The Football Association of Ireland has apologised for an error in the match programme for the Ireland v Wales Euro 2025 playoff which saw Derry listed as just “Londonderry” in a map of Ireland.
On a page of the programme headlined “Back To Your Roots”, the map was labelled with the players in the squad who could call each county “home”, either by place of birth, where they grew up or where their relatives were from. The map referred to Derry as “Doire in Irish” but in English solely as “Londonderry”.
Former Ireland footballer and Derry native James McClean was among those unhappy with the mistake, saying on Instagram: “The match programme at last night’s Ireland vs Wales game at the Aviva Dublin… disgusting, pathetic, insulting, hang your heads in shame you shower of a***holes!” finishing the message with a middle finger pointed emoji.
A statement from a FAI spokesperson said: “The wrong graphic was inadvertently used in an Ireland Women’s National Team match programme, this was a genuine mistake and the Football Association of Ireland apologises for any offence caused.”
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Earlier this year, a translation error in the programme of an under-21 game between Ireland and Latvia saw several Latvian players listed incorrectly with names like “Robert the Liar” and “Dario S**t”.
At the time the FAI said a review of the production process at Abbotstown had been undertaken to ensure such an error did not happen again in the future.
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