also decided against buying Meenan Park for £1,500. Because of Northern Ireland's volatile political situation during the Troubles and security fears for Protestants and those of the unionist tradition visiting the mainly nationalist city of Derry, the Brandywell has not always been the home ground of Derry City. In 1970 and 1971, Derry had to play its "home" ties against Linfield at Windsor Park in Belfast – the home-ground of Linfield. From September 1971 until October 1972 Derry was forced to play all its "home" games at the Showgrounds in mainly Protestant Coleraine, over away, as police ruled the republican Brandywell area as too unsafe for visiting unionists, who themselves made up at least half of Derry City's own fanbase at that time. The Brandywell did not see senior football for another 13 years as the Irish Football League upheld a ban on the stadium and Derry decided to leave the league as a result. Only greyhound meetings and junior football were held during this time. Derry's admission to the League of Ireland in 1985 saw a return of senior games. In December 2010 the club introduced a new credit card type season ticket system to ensure abuse of tickets could no longer occur and additionally ensuring more accurate attendance count at matches. They played all their home matches of the 2017 season at Maginn Park in Buncrana due to renovation works at the Brandywell. Supporters By Irish standards, Derry City have a relatively large and loyal fan-base. The club was considered among the strongest and best-supported teams in the Irish League, and upon the club's entry into the League of Ireland in 1985, crowds of nearly 10,000 attended to the Brandywell for the return of matches. Derry's average home attendance of 3,127 was the highest of any team for the 2006 season. The highest attendance was the last-night-of-the-season meeting between Derry and Cork City at the Brandywell on Friday 17 November when 6,080 watched Derry win 1–0. Domestically, Derry's supporters travel to away games in "bus-loads". They gave large support in the club's 2006 UEFA Cup run – around 3,000 travelled to Motherwell and "maintained a wall of sound" as Derry beat Gretna 5–1 at Fir Park, and "some 3,000" went to Paris to see Derry play Paris Saint-Germain in the Parc des Princes. During the home legs, ticketless fans desperate to see the games watched from a distance