Derry City Football Club is a professional

association football club A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all-s ...

based in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

, Northern Ireland. It plays in the

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Premier Division ( ga, Príomhroinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is the top level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland f ...

, the top tier of league football in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

, and is the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

's only participant from Northern Ireland. The club's home ground is the

Brandywell Stadium The Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium ( ga, Tobar an Fhíoruisce ) is a municipal football stadium with an adjoining greyhound racing track in Derry, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of League of Ireland team Derry City F.C. and (temporaril ...

and the players wear red and white striped shirts from which its nickname, the Candystripes, derives. The club is also known as the Red and White Army, Derry or City. The club, founded in 1928, initially played in the Irish League, the domestic league in Northern Ireland, and won a title in 1964–65. In 1971, security concerns related to

the Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...

meant matches could not be played at the Brandywell. The team played home fixtures away in

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern I ...

. The security forces withdrew their objections to the use of the Brandywell the following year, but in the face of insistence from the Irish League that the unsustainable arrangement continue, the club withdrew from the league. After 13 years in junior football, it joined the League of Ireland's new First Division for 1985–86. Derry won the First Division title and achieved promotion to the Premier Division in 1987, and remained there until an administrative relegation in 2009. The club won a domestic

treble Treble may refer to: In music: *Treble (sound), tones of high frequency or range, the counterpart of bass *Treble voice, a choirboy or choirgirl singing in the soprano range *Treble (musical group), a three-piece girl group from the Netherlands *T ...

in 1988–89, the only League of Ireland club so far to do so. After spending the majority of its time in the

in the Premier Division, the club was expelled in November 2009 when it was discovered there were secondary, unofficial contracts with players. It was reinstated a few weeks later but demoted to the First Division, the second tier, from where it made its way back to the Premier Division.

History

Founded in 1928, the club decided against using the

controversial Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opposite ...

official title of the city – Londonderry – in its name, while also deciding against continuing the name of the city's previous main club,

Derry Celtic Derry Celtic Football Club was a football club from Derry, Ireland. The club, formed as St Columb's Hall in 1890, changing to St Columb's Hall Celtic in 1893, and Derry Celtic in 1899, was once the primary team in the city, but was voted out ...

, so as to be more inclusive to all identities and football fans in the city. Derry City was granted entry into the Irish League in 1929 as professionals and was given permission by the

Londonderry Corporation Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

to use the municipal Brandywell Stadium. The club's first significant success came in 1935 when it lifted the

City Cup The City Cup was a rugby league competition involving Australian premiership teams. The post season tournament was a regular feature in the years 1912–1925. City Cups were also played in 1937, 1942 and 1959. The inaugural city cup was contested ...

. It repeated the feat in 1937, but did not win another major trophy until 1949, when it beat

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

to win its first

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Samuel Gelston's Whiskey Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland. Ina ...

. It won the Irish Cup for a second time in 1954, beating Glentoran again, and for a third time in 1964 – that year also winning the Gold Cup – despite the club's conversion to part-time status after the abolition of the maximum wage in 1961. This led to the club's first entry into European competition, in the 1964–65 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, in which it was beaten by Steaua Bucharest 5–0 on aggregate. The club won the 1964–65 Irish League and subsequently became the first Irish League team to win a European tie over two legs, beating

FK Lyn Lyn 1896 Fotballklubb () is a Norwegian football club and a department of the sports club Ski- og Fotballklubben Lyn based in Oslo, whose members also participate in Nordic skiing and orienteering. Until 2010, SFK Lyn had two football departme ...

8–6 on aggregate in the

1965–66 European Cup The 1965–66 season of the European Cup football club tournament was won by Real Madrid, winners of the first five European Cups from 1956 to 1960, for the sixth time in a close final against Partizan. Real Madrid eliminated title-holders Interna ...

. Derry did not complete the next round, as the

Irish Football Association The Irish Football Association (IFA) is the governing body for association football in Northern Ireland. It organised the Ireland national football team from 1880 to 1950, which after 1954, became the Northern Ireland national football team. ...

