The Derry fans were not too impressed…
Derry City began their European adventure with a rather drab 0-0 draw against HB Torshavn from the Faroe Islands on Thursday night.
Facing off in the first qualifying round of the Europa Conference League, the Candystripes will remember their sojourn to the small set of islands located between Norway and Iceland for non-footballing reasons.
As is customary in European competition, club’s national flags are on display within the stadium.
However, someone from UEFA evidently didn’t do their due diligence with regards to Derry City, as a Northern Irish flag hung from the flagpole in honour of Ruaidhrí Higgins’ side.
Despite being located in the North, Derry of course play their games in the Republic’s League of Ireland Premier Division, and therefore play under the Irish tricolour.
Derry city fans taking care of a flag issue tonight in their conference league match 😎😂👍 pic.twitter.com/VkQd8oGcAX
— CELTIC NATION🍀⚽️⭐🇮🇪🇵🇸 (@CelticNation67) July 13, 2023
Derry City look past flag incident:
The footage of the incident which was posted to social media captures the flag swap from a distant angle and other people can be heard laughing in the background.
Frantically trying to rectify their mistake, an official from the Faroe Island club can be seen hastily lowering down the Northern Irish flag, before replacing it with the Irish tricolour.
Regarding matters on the pitch, Derry will be hoping for a much improved performance in front of their boisterous Brandywell support next week, as they look to secure a two-legged victory in Europe for the first time since 2014.
Speaking after the draw, Higgins commented on his side’s performance, stating that it was “far from a disaster” and that the “gloves would be off” for the return leg this Thursday.
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