Shamrock Rovers boss Stephen Bradley insists that Derry City needs to act to ensure the safety of away fans visiting the Brandywell, after shameful scenes at the weekend.
With Rovers coasting to a 3-1 win at the home of their nearest title challengers, the game had to be held up late on after objects, including a flare, were thrown over the wall on the Lone Moor Road side of the ground into the small travelling section of Rovers fans.
The flare ended up on the pitch, where an unidentified youth picked it up and ran the length of the field, disrupting the game even further. The trouble continued after the final whistle and Shamrock Rovers fans had to be moved onto the centre of the pitch for their own safety. As this was happening, masked youths broke into the ground from the Lone Moor Road, before quickly dispersing, with the PSNI arriving.
It was a shameful end to what was supposed to be a huge night in Derry City's season, and has led to calls for the club to have a points deduction or a ban from angry fans across the country.
The club has remained silent since Friday night, but the unsavoury scenes have not gone unnoticed elsewhere, with the game televised on RTE. Even the Daily Mail has reported on events at the Brandywell, with debate raging online, including podcasts questioning the safety of the Brandywell stadium after this latest incident.
Bradley, who saw his team move into third place in the Premier Division with victory over the Candystripes, insisted that the safety of travelling fans has to be paramount.
“Derry need to look at that," he told the Irish Independent after the game. "I understand the Derry people inside the ground, the fans inside, were asking the people to stop, but Derry as a club need to look at what happened. There were missiles coming over, steel bars, bottles. Derry is a good club, we all know that. There are so many good people here.
“But we have to think of away fans. They cannot stand there and have missiles coming over the wall at them. They really need to look at that. If it means having to section off a bit of their own stand to keep them safe, then that's what they need.
“Thankfully I don't think anyone was hurt. But that cannot happen again for any set of fans coming up here. That can't be acceptable."
Derry City have reached agreement with clubs this season to reduce the availability of away tickets due to the construction of the new stand, with visiting supporters relocated into the unseated area to the left of the Mark Farren Stand. But Friday night's events many now force the club to reconsider.
“They need to forget about fans standing there and they need to cut off a bit in the corner and put fans – especially if it's only 150 people – in the stand and keep them safe. That cannot be acceptable," Bradley continued.
“We should be talking about those players and their performances and what they did there, they came up here against their nearest challengers, rivals, and they performed. Unfortunately, some of that will be overshadowed by what happened at the end.
“The league and the club need to come together. We saw tonight how dangerous it is. All our fans in a centre circle at the end of the game. That is not what you want to see at the end of a weekend.”
Derry City FC have thus far refused to respond to the incidents.
Tonight
The events have taken the focus on what is a very important game for Derry City tonight. who need their get their season back on track after the Rovers defeat, which saw them fall to fourth place in the Premier Division. Ruaidhri Higgins mean meet St. Patrick's Athletic desperate for a win, with the manager acknowledging that fans are unhappy after some booed the players from the pitch on Friday.
"We need to man up, roll our sleeves up, and get out on the pitch on Monday night and put on a display that's worthy of representing this club," he said.
"It's easy to stick together when things are flowing and things are good, but it's a challenge when it's not, and it's a challenge that we have to embrace, and there's no other option, we have to stand up and fight.
"I get the frustration, no-one's as angry as me, no-one's as, and people can say that I come across as this laid-back person and I don't show any emotion, but believe me, it's gut-wrenching, and we expect better. We want to produce better for our supporters, and hopefully we can do that on Monday night, and as I said, the run of form that we're on at the minute isn't acceptable, and we need to try and change it, and change it fast."
