a new contract with the club in January 2007,[39] Fenlon was also linked with bringing in tall Norwegian striker, Øyvind Hoås of Fredrikstad, and highly-rated Irish League player, Conor Downey of Cliftonville FC.[40] Nevertheless, released Irish Manchester United youngster, Kyle Moran, and former Irish school-boy international, Karl Bermingham, were invited to the club for a trial period prior to the 2007 season's kick-off.

On 19 January, 2007, David Forde's performances for Derry during the 2006 campaign were rewarded with the presenting of the eircom/Soccer Writers' Association of Ireland's 'Goalkeeper of the Year' award. Pat Fenlon was also named as 'Personality of the Year' after his league success at Shelbourne FC.[41] During the awards ceremony, held in Dundalk, Dermot Ahern, the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, who was a guest in attendance and gave a speech, claimed that the two highlights of the league year for himself had been his presence at two historic occasions in the Brandywell; the club's Setanta Sports Cup game against Linfield FC and the UEFA Cup match with Paris Saint-Germain. He poured praise on the club, its fans, players, staff and board, claiming that its efforts and achievements had ramifications way beyond sport. Only days later, the club as a whole was awarded the Belfast Telegraph's Sports Award for 2006 after its displays during the season.[42]

Derry's first signing of 2007 was eventually announced on 28 January - Pat Fenlon convinced one of his former Shelbourne F.C. players, Dave Rogers, an experienced defender, to join him at the Brandywell.[43] Karl Bermingham's signature followed on 2 February, 2007 after a successful trial spell.[44] A few days later, other trialist, Kyle Moran also signed a one-year contract.[45]

Traditions

The club's name

When the club was first founded in 1928, it named itself Derry City Football Club, as opposed to using the official name of the city - Londonderry. Nationalists generally refer to the city as 'Derry', while unionists can be inclined to term it 'Londonderry'. At the time of the club's naming, the dispute would not have been as politicised as it is in the current day.

Colours and jerseys

Past home-kit variations

Original colours worn from 1929 until 1932.
Colours worn between 1932 and 1934.
Traditional style introduced in 1934.
Colours worn for period between 1956 and 1962.
Thinly-striped customary colours of 1960s.
Variation with white shorts of early 1970s.
1985 style, with tight stripes and white shorts.
Scheme worn in 1986 saw return of black shorts.
Special 1988 FAI Cup final variation.
Scheme of tight stripes worn in 1988-89.
Variation worn in early 1990s with thick red stripes.
Oddly-striped variation worn in mid-1990s.
Thickly-striped variation worn in 1997.

Jersey information

Derry City wore claret and blue jersies with white shorts for their first season of football - 1929-30. This scheme lasted until 1932, when the club's first change of colours saw the club directors decide that white jersies with black shorts should be worn by the team for the 1932-33 season. The style, like that which had come before it, lasted just two seasons and was replaced by the now-traditional red and white "candystripes" with black shorts upon the club's changing of its official colours to that of the modern day for the beginning of the 1934-35 season.

The current colours of the red and white striped jersey with black shorts are derived from an early connection with Sheffield United, who wear the identical pattern. Specifically, the colour-change should be attributed to Billy Gillespie. Gillespie, a native of nearby Donegal, played for Sheffield United over a twenty-year period from 1913 until 1932, and scored over 137 league and cup goals in 492 games for the South Yorkshire side, as well as captaining them to FA Cup success in 1925. He was the club's most capped player with 25 for Ireland and had started out with Derry Celtic before embarking on a career across the Irish Sea. The man was held in such high regard in his home country that when he left United in 1932 to replace Joe McCleery as manager of Derry City, the club changed their strip to red and white stripes within two years of his arrival in reverence to him and his time at the Blades.

Derry have remained in the red and white stripes since, except for the seasons between 1956 and 1962, when the club's players donned an amber and black kit. At the time, the colours were strongly associated with Wolverhampton Wanderers, who were a power-house of English football during the 1950s. However, the colours brought Derry no such luck. The seasons were a lean time for the club, with an Irish Cup final defeat to Glenavon FC in 1957 being the highlight.

A re-introduction of the "candystripes" for the 1962-63 season saw the fortunes of the club improve as Derry entered their most successful spell in the Irish League. The colours have been retained ever since. Jerseys over the years, although in keeping with the red and white tradition, have varied slightly in the sense that certain seasons saw Derry wear thinner stripes while others saw thicker or stripes with varying thicknesses being worn by the players on the field. Derry now wear white socks when sporting their full home rig, while they originally wore black ones. Similarly, the club adopted white shorts instead of black ones for a spell in the early 1970s and later in 1985 for their initial season in the League of Ireland.

