Derry ask for European home game at Windsor Park

Windsor Park is home to Linfield and Northern IrelandDerry City have requested permission from the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) to play the home leg of their Europa Conference League third qualifying round tie at Windsor Park.The Candystripes have asked that the match on Thursday 17 August be relocated to the south Belfast venue from Tallaght Stadium in Dublin. BBC Sport NI understands that the Irish FA and Linfield have no objections to Derry’s proposal.Derry will face Tobol of Kazakhstan.City’s own Brandywell Stadium does not meet the Uefa criteria to host games at this stage of the competition.Derry secured their passage into the third round after an impressive 5-4 aggregate win over Finnish side KuPS in their second round qualifier.Windsor Park is home to Irish Premiership club Linfield and the stadium is also where the Northern Ireland national team play their home matches.Derry currently sit fourth in the League of Ireland Premier Division. Ruaidhri Higgins’ men are away to Tobol in the first leg of the tie on Thursday 10 August, with the return leg taking place a week later.Derry City were members of the Irish League until 1972 when Irish League clubs voted not to play at the Brandywell due to security concerns during The Troubles. They then joined the League of Ireland in 1985.Since then, they have travelled to Windsor to play matches in the cross-border Setanta Cup competitions.

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