A sea of red and white is expected to flood Londonderry's Guildhall Square on Monday as Derry City fans welcome their team home after their FAI Cup triumph.

The Candystripes secured their seventh FAI Cup win with a 1-0 victory over Waterford at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Sunday.

Mayor Grace Uí Niallais said thousands of buoyant City fans are expected in the city centre for the homecoming.

"The whole city's been behind the team the whole way," she said. "To be able to bring the cup back and to be able to celebrate together as a city is just amazing."

A 69th minute goal from Darragh Burns was enough to secure the cup for Derry City in front of a crowd of almost 37,000 fans in Dublin on Sunday.

The victory marks a remarkable turnaround in the club's fortunes over the course of the season.

Interim manager Mark Connolly took over in May, after the club had struggled in the early months of the campaign.

"It's really inspirational for them to show our city is a place of amazing resilience," she told BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme.

"It's just unbelievable and I'm so proud of them."

Carmel McConnellogue was among the red-and-white army of fans that made the 294-mile (474km) round trip from the north west to Dublin for Sunday's final.

She is the secretary of the team's Pride of the Northside Supporters Club.

Sunday, she said, was a day she will never forget.

"I will definitely carry that feeling with me, I'll always remember where I was on that day and who I was with," she said.

"We're so proud of our team and we're so proud of where we come from and we did have a few tough months in the past.

"I was overwhelmed with emotion."

Derry City fan Christopher Martin and his son were in Dublin for the final.

"It was a fantastic day, what an experience to be there," he said.

"You could feel the tension, you knew it was going to be a difficult game."

Martin, a teacher at Greenhaw Primary School in Derry, said it was "a battle" but his team "dug in" and that's what fans like him wanted to see.

"Hopefully the cup will be coming around to the school," he said.

"Derry always has a real sense of identity and pride, that is instilled in our children.

"Giving them these memories will further instil that pride and identity in them."

Kevin McLaughlin is co host of the Talking Derry City podcast.

He said what manager Connolly achieved over recent months had been "unbelievable".

"He's just played players in the position they should play," he said.

"He has given them that belief and freedom to play - that's been the best thing with Mark," McLaughlin said.

The Guildhall Square homecoming event gets under way at 17:45 GMT.