In effect, the club do not have private ownership over the ground and, thus, cannot develop it by their own accord with that discretion being left to the Derry City Council.

The stadium has played host to many notable matches, such as Derry City's 1–0 victory IFK Göteborg on 27 July 2006 in the UEFA Cup first qualifying round.

The ground also hosted the FAI League Cup final in 2006 between Derry City and Dublin rivals, Shelbourne FC.

[6][7] For a period of 14 years, between 1971 and 1985 only greyhound meetings and junior football were held at the venue as both the police and the Irish League imposed a ban on Derry City using the stadium as their home ground due to the Troubles.

A number of opposing teams, especially those with unionist support, were reluctant to travel through the area surrounding the stadium due to the Troubles.

Unusually, the Brandywell does not usually have a police presence inside it during Derry City games; however, the PSNI do have the ability to enter the stadium in an emergency.

[9] The Brandywell has undergone large-scale redevelopment in recent years with the installation of new state of the art floodlights in January 1990 being marked by a win over Leicester City [1].

Although the remainder of available space around the pitch and racing track is used as a terrace, development is set to continue with the building of the proposed Brandywell Complex.

[13][14][15][16] While an alternative idea of building a new multi-purpose stadium for the city (which would also provide a new home for Derry City FC) on the site of a dismantled British Army post at the city's Fort George, or even a move to a re-developed Templemore Sports Complex, has also been aired due to delays in the process, on 12 January 2007, financial advisor and former Gaelic Athletic Association president, Peter Quinn, who played a pivotal role in securing funding for the re-development of the modern-day Croke Park, was appointed as a consultant by Brandywell Properties to spearhead the club's bid to take over the re-development of the Brandywell Stadium and help the plan progress.

[17] On behalf of Brandywell Properties he is to seek funding from both the Irish and British governments, as well as injections from the National Lottery along with sums from other sporting agencies in order to help raise the £12 million needed.

[19] In 2010, Ostick + Williams was appointed by Derry City Council to carry out redevelopment of the stadium to bring it into line with modern safety standards.

Spectator access to the ground will be improved, segregation will be possible for crowd control when necessary, and there will also be the ability to stage concerts and other events at the stadium.

Concerns that the club doesn't play in the Northern Ireland Football League and should not have access to government funding were dismissed by Derry City chairman Philip O'Doherty.

[26] On 5 July 2016, Derry City and Strabane District Council advised they were in the final stages of a procurement process for the Brandywell stadium.

As the 2016 season came to a close, club chairman Philip O'Doherty said that European football at Brandywell was under threat due to an as yet unknown start date for the redevelopment.

On 25 May 2023, Derry City announced that they had submitted planning application to build a new covered stand at the Brandywell Road end which would increase the capacity by 2940 with hopes it would Be completed in time for the start of the 2024 season.