(IFA) declared its ground was not up to standard, after a game had been played there during the previous round. Derry suspected

sectarian Sectarianism is a political or cultural conflict between two groups which are often related to the form of government which they live under. Prejudice, discrimination, or hatred can arise in these conflicts, depending on the political status quo ...

motives,Campbell, Denis
My team – Derry City: An interview with Martin McGuinness
", ''The Observer'', 8 April 2001; Retrieved 30 April 2007 as it played in a mainly nationalist city and so had come to be supported largely by Catholics. The IFA,

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

-based, was dominated by Protestants and it was widely suspected that it would rather have been represented by a traditionally unionist team.Cronin, Mike (2000) , International Sports Studies, De Montfort University, Leicester, England, vol. 21, no. 1 (2001), pp. 25–38 Relations between the club and IFA quickly deteriorated.Steve Bradle
Derry ponder a French Revolution
''ESPN Soccernet'', 14 September 2006; Retrieved 11 May 2007 There had been no significant history of sectarian difficulties at matches in the first 40 years of the club's history, but in 1969 the

Civil Rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

campaign disintegrated into communal violence, which were followed by 30 years of

.Steve Bradley
Football's last great taboo?
, ''ESPN Soccernet'', 22 February 2005; Retrieved 30 April 2007 Despite the social and political unrest, Derry reached the

final in 1971, in which it was beaten 3–0 by

Distillery Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...

. As the

republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

locality surrounding the Brandywell saw some of the worst violence, numerous unionist-supported clubs were reluctant to play there. The

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the Royal ...

(RUC) ruled the zone unsafe for fixtures. With no other feasible local ground available, Derry had to travel to the majority unionist town of

, over away, to play its "home" games at the Showgrounds. This situation lasted from September 1971 until October 1972 when, faced with dwindling crowds (most Derry fans were unwilling to travel to Coleraine due to the political situation and the longer journey) and dire finances, the club formally requested permission to return to the Brandywell. Despite a new assessment by the security forces concluding that the Brandywell was no longer any more dangerous than any other league ground and a lifting of the security ban, Derry's proposal fell by one vote at the hands of its fellow Irish League teams. Continuing without a ground was seen as unsustainable and on 13 October 1972 Derry withdrew from the league amidst a perception that it was effectively forced out. The club continued as a junior team during the 13-year-long 'wilderness years', playing in the local Saturday morning league, and sought re-admission to the Irish League. Each time, the club nominated the Brandywell as its chosen home ground but the Irish League refused re-admission. Suspecting refusal was driven by sectarianism, and believing it would never gain re-admission, Derry turned its attentions elsewhere.

Entry into the League of Ireland

Derry applied to join the reorganised

(the league in the Republic of Ireland) in 1985 with the Brandywell as its home. The move required special dispensation from the

IFA IFA or Ifa may refer to: Organisations Economics * Independent financial adviser, a type of financial services professional in the UK * Index Fund Advisors * Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, representing actuaries in the UK * Institute of Ac ...

and

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

, but eventually Derry was admitted to the league's new First Division for 1985, joining as semi-professionals. As its stadium was situated in a staunchly republican area once known as "

Free Derry Free Derry ( ga, Saor Dhoire) was a self-declared autonomous Irish nationalist area of Derry, Northern Ireland, that existed between 1969 and 1972, during the Troubles. It emerged during the Northern Ireland civil rights movement, which sought ...

", with a history of scepticism towards the RUC in the local community, Derry received special permission from

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

to steward its own games. The presence of the RUC was regarded as more likely to provoke trouble than help prevent it. Derry's first match in the new system was a 3–1

League of Ireland Cup The League of Ireland Cup ( ga, Corn Sraithe na hÉireann), also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', is an annual knockout competition in men's football in the Republic of Ireland. It is contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited c ...

win over Home Farm of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

at the Brandywell on 8 September 1985. The return of senior football to Derry attracted large crowds. Later in the season, after turning professional, it won the

League of Ireland First Division Shield The League of Ireland First Division Shield was an association football competition featuring teams from the League of Ireland First Division. The inaugural winners were Derry City. It was also the first competition Derry City won after they joi ...

with a 6–1 aggregate victory over

Longford Town Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...

