James McClean leads amazing Aviva Stadium tributes to Ryan McBride

United in grief, determined to honour his memory.

The Aviva Stadium crackled with a special energy on Friday night as the Republic of Ireland hosted Wales in their Group D World Cup qualifier. The fixture came just five days after Irish football was rocked by the death of Derry City captain Ryan McBride. His friend and former team-mate James McClean wore McBride's number 5 as he started on the left side of Ireland's five-man midfield. While Wales had the better of the early exchanges, one could only be moved by the tributes in honour of the talented centre-back, who died at the age of just 27. Before the match began, Wales captain Ashley Williams presented president Michael D Higgins with a Welsh jersey bearing the name of McBride, following which the match was preceded by a moment's applause in honour of McBride, along with former FAI president Milo Corcoran and former international Ray Brady. The stadium was dotted with tributes to McBride. In the fifth minute there was a minute's applause for McBride, but before that his friend McClean, who had been given special dispensation to travel to Derry to mourn during the week, offered the perfect tribute to his tough-tackling buddy. https://twitter.com/JOEdotie/status/845364315536441345 Ryan would have approved. https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/843591098622754817