League of Ireland
Premier Division
Friday 24th April 2026
Kick Off 20.00 Actual 19.59
Derry City 1 Shamrock Rovers 0, attendance 7,104
26’ 1-0
@ Celtic Park
Lone Moor Road
Londonderry
BT48 9LA
£10 Admission, booked online
£3 Programme available, didn’t bother buying.
When I last saw Derry City play a home game, back in January 2001, it was at Brandywell Stadium, where I witnessed a dreadful 0-0 draw versus Longford Town. With the pitch there currently being replaced, they’re playing a number of home games at Celtic Park, home of Derry G.A.A. (Gaelic Athletic Association), which hasn’t hosted association football since the 1940’s. It’s less than 200 yards from their regular home and holds around 18,500. There are seats along one side, with open terrace behind one goal (not in use tonight) and along one touchline. The other end has the changing rooms and a small viewing area, with food and drink outlets in the car park at the rear. Tickets were not on sale on the day, but no problem buying them online and nice to not be charged any additional add on fees when doing so. I managed to grab street parking just off Brandywell Road, under ten minutes walk away, which aided a reasonably quick getaway afterwards.
The ground was impressive, even with parts closed off and the novelty of playing at the G.A.A. Stadium drew a crowd of 7,104. The atmosphere was disappointing, especially as it was 5th versus 1st in the league table and at no time could the away fans be heard, not that they had too much to shout about. Shamrock did see a thirty yarder come back off the crossbar after twenty minutes, but six minutes later Derry grabbed what turned out to be the winning goal, when a corner from the right was headed back across the six yard box, with two strikers failing to make contact, before James Clarke sent the ball back into the far corner, despite falling backwards as he made contact. The second half saw a Derry free kick clawed away off the line seven minutes in and the game slowly petered out from there. Derry didn’t need to do anything and Shamrock just looked incapable of producing anything in the attacking third.