. The following year – 1987 – Derry won the First Division and promotion to the Premier Division, staying there since. The club reached the 1988

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

final, but lost to

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

. The next season – 1988–89 – the club was financially forced to revert to semi-professional status but Jim McLaughlin's side managed to win a

; the league, the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

and the FAI Cup. Qualifying for the

1989–90 European Cup The 1989–90 European Cup was the 35th edition of Europe's premier club football tournament, the European Cup. The final was played at the Praterstadion in Vienna on 23 May 1990. The final was contested by Italian defending champions Milan and ...

, it met past winners, Benfica, in the first round.

Modern highs and lows

Since 1989, Derry has won the

once – in 1996–97 – but has been runner-up on three occasions. It added five more FAI Cups to its tally in 1995, 2002, 2006, 2012, and 2022, and was runner-up in 1994, 1997, 2008, and 2014 and has also won ten further League Cups. Derry 0161

The club has been beset by financial problems and was on the verge of bankruptcy due to an unpaid tax bill in 2000. An extensive fund-raising effort was undertaken by local celebrities and the city's people to save the club from extinction. Derry played high-profile friendlies against clubs such as

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

to raise extra money. This helped keep the club in operation, but difficulties remained and Derry nearly lost its Premier Division place in 2003 when it finished ninth and had to contest a two-legged relegation-promotion play-off with local rivals,

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Chláirsigh na Finne) are an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. However, it was te ...

. Derry won 2–1 on aggregate after extra-time at the Brandywell and remained in the top flight, avoiding further damage. With finances secured, the club became the first in Ireland to be awarded a premier UEFA licence in 2004. Derry re-introduced professional football and its form improved, as it finished second in 2005. Derry's 2005 League Cup victory also saw the club qualify for the cross-border

Setanta Cup The Setanta Sports Cup was a club football competition featuring teams from both football associations on the island of Ireland. Inaugurated in 2005, it was a cross-border competition between clubs in the League of Ireland from the Republic of Ir ...

for the first time in 2006. It entered the

2006–07 UEFA Cup The 2006–07 UEFA Cup was the 36th UEFA Cup, Europe's second-tier club football tournament. On 16 May 2007, at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Sevilla won their second consecutive UEFA Cup, defeating Espanyol 3–1 on penalties after the match ...

's preliminary rounds, beating

IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the ...

and Gretna to reach the first round where it faced

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

; after a home 0–0 draw it lost 2–0 away. Derry finished second again in 2006, but went on to win the FAI Cup and League Cup

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

. It qualified for the 2007

, as well as the preliminary rounds of the

2007–08 UEFA Champions League The 2007–08 UEFA Champions League was the 16th season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, the UEFA Champions League, since it was rebranded in 1992, and the 53rd tournament overall. The final was played on 21 May 2008 at the L ...

, and was accepted into the restructured Premier Division for 2007. The club had a disappointing league campaign in 2007, finishing seventh despite being pre-season favourites. It did manage to win its eighth

, though, thanks to a 1–0 victory over

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

at the Brandywell. The club, by owing huge debts, was expelled from the League of Ireland by the FAI in November 2009 for breaching the Participation Agreement and dissolved, but a new Derry club using the "Derry City" name joined for 2010 – with the FAI allowing it into the First Division By January 2010 with a new board, the new chairman, Philip O'Doherty was reported to have acquired a new kit deal with Hummel. Additionally, O'Doherty was quoted in the ''Derry Journal'' referring to the application to play in the First Division: On Monday 15 February 2010, the new Derry City was awarded a First Division licence by the Independent Club Licensing Committee, allowing it eligibility to compete in the 2010 First Division. By the end of October 2010 Derry had clinched the First Division title and with it, promotion back to the premier division after winning 1–0 away at Monaghan United in the last game of the season. Derry's top goalscorer that season,

Mark Farren Mark Farren (1 May 1982 – 3 February 2016) was an Irish footballer who played as a forward for Derry City in his prime. Derry City wore

Aston Villa Football Club Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park, ...

