Belfast switch appeal by Derry City for Europa Conference League second leg

​The third-round second-leg tie was understood to be fixed for Dublin’s Tallaght Stadium on Thursday, August 17 but City officials have asked the FAI to give the green light for the fixture to be played at the home of Northern Ireland and Linfield.

It’s understood there has been no objection from either the IFA or Linfield.

Given the almost eight-hour round-trip to south Dublin, securing the south Belfast venue would be a major boost for supporters of the Brandywell club.

The last time the Candy Stripes played a competitive fixture at Northern Ireland’s national stadium was back in 2012 - a group game in the cross-border competition The Setanta Cup – a match current City boss Ruaidhri Higgins played in which saw Derry City progress to the semi-finals after a 1-1 draw in the second leg.

Derry City also lifted the Irish Cup at Windsor Park when defeating Glentoran in 1964.

The Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium does not meet Uefa criteria for a category 3 ground and is therefore ineligible to host third-round fixtures European competition.

When asked if the Brandywell’s unsuitability for European third-round games and Derry City’s successful run in the Europa Conference League pressed home the need for an upgrade, Higgins refused to get drawn on the matter.

"I'm not going to get caught up in it,” he said. “It's above my pay grade but it goes without saying.

"You've seen the impact our supporters have had against Torshavn and KuPS in the home legs at Brandywell and ideally you'd like to be playing here again.

"Unfortunately it's not going to be the case.

"Our supporters have shown the capacity to travel really, really well and I'm sure if we bring a decent result home they will do that again.

"It's not ideal of course.

"I'm sure if we have an opportunity of getting through after the first leg then our supporters will travel in numbers as they always do.”