Derry have had their kits supplied by various manufacturers over the years, including Adidas, Avec, Erreà, Fila, Le Coq Sportif, Matchwinner, O'Neills, Spall and currently, Umbro. Commercial sponsorhip logos to appear on the front of shirt have included Northlands (a local alcohol and drugs treatment and awareness organisation), Warwick Wallpapers, Fruit of the Loom, Smithwick's, and AssetCo. Other sponsorship logos to have appeared on the sleeve have included the Trinity Hotel, Tigi Bed Head and Tigi Catwalk. For the 2007 season, the logos of local media, Q102.9 and the Derry News, appear on the back of the shirt just below the neck, along with the logo of Meteor Electrical on the jersey's front.

Current kit provider and shirt sponsors

Kit provider

Main shirt sponsor

Secondary shirt sponsor

Shirt sleeve sponsor

Shirt sleeve sponsor

Crests

File:Derry arms 2003.png
The city's coat of arms, used by the club as a crest prior to the introduction of a unique club crest in 1986.
File:DerryOldCrest.gif
Derry City's first exclusive crest, introduced in 1986 and replaced in 1997.

Although the club did not traditionally sport a crest on the club jersey as the concept had not yet become popularised (probably due to the complications and vast time-consumption involved in mass-producing intricate designs before greater technological advancement occurred), throughout the years playing in the Irish League - and for most of the first season in the League of Ireland - Derry City used the coat of arms of the city, rather than having an exclusive crest of their own. This crest often appeared on club memorabilia such as scarves, hats and badges. The symbols on Derry's arms were, and still are, a skeleton, a three-towered castle, a red cross and sword. The sword and cross are devices of the City of London and demonstrate the link between the two cities (The city's official name under UK law is, of course, Londonderry), in particular, the association with the Honourable the Irish Society which had been granted lands in and around the city in the past. The castle is thought to relate to a 13th or 14th century keep belonging to the local native chieftains. There a many theories about the skeleton; the most popular being that it is that of a Norman knight who was starved to death in the castle dungeons in 1332. This was accompanied by the Latin motto, "Vita, veritas, victoria", meaning "Life, truth, victory."

However, in April 1986, the club ran a competition in local schools to design a new crest for the football club. The winning entry was designed by John Devlin, a fourth-year student at St Columb's College, and made its debut on 05 May 1986 when Derry City entertained Nottingham Forest at Brandywell Stadium for a friendly match. The crest depicted a simplified version of the city's Foyle Bridge, which had opened 18 months previously, the traditional red and white candystripes associated with the shirt of the club and the year in which Derry City was established as a club, as well as a football in the centre representing the fact that the club is a footballing entity. This crest lasted until July 1997, when the current crest was unveiled at Lansdowne Road when Derry City played Celtic in a pre-season tournament. The modernised crest, once again, featured a centred football, the club's name and the year of founding. The famous red an white candystripes were present along with a red mass of colour filling the left half of the crest, separated from the right by a white stripe. Known cultural landmarks or items associated with the city are absent from the badge. The origins of this crest are not fully known and the reason for the change in 1997 has never been explained by the club, although it is likely that the club simply wished to develop a fresher, more contemporary image with a minimalist design and also due to the fact that the Foyle Bridge was no longer as novel, trendy or innovative a feature as it were in the mid-to-late 1980s.

Rivalries

See also: Northwest Derby

A friendly rivalry is currently maintained with local Donegal club, Finn Harps. While both have encountered times of trouble in recent years, they have often been helped by the other in this regard. Their success cannot be said to have occurred without this. Finn Harps were one of the major proponents of Derry's joining of the League of Ireland in 1985. Phil Coulter is known as a fan of both sides, and has been instrumental in keeping them as operational football clubs. With Derry now playing in the top-tier and Finn Harps playing in the lower FAI First Division, their much-anticipated north-west derby is now a rarer affair than it once was. Derry also share a north-west derby game with Sligo Rovers, although Sligo is not in as close proximity to Derry as Ballybofey is.

The mid-eighties saw Derry's biggest rivalry coming in the form of Dublin's St. Patrick's Athletic - a side which contained former Republic of Ireland international and Middlesbrough defender, Curtis Fleming, TV3 pundit Paul Osam and ironically current Derry manager, Pat Fenlon. In recent years, Dublin's Shelbourne FC were seen as top-of-the-table rivals with games between the two often being crucial to the ultimate winning of the league. In turn, these games were often very exciting six-pointers.

There is another club in Derry known as Institute FC, but due to the fact that the clubs play under different associations no intense footballing rivalry exists, although Institute generally take their support from the city's Protestant or unionist community, as opposed to Derry City, who generally take theirs from the Catholic or nationalist one.

During Derry's time in the Irish League, south Belfast's successful Linfield FC were commonly viewed as the team to beat.

Match-day programme

The front cover of an official match programme from Derry City's first season in the League of Ireland. The opposition were Sligo Rovers and the game occurred on 17 November, 1985 at the Brandywell.

