Tiernan Lynch (Image: ©INPHO/Lorcan Doherty)
Can Derry City deliver their first Premier Division title since the 96/97 season?
For the avoidance of doubt, I’ve no issues with Derry City Football Club as an entity, they’re an incredible club, with a compelling backstory, limitless potential and are arguably one of the biggest clubs on the island. But it’s also for those reasons that I hold the club to a high standard because I understand its potential.
Thus, any opinions expressed in this article should be taken as such a point of view. An opinion. We’re all allowed to have one.
If you are not familiar with the club’s incredible history, I recommend the documentary Different League: The Derry City Story. It recounts how the club got caught up in the backlash of the “The Troubles” went out of business, left the Irish League and went without football until the “Gang of Four” helped get the club admitted into the League of Ireland in 1985.
The decision to cross the geographical divide has since proved vindicated with Derry City becoming one of the most successful sides in the LOI.
2 Premier Division Titles, 7 Runner-Up finishes
2 First Division Titles
6 FAI Cup Wins, 6 Runner-up finishes
It goes beyond trophies though the club has a great heart encapsulated beautifully by the fact their stadium is named after their former captain, the late great Ryan McBride his untimely death in 2017 at the age of just 27.
Despite the club’s considerable success in the LOI, more recently the club has underperformed in the Premier Division with their last title coming in the 96/97 season with their best finishes being when they were runners-up in 2005, 2006, 2022 and 2023.
I’ve been critical of Derry City for close to two years and it has been brought to my attention both directly and indirectly during that time that supporters and maybe even those involved at a deeper level are not too fond of some of the opinions I chose to express.
This was crystal clear to me following my 2024 LOI predictions when I predicted Derry City in fourth place. It wasn’t a popular opinion, to say the least with one bellowing.
“Did your man Bill get his sweets stolen in Derry as him having Derry in 4th has got nothing to do with football reasons and I expect him to be relegated out of your team at the end of the season for such outrageous nonsense.”
Those receipts were kept and were reshared with glee from me when my rare correct call was confirmed. Ahead of last season Derry City had finished as runners-up in two consecutive seasons and were the 2022 FA Cup winner running out dominant 4-0 winners over Shelbourne.
I attended that final and being honest that should’ve been the catalyst to kick the club on. However, as history has shown, Shelbourne would be the side that went from strength to strength in subsequent seasons.
The rationale for my fourth prediction was that I did not believe the signings of Kelly and Hoban from Dundalk, Todd from UCD and a handful of Scottish signings I did not believe the squad was refreshed enough to finally land the Premier Division.
What I think encapsulates this assessment best is that their 2024 squad had a large contingent of players who finished sixth with Dundalk in 2021 that same season Derry City finished fourth.
- Cameron Dummigan (26)
- Will Patching (24)
- Patrick McEleney (30)
- Michael Duffy (28)
- Daniel Kelly (26)
- Patrick Hoban (31)
Football is a game of fine margins and if you flipped just 2/3 results from Derry City’s 2024 season a fourth finish and an FAI Cup Final defeat, could’ve been a historic League and Cup double. They didn’t and to borrow a phrase from my favourite movie Moneyball “If you lose the last game of the season, nobody gives a shit.”
Former manager Ruadhri Higgins echoed a similar sentiment on the opening night of the season on Virgin Media “The bottom line is we didn’t have enough to get over the line”.
During Higgins’s tenure (21-24) I was critical of his management for what I perceived as underperformance. On reflection, I believe I was harsh on Higgins, and it should be noted the decision for him not to manage the club into 2025 was wholly his and nobody else’s.
It’s important to recognise that while the club is officially “supporter-owned” it would be disingenuous to not recognise that the club has been bankrolled substantially by local billionaire businessman Philip O’Doherty since 2009.
His commitment, ambition and underlying passion for the club can’t be questioned and if there were more people like Philip O’Doherty investing in Irish Football we would be in a far stronger place.
What I would question about O’Doherty is his influence on the chosen transfer strategy as well as the subsequent effect that has on the broader development of Derry City’s Academy Talent which I believe reeks of short-termism.