's famous claret and blue jerseys with white shorts for its first season – 1929–30. The colours lasted until 1932, when white jerseys with black shorts were adopted. This style was replaced by the now-traditional red and white "candystripes" with black shorts in 1934. The style derived from

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

, who wore the pattern and, specifically,

Billy Gillespie William Ballintrae Gillespie (6 August 1891 – 2 July 1981) was an Irish association football, football player who played as a Forward (association football), striker for Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United over a twenty-year period from 1 ...

, a native of nearby

Donegal Donegal may refer to: County Donegal, Ireland * County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster * Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland * Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...

. He played for Sheffield United from 1913 until 1932, captaining them to a 1925

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

win. The club's most capped player with 25 appearances for

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, he was held in such high regard in his home country that when he left Sheffield United in 1932 to become Derry's

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

, they changed their strip within two years in appreciation of his career at Sheffield United. Derry have worn red and white stripes since, except from 1956 to 1962, when the club's players wore amber and black. Jerseys since 1962 have had "candystripes" of varying thickness. The kit features white socks – originally black socks were used and occasionally red if a clash with the opposition occurred. Similarly, white shorts were adopted for a spell in the early 1970s and for 1985. They are still sometimes worn if a clash occurs, as are black socks. Away jerseys have varied in colour from white, to navy and green stripes, to yellow, to white and light-blue stripes, and to black. Derry have had various kit suppliers, including

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...

, Avec,Mahon (1998), p. 156

Erreà Erreà () is an Italian sports equipment company supplier. Erreà was the first Italian sportswear company to be accredited with the Oeko-tex standard certification, which assures that garments textiles are free from harmful chemicals. Backgrou ...

Fila Fila Holdings Corp. is a sportswear brand of shoes and apparel. The company was founded by Ettore and Giansevero Fila in 1911 in Coggiola, near Biella, Piedmont, Italy. In 2003, it was sold to United States-based Sports Brand International. Sub ...

Le Coq Sportif Le Coq Sportif (, "the athletic rooster") is a French manufacturing company of sports equipment. Founded in 1882 by Émile Camuset and located in Entzheim, the company first issued items branded with its now-famous rooster trademark in 1948. The ...

,Mahon (1998), p. 7 Matchwinner,

Umbro Umbro is an English sports equipment manufacturer founded in 1924 in Wilmslow, Cheshire and based in Manchester. They specialise in football and rugby sportswear featuring their ''Double Diamond'' logo. Umbro products are marketed in over 100 c ...

, Spall

O'Neills O'Neills Irish International Sports Company Ltd. is an Irish sporting goods manufacturer established in 1918. It is the largest manufacturer of sportswear in Ireland, with production plants located in Dublin and Strabane. O'Neills has a long re ...

, Hummel, and, currently,

. Commercial sponsorship logos to appear on the shirt's front have included Northlands,Mahon (1998), p. 49 Warwick Wallpapers,Mahon (1998), p. 67

Fruit of the Loom Fruit of the Loom is an American company that manufactures clothing, particularly casual wear and underwear. The company's world headquarters is in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Since 2002 it has been a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. Products manu ...

Smithwick's Smithwick's () is an Irish red ale-style beer. Smithwick's brewery was founded in Kilkenny in 1710 by John Smithwick and run by the Smithwick family of Kilkenny until 1965 when it was acquired by Guinness, now part of Diageo. The Kilkenny br ...

and AssetCo. Logos to have appeared on the sleeve have included the Trinity Hotel, Tigi Bed Head and Tigi Catwalk. For 2007, the logos of local media,

Q102.9 Q1 or Q-1 may refer to: * Quarter 1, as in the first quarter of a calendar year or fiscal year * first quartile in descriptive statistics * The first quarto, usually meaning the earliest published version, of one of William Shakespeare's works * Q1 ...

and the ''

Derry News The ''Derry News'' is a newspaper based and published in Derry, Northern Ireland. History It was first published in February 2001. The newspaper changed hands in the summer of 2006, when a consortium including River Media and the ''Irish News ...

