LISTEN: Derry City needs a packed Brandywell to compete: Shiels

KENNY SHIELS believes Derry City could compete financially with both Dundalk and Cork City if they had the full backing of club's fans.

The Derry City boss says he will be operating on a shoe-string budget next season, and with no European qualifying prize money to fall back on, is facing a tough task attracting players to Foyleside.

In fact, Shiels is struggling to convince some of them to be brand new, with the City claiming it can not compete with the financial packages offered by other clubs.

However, he believes if the fans were to pack the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium regularly during the season, the club would then he would not face the same obstacles when it came to player recruitment.

"People from the city are saying, 'How can Dundalk do it?' And 'How can Cork do it?' Well their infrastructure involves a full stadium every home game," said Shiels. "That accommodates the budget. That's how it works.

"People say Derry is a football city and a lot of good friends in Derry, good football people, but is it a football city?

"Any budget is governed by how many fans come to the game. If you have 5,000 supporters at Cork every home game then that's £ 75,000 just coming into their coffers. They can accommodate their budget in accordance with that.

"That's a lot of money and we can not compete with that. We could compete with Cork and Dundalk if we could fill this house (the Brandywell). "

It's fair to say the quality of the product of the expectations at home games and Shiels concedes it's a 'chicken and egg' situation.

"If we were able to compete with Dundalk and Cork and Shamrock Rovers, Waterford, St Pat's and Sligo Rovers, the top six and Bohemians even, then we would get more of a crowd in but it's a chicken and egg (situation). You need the supporters to get the finance to bring in players.

"If that was financed by the crowds, the six or seven players from Derry would not be at the other clubs. They would be here. "