Derry City FC ... 40 year on where it all began!

This week marked the 40th anniversary of Derry City’s return to senior football with their first ever League of Ireland game, played on September 8, 1985 against Home Farm at a very packed Brandywell Stadium.

The club will celebrate the milestone with a special event at the Everglades Hotel next Saturday, with guest speakers and many familiar faces significant to the club in years gone by. The Derry City story has been a remarkable one, and it all started on an incredible Sunday afternoon on the Lone Moor Road.

From the moment that Derry City had been accepted into the League of Ireland, an air of anticipation and excitement had swept the city. It was really happening. For most, it could not come quickly enough.

Plans were put in place quickly. Jimbo Crossan was appointed as the man to lead the new City team into senior football as manager while James McCauley was unveiled as the new Chairman. Both men busily set about building a squad capable of competing in the League of Ireland’s First Division.

Weeks passed slowly, and in the midst of a town weighed down by the reality of The Troubles, football fans clung onto the fact that they would once again have a team to support on their own doorstep.

For those who remembered Derry’s expulsion from the Irish League, it was a shot at redemption, but for a whole new generation entirely, it was a venture into the unknown, and they were certainly going to make the most of this exciting new development.

By the time that Dublin club Home Farm arrived at the Brandywell on that famous day in September, the Brandywell was already packed to capacity, thousands of fans arriving well in advance of the designated kick-off to claim their spots.

Crossan had amassed a large squad of players to lead the Derry charge, in the main local footballers who had Irish League experience elsewhere. However, the cherry on the Derry City cake was undoubtedly Dennis Tueart, the former Sunderland, Manchester City and Burnley forward.

Any spot would do as this eager Derry City fan found a great view of the game.

Tueart had struck up a friendship with Derry man Eamonn McLaughlin while both played at Sunderland, and it was he who set about persuading Tueart, recently retired, to give football another shot with the Candy Stripes. McLaughlin eventually won Tueart around and Derry had a big name to lead them back into senior football. Tueart even persuaded another friend, ex-Bolton striker Gary Jones, to join him in his new adventure.

The capture of Tueart was a massive coup for the Brandywell club and only added to the hype building around Derry’s return to prominence after thirteen long years.

“It was a totally different experience from what I was used to,” Tueart explained. “I had just retired, I had two young children and I was just building a business but Eamonn McLaughlin came to me and asked me to play. They needed someone just to play for a year just to lift the profile of the club and to generate the fantastic enthusiasm and passion for Derry City which had been lost for many years. I looked at it, and although I was still in good shape, the logistics were a problem, and I at first said it was impossible.

But Eamonn persevered and so I thought I would give it a couple of games and see how it goes.”

An incredible roar greeted the Derry City players as captain Terry Kelly led the team out for the first time against Home Farm.

Denis Tueart in action against Home Farm.

It was standing room only as fans strained to get a glimpse of the squad for the first time and the action that followed ensured that the thousands in attendance went home happy.

It was only the League Cup, and greater challenges lay ahead, but for everyone associated with the club on that day in early September, the victory meant everything.

The performance of Tueart on the day was an added bonus for City’s football-starved fans and the English magician had the crowd on its feet just 18 minutes in as he beat Home Farm defender Bollard before dinking a cross over goalkeeper Dave Henderson, straight onto the head of Barry McCreadie, who powered Derry into the lead.

The goal was Derry City’s first under the auspices of the League of Ireland and McCreadie had inscribed his name in the history of the club.

The Candy Stripes did not have it all their own way however, as Home Farm threatened to spoil the party completely, when they equalised through Dermot Marsh early in the second half.

But concern quickly turned to celebration as Derry restored their lead just two minutes later, when McCreadie won possession and found Tueart, who sent Gary Jones clean through on goal.

Showing terrific composure, Jones took the ball around goalkeeper Henderson and slotted the hosts back into the lead.

The win was then secured when Tueart again worked his magic in the closing stages, beating two men before finding Jones who rattled in his second and Derry City’s third for a 3-1 victory.

Derry City fans pack into the Brandywell on the club’s return to senior football.

Derry City were up and running.

“Personally, I had no idea what to expect,” Tueart recalls. “It was a ground-breaking situation as far as I was concerned because it was a club basically playing in another country’s league.

"I came over on the Saturday before the first game and as part of my preparation I wanted a massage, and Eamonn took me to some guy in a council estate and I had to lie on his dining room table, so that was an eye-opener.

"The Brandywell was a long distance from New York also, where I played for Cosmos; there were 75,000 in New York and that was down to 12,000 at the Brandywell. I remember there were houses behind the ground which stood over the ground and there were people watching from their windows.”

“What I couldn’t believe however was the enthusiasm of the supporters. The Brandywell was packed out. I actually still have video footage from that day and the reporter on the local television station was Eamonn Holmes.

CAMERA CLUB: Remembering Derry sporting figure and Tristar founder Jon 'Ugg' Clifford

"It was a momentous occasion. There were some shots of the crowd queuing up to get into the ground; they were miles long. I remember also from a shot of the ground that there was a hill overlooking the stadium from outside and there was a whole load of people on the hill who couldn’t get in and they were watching the game.”