'', appeared on the back of the shirt just below the neck, along with the logo of Meteor Electrical on the jersey's front. Coat of arms of Derry

The club did not sport a crest on the club jersey throughout the Irish League years, nor for most of the first League of Ireland season. Instead, the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

of the city appeared on club memorabilia such as scarves, hats and badges. The symbols on the arms are a skeleton, three-towered castle, red St. George's cross and sword. The sword and cross are devices of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

, and along with an

Irish harp The Celtic harp is a triangular frame harp traditional to the Celtic nations of northwest Europe. It is known as in Irish, in Scottish Gaelic, in Breton and in Welsh. In Ireland and Scotland, it was a wire-strung instrument requiring great ...

embedded within the cross, demonstrate the link between the two cities – the city's official name under UK law is Londonderry and the city itself was developed by

The Honourable The Irish Society The Honourable The Irish SocietyIn full, the "Society of the Governor and Assistants, London, of the New Plantation in Ulster, within the Realm of Ireland". is a consortium of livery companies of the City of London established during the Plantat ...

, a livery company of the City of London. The castle is thought to be an old local

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

keep built in 1305 by the de Burca

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...

. The skeleton is believed to be that of a knight of the same clan who was starved to death in the castle dungeons in 1332. This is accompanied by the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

motto, "''Vita, veritas, victoria''", meaning "Life, truth, victory." In April 1986 the club ran a competition in local schools to design a crest for them. The winning entry was designed by John Devlin, a

St. Columb's College St Columb's College ( ga, Coláiste Naomh Colum Cille) is a Roman Catholic boys' grammar school in Derry, Northern Ireland and, since 2008, a specialist school in mathematics. It is named after Saint Columba, the missionary monk from County ...

student, and was introduced on 5 May 1986 as Derry hosted

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

for a friendly, with Liam Nelis and Paul Gormley (on his fifth birthday) acting as mascots. The crest depicted a simplified version of the city's

Foyle Bridge The Foyle Bridge is a bridge in Derry, Northern Ireland. The central cantilever span of the bridge is the second longest on the island of Ireland, at 234 metres (767 ft), and the whole suspended bridge structure including the approach spans ...

, which had opened 18 months previously, the traditional red and white stripes of the jersey bordered by thin black lines, the year in which the club was founded and a football in the centre representing the club as a footballing entity. The name of the club appeared in

Impact Impact may refer to: * Impact (mechanics), a high force or shock (mechanics) over a short time period * Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US Science and technology * Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event * Impact ...

font. With the novelty of the Foyle Bridge wearing off over time, the crest lasted until 15 July 1997, when the current one was unveiled at

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium ( ga, Bóthar Lansdún, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for ...

with the meeting of Derry City and

during a pre-season friendly tournament. The modern crest also features a centred football, the year of founding and the club's name in a contemporary

sans-serif In typography and lettering, a sans-serif, sans serif, gothic, or simply sans letterform is one that does not have extending features called "serifs" at the end of strokes. Sans-serif typefaces tend to have less stroke width variation than seri ...

font – Industria Solid. The famous red and white stripes are 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

minimalist In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Don ...

design. The crests have always been positioned over the heart on the home jerseys.

Home ground

Derry City's home ground is the municipal Brandywell Stadium, situated just south-west of the

Bogside The Bogside is a neighbourhood outside the city walls of Derry, Northern Ireland. The large gable-wall murals by the Bogside Artists, Free Derry Corner and the Gasyard Féile (an annual music and arts festival held in a former gasyard) are pop ...

in the Brandywell area of

. It is often abbreviated to "the Brandywell" and is also a local

greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tra ...

venue, with an ovoid track encircling the pitch. The dimensions of the pitch measure .Derry City
''What's the score?'', 2000–01; Retrieved 30 April 2007 The legal owner is the

Derry City Council Derry City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Dhoire; Ulster-Scots: ''Derry Cittie Cooncil'') was the local government authority for the city of Derry in Northern Ireland. It merged with Strabane District Council in April 2015 under local govern ...