Cityview is the name of the club's official match programme. Since 1985, League of Ireland match-day experiences at Brandywell stadium have been augmented by the programme. Every league, FAI Cup, League Cup, and European fixture over the past 22 years has been catered for from the day the late Paddy Doherty put pen to paper in the summer of 1985 right up to the articles which are currently being created for the 2007 season.

Cityview provides loyal Derry City fans and supporters of opposition clubs visiting the Brandywell with information on current affairs within the world of Irish football; League of Ireland, Irish League, Setanta Cup, European, and world football news; player profiles, statistics and interviews; team news and information on player injuries and suspensions; fan views and opinion pieces from long-serving contributors; a fan focus; a regular message from the manager; a half-time quiz; a layout of Brandywell stadium and safety directives; Derry City's history and honours; under-21 and under-18 sections; and an editorial on the game and opposition.

Considered by many an integral element of supporting Derry City and an essential part of the match-day experience, Cityview has gone from strength-to-strength in recent years. On various occasions in Derry City’s highly successful 2006 campaign, Cityview sold more than 1,000 copies in an hour prior to the game. It is estimated that Derry City’s programme committee met the demand for in the region of 20,000 copies last season, and seek to better that over the course of the 2007 season.

File:DCFCProg2.jpg
The cover of Cityview from Derry's FAI Cup semi-final replay game against Sligo Rovers in the Brandywell on 31 October, 2006.

The programme has long established itself as an absolutely vital element in the success and financial wellbeing of Derry City as well as being one of the most important means of communication for the club. It is safe to say that without a successful Cityview and other marketing and communication branches of the club, Derry City would not be in the financially healthy position it currently is.

Fully supported by local, national, and international corporate entities, Cityview provides prospective sponsors with the ability to not only align themselves with the success of Derry City, but to actually make a valuable contribution to that success. The benefit to each advertiser is that in excess of 15,000 copies are sold sporting their advertisement or sponsorship, and Derry City fans loyally support those who support their club. With the most substantial club membership in Ireland, Derry City Football Club is in the best position to offer advertisers and sponsors access to the largest official fan-base in domestic Irish football and Cityview provides the club and the advertiser with the perfect forum to reach each and every one of those supporters.

Cityview is open to submissions from supporters of the club in general and aims to air the views of everyone who elects to contribute to the content of the programme. The price of the programme for the 2007 season is £2 at games, all of which goes directly towards the future development of the club and its finances, as well as ensuring that League of Ireland football remains at the forefront of sporting life in the city.

As of the 2007 season, a single issue or an entire season's copies are available to purchase online from anywhere in the world after the programme committee decided that Derry City supporters around the globe should have the opportunity to purchase the club’s official match-day programme. Cityview arrives in the hands of football fans hot off the press at the Brandywell, and fans of the Candystripes from around the world who order their subscription have their copy of Cityview dispatched to them on the day of the game.

For those supporters in a position to attend the Brandywell on match days, Cityview vendors are positioned in Brandywell Avenue, inside the Brandywell Stadium opposite the Southend Park turnstiles, in the Southend Park stand, and inside the Brandywell Stadium opposite the Lone Moor Road turnstiles.

Other traditions

  • Teenage Kicks by the Undertones, who hail from Derry, is held as a club anthem by the fans and it receives frequent air-play over the club's PA system in the Brandywell.
  • Derry City has an official merchandise unit - The Candystripe Store - at 1A, High Street, Derry as well as its club shop within the grounds of the Brandywell and its online club shops.[1][2]
  • The club occasionally publishes a podcast known as iCandy. The podcast editons contain information and opinions related to Derry City's affairs.

Home ground

See Brandywell Stadium for further information.
File:Brandywell.jpg
The Brandywell; home ground of Derry City.

Derry City's home ground is the Brandywell Stadium situated on the Lone Moor Road just south-west of the Bogside in the Brandywell area of Derry. It is more commonly referred to as simply, the 'Brandywell'. The stadium is also a local greyhound racing venue, with an ovoid running track encircling the football pitch. The dimensions of the pitch itself measure 111 yards in length by 72 yards in width. The grounds, as well as the stadium, feature a large grass training area and club house, from which the club and ticket offices operate. The legal owner of the stadium is the Derry City Council, which, under licence, permits Derry City to make use of the grounds for training, matches and the running of its various other club affairs, such as administration and a retail outlet.

Plans of Derry's to purchase a pitch ran aground after their formation due to the tight timescale between their birth in 1928 and the season's beginning in 1929 and so the Londonderry Corporation (now known as the Derry City Council) was approached for the use of the Brandywell Stadium which had been used for football up until the end of the 19th century. This began an association between the club and the ground which has survived until the present day. The club are still operating under the constraints of the Honourable the Irish Society charter limitations which declare that the Brandywell must be available for the recreation of the community. In effect, the club do not have private ownership over the ground and, thus, cannot develop it by their own accord with that discretion being left to the Derry City Council.

