Club withdraws from Derry league after sectarian incident

A Protestant football club has withdrawn four of its teams from a youth league in Derry due to fears of a sectarian attack.

The move follows an incident last week in which an U14 game between one of the teams and a local Catholic side had to be abandoned due to sectarian abuse.

Both teams had to take shelter in their dressing rooms after around 80 loyalists shouted abuse at the Catholic players.

The coach of the Protestant club said members of his teams had since been subjected to further sectarian abuse while on their way to school in the predominantly Catholic West Bank area.

He said he hated the idea of caving in to intimidation, but the safety of the players had to be paramount.