which lets the ground to the club. Due to health and safety regulations the stadium has a seating capacity of 2,900 for UEFA competitions, although it can accommodate 7,700 on a normal match-day, terraces included. The curved

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a canti ...

all-seated "New Stand" was constructed in 1991, while development on the still-insufficient facilities has been delayed numerous times and had yet to take place as of the end of the 2016 season. Plans of Derry City's to purchase a pitch fell through after its formation due to the tight time-scale between its foundation in 1928 and the season's beginning in 1929 and so the

(now the Derry City Council) was approached for the use of the Brandywell which had been used for football up until the end of the 19th century. It agreed and the club still operates under the constraints of

charter limitations which declare that the Brandywell must be available for the recreation of the community. In effect, the club does not have private ownership and, thus, cannot develop by its own accord, with that discretion or whether to sell being left to the Derry City Council. 126 Brandywell Stadium

Derry City's first game at the Brandywell was a 2–1 loss to

on 22 August 1929. In 1933, the purchase of Bond's Field in the Waterside was mentioned, but it was thought to be too far away from the fan-base which had built up on the Cityside, especially in the Brandywell area. It also had first option on Derry Celtic's old ground,

Celtic Park Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is also ...

, but hesitated on a final decision and the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

bought it ten years later. It also decided against buying Meenan Park for £1,500. Because of

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

's volatile political situation during the

Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...

and security fears for Protestants and those of the unionist tradition visiting the mainly Irish nationalist, nationalist city of Derry, the Brandywell has not always been the home ground of Derry City. In 1970 and 1971, Derry had to play its "home" ties against Linfield FC, Linfield at Windsor Park in

– the home-ground of Linfield. From September 1971 until October 1972 Derry was forced to play all its "home" games at the Showgrounds in mainly Protestant

, over away, as police ruled the republican Brandywell area as too unsafe for visiting unionists, who themselves made up at least half of Derry City's own fanbase at that time. 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 during this time. Derry's admission to the League of Ireland in 1985 saw a return of senior games. In December 2010 the club introduced a new credit card type season ticket system to ensure abuse of tickets could no longer occur and additionally ensuring more accurate attendance count at matches. They played all their home matches of the 2017 season at Maginn Park in Buncrana due to renovation works at the Brandywell.

Supporters

By Irish standards, Derry City have a relatively large and loyal fan-base. The club was considered among the strongest and best-supported teams in the Irish League,Derry City dream on in Paris
FIFA, 27 September 2006; Retrieved 21 March 2012 and upon the club's entry into the League of Ireland in 1985, crowds of nearly 10,000 attended to the Brandywell for the return of matches. Derry's average home attendance of 3,127 was the highest of any team for the 2006 season. The highest attendance was the last-night-of-the-season meeting between Derry and Cork City Football Club, Cork City at the Brandywell on Friday 17 November when 6,080 watched Derry win 1–0. Domestically, Derry's supporters travel to away games in "bus-loads". They gave large support in the club's 2006 UEFA Cup run – around 3,000 travelled to Motherwell, Scotland, Motherwell and "maintained a wall of sound" as Derry beat Gretna 5–1 at Fir Park, and "some 3,000" went to Paris to see Derry play

in the Parc des Princes. During the home legs, ticketless fans desperate to see the games watched from a distance while standing on the high vantage point overlooking the Brandywell offered by the City Cemetery in Creggan, Derry, Creggan and parked hired double-decker buses outside the stadium to help them see over the ground's perimeter. The club is known for its community spirit, and the supporters have played a pivotal role in the survival and successes of the club. When debts brought Derry close to extinction in the 2000–01 season, the local community responded en masse to help save the club. During the club's successful 2006 season, club captain, Peter Hutton (footballer), Peter Hutton said: Likewise, former Social Democratic and Labour Party leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume, who was the club's president, stated in 1998 of the club's relationship with the community: Support for the club is quite dependent on geography and crosses social boundaries. Fans come from both working class areas, such as the Brandywell area and

