Derry City chairman Philip O'Doherty has criticised Derry City fans who did not attend their Europa League first round first leg tie with Dinamo Minsk on Thursday which they lost 2-0.
The club's fans were angered by the €28 (£25), a £10 increase on normal prices. O’Doherty told BBC Radio Foyle the attendance did not help the players.
I'm disappointed that the boycott obviously worked because we only had 1,400 people in this ground tonight. We were allowed 3,700 in the ground but obviously the request last week for people to attend the game has fallen on deaf ears and there was nowhere near enough for a European game at the Brandywell.
The atmosphere was very, very flat and it didn't help the players at all. Can I just thank those people who did turn up and show support and loyalty to the club. It was £25 a game six or seven years ago. I don't think that's the reason and I don't really know what point they were trying to make. It was total stupidity.
The fans had recently highlighted the pricing as an issue.
Love this picture it's got more significance that just Derry city and its fans it's a worldwide thing . Football isn't working class or maybe even middle class . A wise man once said football is nothing without fans #football pic.twitter.com/UAW59mwM6K
— dan dunn (@dandunn1888) July 7, 2018
However, O'Doherty was adamant it was fair: "The money goes into the playing budget and the club. The same people who called for this budget are then meeting me and asking me to increase the budget so it certainly hasn't helped my enthusiasm."
