Derry City: Fans face bans over stadium vandalism

1 October 2019

Derry City Football Club has said it will ban anyone responsible for antisocial behaviour that has left the club with a £4,000 repair bill.

About 80 seats at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium have been destroyed in recent weeks.

Stewards have been abused and threatened while trying to intervene, the club said.

It said those responsible "are not supporters and we would ask them to stay away from Brandywell stadium".

The club's chief steward Billy Scampton said the antisocial behaviour was "totally unacceptable".

He said around 80 seats were replaced following the EA Sports Cup final in September. Repairs cost the club £2,000.

Seating was again destroyed during last week's league game with Bohemians at a cost of £1,800.

"There's a group of individuals who have congregated in section K and profess to be Derry City supporters. They are far from it," Mr Scampton said.

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Derry City and Strabane District Council who own the stadium say they are working with the club

"A lot of them would be teenagers. It is very difficult for stewards to go into a large group of people to tell individuals to abide by the rules. Some of the stewards were stunned by the language directed at them," he said.

He added: "They've been told 'we know which one is your car' and things like that".

Derry City lease the ground from the local authority, Derry City and Strabane District Council.

If the club has to "ban people it will", Mr Scampton said. But he added it was for the council to pursue prosecutions.

The council and Derry City are currently reviewing match day CCTV footage from the ground.

A council spokeswoman said it is "continuing to work closely with Derry City FC with regard to recent incidences at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium and is looking at a number of options to ensure these incidents do not reoccur".

Police said they had received no reports of vandalism at the stadium on the days in question.