, and more affluent regions of the city, like Culmore. The Cityside is seen as the traditional base of the club, especially the Brandywell area, although the Waterside is also home to a smaller number of supporters. The club are supported mainly by Derry's nationalist community. The connection is argued to be rooted mainly in geography, as well as social, cultural and historical circumstances, as opposed to the club or its fans pushing towards the creation of a certain identity. Indeed, prior to 1969, over half of the club's support base came from the sizeable Unionist community that lived in the cityside at the time. The onset of the troubles made the Brandywell's Nationalist location too dangerous to visit and Unionist support fell away to a small minority, in keeping with the rapid Unionist depopulation of the cityside as a whole. The city's wider Protestant community, almost entirely based in the Waterside, is largely apathetic, though some unionists and Ulster loyalism, loyalists see the club as a symbol of Catholicism and nationalism as a result of the sectarian divide in support. Joining the

's league augmented the perception and, on occasion, Protestant hooligans have thrown missiles at Derry's supporter buses as they journeyed to or returned from games across the border. Minor nationalist elements within the Derry City support-base see football as a means of reinforcing

divides. With the city being a focal point of culture and activity serving the north-west region of Ireland, support stretches beyond the urban border and into the surrounding County Londonderry, county; Limavady, Strabane in nearby County Tyrone and areas of bordering County Donegal contain support. The club has numerous supporter clubs, along with Ultras, ultra fans, and support beyond Ireland – mainly emigrated city natives. ''Derry City Chat'' is a discussion website run by fans. Derry's fans share a North-west Derby (Ireland), rivalry with the supporters of Finn Harps and sing the Undertones' ''Teenage Kicks'' as a terrace anthem.

European record

Current squad

;Out on loan ;Retired numbers 5 – in honour of Ryan McBride (footballer), Ryan McBride 18 – in honour of

Mark Farren Mark Farren (1 May 1982 – 3 February 2016) was an Irish footballer who played as a forward for Derry City in his prime. * Irish Football League: ** 1964–65 Irish League, 1964–65: 1 *

: ** 1988–89 League of Ireland Premier Division, 1988–89, 1996–97: 2 *

: 6 ** 1988–89, 1994–95, 2002, FAI Cup 2006, 2006, 2012 FAI Cup, 2012, 2022 FAI Cup, 2022 *

: 11 ** 1988–89, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1993–94, 1999–2000, 2005 League of Ireland Cup, 2005, 2006 League of Ireland Cup, 2006, 2007 League of Ireland Cup, 2007, 2008 League of Ireland Cup, 2008, 2011 League of Ireland Cup, 2011, 2018 League of Ireland Cup, 2018 *

: 3 ** 1948–49 Irish Cup, 1948–49, 1953–54, 1963–64 Irish Cup, 1963–64 * League of Ireland First Division: 2 ** 1986–87 League of Ireland First Division, 1986–87, 2010 League of Ireland First Division, 2010 *

: 1 ** 1985–86 *

: 2 ** 1934–35, 1936–37 * Gold Cup: 1 ** 1963–64 * Top Four Winners: 1 ** 1965–66 * Irish News Cup: 1 ** 1996–97 * A Championship: 1 ** 2011 A Championship, 2011 * North West Senior Cup: 16 ** 1931–32, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1935–36, 1936–37, 1938–39, 1953–54, 1959–60, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1965–66, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71 * Northern Ireland Intermediate League: 2 ** 1979–80, 1983–84 *Enda McGuill Cup: 2 ** 2007, 2021

Records

Peter Hutton (footballer), Peter Hutton holds the club record for matches played in League of Ireland football with a total of more than 660 appearances for Derry City, a club record. , Paul Curran (footballer), Paul Curran has made the second highest number of appearances for the club in the League of Ireland with 518, followed by Sean Hargan with 408 since 1995. The club's all-time highest goal-scorer is Jimmy Kelly (Irish footballer), Jimmy Kelly with 363 goals between 1930 and 1951. Since the entry of the club into League of Ireland football,