I do recognise the irony of me questioning the strategy of a billionaire though, but Derry City’s strategy is at odds with the general trend towards youth development in the LOI with the average age of a player ahead of the 2025 season being roughly 24.4, their signing were as follows:
- Liam Boyce (33)
- Shane Ferguson (33)
- Kevin Holt (32)
- Robbie Benson (32)
- Carl Winchester (31)
- Dom Thomas (28)
- Gavin Whyte (28)
- Hayden Cann (21)
Ahead of their season opener against Shelbourne, new manager Tiernan Lynch joked about the need for additional wheelchair space but none for Zimmer frames or mobility aids. He argued that the squad’s average age was 27 with just seven being 30+ including “young Dom Thomas” who recently turned 28.
The first person to truly echo how I feel about Derry City’s business was their club legend Gareth McGlynn on a recent episode of Off The Ball.
McGlynn described both the clubs’ transfer recruitment and their work on the academy side of the club as both being “asleep at the wheel.” He continued that they were throwing money at four footballers in their thirties and even if they were to win the Premier Division in two years the club would be even worse off. Derry City supporters AGAIN were not impressed.
“Loving how everyone likes to talk about Derry spending money. It’s as if no other club pays wages & the Pats, rovers & Shels players must be playing for free. I’d say Duff & Kenny are cheap too. Give over.”
My primary issue with Derry City Football Club is what I’d argue is continued neglect and lack of desire to integrate academy talent into the team. The likes of Shamrock Rovers, Pats and Shelbourne may regularly play/purchase “older” players, but you always get the sense that they promote, play and provide younger footballers with minutes.
The same can’t be said for Derry City as shown by their signing of Andre Wisdom last summer from Warrington Town when I concluded that the club was like Celtic minus the trophies (another club that neglects their academy) which caused some consternation.
Supporters swarmed into my replies bellowing “Do your research” Names were thrown at me from James McClean to talented Liverpool winger Trent Kone Doherty. Here is an exhaustive list of each “Academy Graduate” mentioned along with their age in 2024 and backstory.
- Shane McEleney (33) – Left at 25 before returning in 2022 (gone again for 2025)
- Patrick McEleney (31)- Peaked at Dundalk and the UK, returned in 2022
- Michael Duffy (30) – Peaked at Dundalk, returned in 2022
- Ben Doherty (27) – Developed in the NIFL Premiership, returned in 2023
- Sam Todd (26) – Developed at Finn Harps/UCD and brought back in 2024
- Ronan Boyce (23) – Debuted in 2019 and a regular since.
- Ronan Curtis (28) – Left in 2018
- James McClean (35) – Started at Institute and left Derry in 2011
- Rory Holden (27) – Left in 2017
- Ciaron Harkin (28) – Signed back via Irish League in 2019, left Coleraine 2024 signed back in 2025
- Trent Kone Doherty (18) – Left for Liverpool in 2022.
- Alfie Friars (16) – Left Derry City for Coleraine and signed with Derby 2024
- Luke O’Donnell (17) – Left in September for Wolves
- Oisin Gallagher (19) – Left in 2020 for Lincoln City now on loan at Boston United
- Evan McLaughlin (22) – Left in 2024 for Cork City after a spell at Coleraine
- Patrick Ferry (21) – Left in 2022 for Ballinamallard now at Finn Harps
- Jordan McEneff (23) – Left for Arsenal in 2016, returned briefly in 2024 now with Larne
- Georgie Kelly (27) – Left in 2015 at 18 developed at UCD.
- Sean Patton (18) – At the club.
- Caoimhin Porter (22) – Left for Institute in Summer 2024
- Sean McBride (25) – Free Agent
- Daithi McCallion (19) – Ballymena United
Ironically above there is essentially a full squad list of players listed, nearly all actively playing and involved in football in 2025 and while it may seem dogmatic to go through each player there is a method to my madness.
Of those listed that were actively involved in the 2024 squad were in their late twenties to early thirties and almost all developed and/or played their peak years away from the club aside from the exceptional case of Ronan Boyce.