Derry City's first game at the Brandywell was against Glentoran on 22 August, 1929. In 1933, the purchase of another ground was mentioned. The board decided not to buy Bond’s Field in the Waterside, however, as it was thought to be too far away from the fanbase which had built up on the Cityside, especially in the Brandywell area. They had first option on Derry Celtic’s old ground, Celtic Park, but hesitated on a final decision and the Gaelic Athletic Association bought it ten years later. They also decided against buying Meenan Park for £1,500. The club, thus, remained playing in the Brandywell.

Because of Northern Ireland's extremely volatile political situation during the era of the 'Troubles' and past security fears for Protestants and those of the unionist tradition visiting the mainly nationalist city of Derry, the Brandywell has not always been the home ground of Derry City. In 1970 and 1971, Derry had to play their 'home' ties against Linfield FC at Windsor Park in Belfast - the home-ground of Linfield themselves. Similarly, from September 1971 until October 1972 Derry were forced to play all their 'home' games at the Showgrounds in the town of Coleraine, over 30 miles away, as police ruled the area surrounding the Brandywell was too unsafe for visitors from the other community. The Brandywell did not see senior football for another 13 years as the Irish Football League upheld a ban on the stadium and Derry decided to leave the league as a result. Only greyhound meetings and junior football were held at the venue during this period. Derry's admission to the League of Ireland in 1985 saw a much-welcomed return of senior games, however.

The Brandywell's 'New Stand' under floodlights.

Due to health and safety regulations the stadium has a seating capacity of 2,900 for European competitions, although it can accommodate 7,700 on a normal matchday including those both standing and seated.[46][47] The Brandywell has undergone large-scale redevelopment is recent years with the 'New Stand' being constructed in 1991 and the 'Jungle' being demolished in 2004. The 'Jungle' section was the home of Derry's noisier hardcore element of fans. Many of these fanatics now occupy the area of and surrounding Block J in the 'New Stand'. The quieter blocks of the 'New Stand', where the remainder of the more-reserved spectators sit, are sometimes referred to by the louder group as 'the Library' in jest.

Furthermore, the stadium saw the construction of 450 extra seats opposite the 'New Stand' on the site of the old 'Jungle' to complement the pre-existing Glentoran Stand on that side of the stadium as well as the development of a drug-testing facility in August 2006 in order to cope with the demand for Derry's UEFA Cup Second Qualifying Round tie with Gretna. This development is set to continue with the building of the proposed Brandywell Complex as planned by Brandywell Properties Limited, who act on behalf of the club. Plans for the complex include a 7,000 all-seater stadium (which will be expandable), new playing and training pitches, an indoor football complex, two retail units, a medical centre and a pharmacy. There are, however, no plans under the current proposals, to include a dog-racing track.

The Brandywell on match-day.

The cost of this development, which it is hoped will be completed by 2012, is reportedly £15 million.[48] Work on the new complex was planned to begin by Spring 2007. The need for new stadium facilities has never been so obvious as it is now with the old side of the stadium becoming noticably more run-down by the season. However, as the Derry City Council own the land, they ultimately hold the key to the proceeding of any planned development.[49]

While an alternative idea of building a new multi-purpose stadium for the city (which would also provide a new home for Derry City FC) on the site of a dismantled British Army post at the city's Fort George has also been aired due to delays in the process, on 12 January, 2007, financial advisor and former Gaelic Athletic Association president, Peter Quinn, who played a pivotal role in securing funding for the re-development of the modern-day Croke Park, was appointed as a consultant by Brandywell Properties to spearhead the club's bid to take over the re-development of the Brandywell Stadium and help the plan progress.[50] On behalf of Brandywell Properties he is to seek funding from both the Irish and British governments, as well as injections from the National Lottery along with sums from other sporting agencies in order to help raise the £15 million needed. The proposals will eventually be submitted to the Government, as well the Derry City Council.

The current Brandywell stadium has played host to many notable matches for Derry City, such as the 1-0 defeat of IFK Göteborg on 27 July, 2006 in the UEFA Cup First Qualifying Round. However, current facilities for spectators and media simply cannot cope with the demand for some matches. The ground also hosted the FAI League Cup final in 2006 between Derry and Dublin rivals, Shelbourne FC. Derry won the climactic game after it went to a penalty shoot-out.

League and location

See Football clubs playing in the league of another country for further general information.

Derry City is a unique club, due to its troubled and fluctuant history, in that it is one of the few clubs from the United Kingdom (and the only club in Northern Ireland) to play in the league of another country - the league of the Republic of Ireland in the case of Derry City.

Others within the UK are:

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