Derry City Council, who are responsible for the upkeep of Brandywell Stadium and its pitch – once described as the “best” in Ireland by former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson – have said they are confident the playing surface will see “huge improvement.”
Alex Ferguson had described Brandywell pitch as “best in Ireland.”
The pitch was widely criticised for its condition for Derry City’s opening home SSE Airtricity Premier Division game against Cork City on Sunday, a clash that was screened live on RTE Two.
Among the critics was former of Republic of Ireland international manager, Brian Kerr, who would have been a regular visitor to Brandywell as manager of St Patrick’s Athletic from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s.
Speaking as a guest pundit on RTE television’s new Soccer Republic programme on Monday night, he described the pitch surface at the Derry venue as “disgraceful.”
That was a far cry from what Alex Ferguson thought in 1990 who described the pitch as the “best in Ireland” when he brought his Manchester United side to Brandywell for a friendly.
Derry City Council said a combination of incessant rain and continuous use of the pitch had resulted in “routine springtime refurbishment” of the pitch being “unfortunately delayed.”
Brian Kerr, a regular visitor to Brandywell in the 1980s and 1990s.
A spokesperson for the Council’s Grounds Maintenance Department said they were aware of issues with the pitch and would have preferred Derry City could have begun their football season with the pitch in much better condition.
The spokesperson said that whilst they recognised the “inconvenience” caused for players and supporters at Sunday’s opening match, they were confident the combination of recent works to improve the pitch – which were carried out last week – combined with a rise in temperatures and grass growth “should result in a huge improvement in the playing surface.”
Derry’s next game at Brandywell is against league champions St Patrick’s on 28 March next (kick off 7.45pm).
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