Though I do recognise that the unique geographical position due to Brexit has led to the likes of Friars, Donnell and Doherty depart in recent seasons I don’t think that argument entirely holds weight especially when that same geography means the footballers can play for both the Republic of Ireland Northern Ireland at underage level, their total involvement across both remains relatively poor.
Furthermore, despite their proximity to the famous yearly SuperCup NI tournament, there is no “Derry City” side present at the event, only a County “Londonderry” team.
Once I criticised a different LOI club online for their inability to consistently achieve returns in their academy and I was met with an interesting perspective. “Making it here shouldn’t be a barometer of our success rate” and proceeded to mention players playing at a lower level.
While I’m not a coach my fundamental belief is that “Academy Talent” should always make up a large contingent of a playing squad. To me, there is nothing more romantic than seeing a player progress through the academy and play for the seniors and in very special instances, go on to captain the club!
That was the dream of the late great Ryan McBride, while others dreamt of playing for Celtic, Man United and Liverpool, his was to represent Derry City which he achieved before his untimely death in 2017 at 27 when he was the club captain. Not every footballer will reach the heights that Ryan McBride did, but the primary duty of every football club should be to develop these players as people and give them a safe landing in football. Does the club do enough to integrate potential talents? I don’t think anyone could argue based on the blind facts that they do.
With all that being said, I found Tiernan Lynch’s comments which were recently featured in the Derry Journal saying that he wanted to create a culture the people of Derry could be proud of in how they conduct themselves both on and off the field and making decisions for the right reasons and clearly experience is something that Derry City have prioritised.
It’s too early to assess Lynch in terms of academy integration but I’m certain that giving minutes to the trio of Glenn McCourt (16), Callum Doherty (17) and Sean Patton (18) would be a positive first step in creating a team in the image of Derry County.
Elsewhere around the club, there are positive signs of progress going on off the field with recent news that the club have been permitted to train in the GAA county board’s centre of excellence in Owenbeg. A £7 million Brandywell redevelopment was announced in 2016, and a new New Terrace was erected last November resulting in an additional capacity of 2,940 (2,910 standing spaces and 30 wheelchair spaces) nearly doubling capacity from 3,689 to 6,239 with more changes planned when funding issues are sorted between the club, council and Stormont.
One of the last remaining pieces in the jigsaw is the controversial 4G pitch at the Brandywell which has been blamed as a huge issue when it comes to implementing a positive playing style, attracting players and keeping them fit.
However, despite statements from former manager Ruadhri Higgins that the pitch “isn’t suitable for professional sports” due to it being a council-owned ground the merits and drawbacks of investing in it have been a hotbed of debate. Though there are reportedly three options up for consideration to rectify the Brandywell surface issue, until something substantive happens the debate will rightly continue
Philip O’Doherty has shown incredible dedication to the club, and I believe if required, he should refocus his efforts away from ageing footballers and more into investing in the pitch. To borrow an analogy from English Football former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
“Arsenal was the love of my life. I gave 22 years of my life to the club. I built the training centre, and I built the Emirates Stadium.”
For me, if O’Doherty took a similar attitude into Derry City and the pitch they’d reap the benefits long-term and become a far stronger force in the League of Ireland. The anecdote to achieve this would be to take the shackles off the academy and place a far greater importance on Youth Academy integration from top to bottom in the club.
One club where they could take learning from is Hoffenheim’s “Decoding Talent” initiative which allows the area of 3,266 residents to compete in the Bundesliga. The club focuses on data-driven insights, psychological profiling, and holistic player assessment to develop talent. For comparison, the population of Derry City was 85,279 in the 2021 census and I’m certain that a similar initiative could work for the club.
At the time of writing, Derry City have lost three of their four opening Premier Division games in 2025 and while it’s early days I’ll go out on a limb and say that there will again be no league title for the club this time around come November. What’s needed is a fresh approach with the long-term in mind, one which focuses on youth and not older footballers! Youth. Courage. Success.