Cork City have not applied to rename the Joe Delaney Stand at Turner's Cross

THE name of Joe Delaney has been removed from the Shed End at Turner's Cross but only on a temporary basis, The Echo understands.

Ahead of their First Division clash with Wexford last Friday, where City dropped two crucial points in their bid to land the title as they were held to a 1-1 draw, the club announced that a new message from University College Cork would now appear on the top of the stand.

It is still technically called the Joe Delaney Stand and his name is likely to be put back in place in the near future. Should the club want his name removed permanently, they would need the permission of the MFA and it is understood that no such request has been granted or even made.

The club were asked for a comment on the development but declined because it is not their issue. The MFA also declined to share their views on the matter but it is believed it is only a mix up on the part of those involved in the work itself and it came as a surprise that his name had not been put back up.

It was named after Joe Delaney back in 2012 in honour of the service he provided as a long-time member of the Munster Football Association, which owns and runs the stadium.

Delaney was a former treasurer of the Football Association of Ireland and he is the father of former chief executive John Delaney. Delaney senior's name connected to the famous end at the Cross caused controversy back in 2019 as a result of Delaney junior's role in the financial scandals surrounding the FAI during his reign.

It led to City fans boycotting The Shed in protest during a game against St Patrick's Athletic in April of that year.

Supporter groups called on anyone that was set to attend that fixture to avoid taking a seat in the Joe Delaney Stand and during the game a flag with the message 'Delaney out' was also unfurled.

The protest escalated even further later in the evening when Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central Jonathan O'Brien, who is a former chair of the Foras supporters' group which helped save City from extinction, was removed from the ground during the protests.

O'Brien told The Irish Sun on the night: "This is a really bad look for the FAI if ­people are seen not to be allowed conduct peaceful protests. What do they expect?"

It led to calls for Delaney's name to be removed permanently following the fallout from the scandal and many thought this had finally come to pass last Friday.

But it's believed the Joe Delaney sign was only taken down in the process of removing the old Cork Airport signage and replacing it with the new UCC slogan.