Mark Farren Mark Farren (1 May 1982 – 3 February 2016) was an Irish footballer who played as a forward for Derry City in his prime.Home Farm on 8 September 1985. Derry's first hat-trick in the League of Ireland was scored by Kevin Mahon away to Finn Harps on 15 December 1985. Derry's 1000th league goal was scored by Conor Sammon on 9 May 2008 against Shamrock Rovers. A number of capped internationals have also played for Derry. Derry's record League of Ireland defeat was to

in January 1986 – the score was 5–1. The club's record League of Ireland win was 9–1 against Galway United in October 1986. The club has only suffered relegation in the Irish League due to a breach of regulations, in 2009. Derry are the only League of Ireland team to have completed a treble, in the 1988–89 season. Derry's 5–1 away win against Gretna FC, Gretna at Fir Park, Motherwell, Scotland, Motherwell in the

second qualifying round is the largest away winning margin for any League of Ireland team in European competition. Derry played a record number of 54 games in the whole League of Ireland 2006, 2006 season, including all competitions. Previously, the record had been the 49 games played in all competitions during the treble-winning 1988–89 season. The Brandywell's record attendance in the League of Ireland system is 9,800 people who attended an FAI Cup second round tie between Derry and Finn Harps on 23 February 1986. In the Irish League, a crowd of 12,000 attended the 1929–30 season home game against Linfield F.C., Linfield.

In popular culture

Derry City have made numerous appearances in popular culture. In the world of music, the club was given exposure by Derry punk music, punk band, The Undertones, which had the cover of its 1980 hit single, "My Perfect Cousin", feature a Subbuteo figure sporting the colours of Derry City. The song's video included the group's front-man, Feargal Sharkey, kicking and leaping to head a ball while wearing the red and white jersey. Similarly, on the cover of its second ever single, ''Get Over You'', the words "Derry City F.C." can be seen. The club have also featured on popular television. Due to the fact that it is a club based in Northern Ireland playing in the league of the Republic of Ireland, it often receives the attention of broadcasters in both jurisdictions. In the BBC documentary series ''Who Do You Think You Are? (British TV series), Who Do You Think You Are?'' shown the night before Derry's clash with Paris St. Germain in the

first round, it was highlighted that Archie McLeod, the grandfather of ''Doctor Who'' actor David Tennant, was a Derry City player. Derry had supplied a lucrative signing-on fee and had enticed him over from Scotland. Likewise, features about the club were run by ''Football Focus'' prior to and after the same UEFA Cup game. Irish television has also featured the club. Derry City played in the first League of Ireland match ever to be shown live on television when it visited Tolka Park to play Shelbourne FC, Shelbourne during the 1996–97 season. The game was broadcast on RTÉ's RTÉ2, Network 2 and finished 1–1 with Gary Beckett scoring for Derry. Another medium to play host to the club has been the radio. On 20 April 2005, Derry City featured in an audio documentary ''The Blues and the Candy Stripes'' on RTÉ Radio 1's ''Documentary on One''. The documentary was produced in the aftermath of the historic friendly game between Derry and Linfield FC, Linfield that took place on 22 February 2005 – the first between the two teams to occur since a game on 25 January 1969 during which Linfield's fans had to be evacuated from the Brandywell by police at half-time due to civil unrest and ugly scenes within the ground. The 2005 match was organised as a kind of security test in the run-up to the likely possibility that both teams, with socially polar fan-bases, qualified for and be drawn against one another in a

competition.

Notes

References

* * Cunningham, Vinny (2007) ''Derry City FC: A European Odyssey'' Derry City Development Committee (DVD) * * * * * Ferry, Gary (2008) The Team I Loved So Well – City Print * Ferry, Gary (2015) 30 Years – The Journey So Far – City Print

External links

* {{Authority control Derry City F.C., Association football clubs established in 1928 Association football clubs in Derry Urban Area Association football clubs in Northern Ireland Expatriated football clubs Former senior Irish Football League clubs Former League of Ireland First Division clubs League of Ireland Premier Division clubs 1928 establishments in Northern Ireland