Derry City 2025 Season Review: Candystripes clinch Europa League spot to end season on high

Derry City brought the curtain down on their 2025 campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Cork City at Turner’s Cross, sealing a second-place finish in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division and guaranteeing European football next season in Tiernan Lynch’s first year at the helm on Foyleside.

It marked a fitting conclusion to a season that began in disarray but ended in style. The Candystripes stumbled out of the blocks early on, managing just one win in their opening five league fixtures.

However, toward the business end, they became one of the most formidable sides in the league. Saturday’s victory over Cork extended their unbeaten run to ten games, a streak that began after their last defeat, which was a 2-0 loss away to Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght Stadium back on August 3.

During that run, Derry won their final four matches, overcoming Sligo Rovers, Waterford FC, Cork City, and even eventual champions Shamrock Rovers in the penultimate round of fixtures.

That 2-1 triumph over the Hoops at the Ryan McBride Brandywell ignited talk of an improbable late title charge. However, any lingering title dreams were dashed three days later when Shamrock Rovers confirmed their fifth league crown in six seasons with victory over Galway United in Tallaght.

Michael Duffy of Derry City celebrates after the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division match between Derry City and Shamrock Rovers at The Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium in Derry. (Photo: Seb Daly/Sportsfile)

A final tally of 63 points represented a clear step forward from last year’s fourth-place finish on 55, underscoring the progress made under Lynch’s stewardship. Derry’s late surge cut the gap to a single win behind Rovers and equalled 2024 champions, Damien Duff’s Shelbourne.

In November 2024, Derry watched Shelbourne lift the league trophy on the Brandywell pitch on the final night of the campaign before suffering a stunning FAI Cup final defeat to Drogheda United, who had finished second from bottom. That double blow not only robbed the club of silverware but also of a lucrative Europa Conference League berth.

Disappointingly, the Derrymen went out of the cup very early on following a third-round penalty shootout defeat to holders Drogheda after easing past the challenge of Treaty United in round 2.

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Lynch saw quite a deal of turnover of personnel, seeing the quality of the likes of Colm Whelan, Patrick McElheney, Dan Kelly and Will Patching all moving on. In their place he brought in the experience of Robbie Benson, Carl Winchester, Sam Todd and 28-time Northern Ireland international Liam Boyce.

34-year-old Belfast native Boyce scored 11 goals in 26 appearances in all competitions for the Candystripes before his first season with the club was ended three months prematurely on 16 August, following a hamstring injury in his side's FAI Cup exit at home to Drogheda United. The former Heart of Midlothian attacker netted a second-half hat-trick in round 2 against Treaty United.

Derry City manager Tiernan Lynch during the match between Derry City and Shamrock Rovers at The Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium. (Photo: Seb Daly/Sportsfile)

The experienced trio of Boyce, Danny Mullen and Michael Duffy did the heavy lifting in Derry’s attack this year, ending the season with a combined total of 27 of the Candystripes’ 52 league goals.

Duffy also ended the campaign with a handsome tally of 12 goals and eleven assists, meaning the thirty-one-year-old sits top of the assist chart and third in the league's golden boot. At the other end Brian Maher kept twelve clean sheets, finishing third in that department behind Drogheda’s Luke Dennison and Joseph Anang of St Patrick’s Athletic.

Looking ahead to the next year, Tiernan Lynch’s men will hope to carry their end-of-season form into the next season. With an average squad age of 28.1, making the Candystripes the oldest by a distance in the league, Lynch will almost certainly be hoping to bolster his charges with an injection of youth. A host of injuries late in the season also stretched his cards thin.