A weekly newspaper took inspiration from Star Wars to mark a special sporting date on its patch.

The Newry Democrat’s back page this week spoofs the sci-fi film series as the paper previews football club Newry City AFC’s bid to reach Northern Ireland’s top division.

On Friday, City are set to host the first leg of a two-legged playoff against Carrick Rangers to determine whether they achieve promotion.

The date of the match, 4 May, is celebrated as ‘Star Wars Day’ by fans of the films who use the phrase “May the fourth be with you” to mark the occasion – a pun on the “May the force be with you” catchphrase used by several characters in the series.

The Democrat front page portrayed City manager Darren Mullen as a Star Wars Jedi Knight holding a lightsaber, with the headline written in a font similar to that used in the films’ main titles.

Editor Michael Scott told HTFP: “Newry City AFC are a phoenix club formed five years ago following the demise of Newry City FC. Since then they have gained promotion to the Northern Ireland Football League Championship and last week secured second place, which was good enough for a promotion/relegation playoff against the second bottom side in the Premiership, Carrick Rangers.

“It transpired that the first leg of the playoff would be on Friday 4 May and as Newry have come from nowhere to be within 180 minutes of returning to the top flight of local football, we thought that a Star Wars themed back page, playing on the famous ‘May the force be with you’ line, would be a brilliant way to show our support for manager Darren Mullen and the players.

“Our sports editor, Steve Malone, came up with the idea which was carried through by myself with help from Alpha Newspapers’ senior graphic designer, Gina Fox.

“Reaction to the back page has been superb, with the club sharing the page on their social media pages. Darren has been in contact as well to say that his kids have loved seeing their dad dressed up as a Star Wars character.”

Earlier this year Sheffield daily The Star produced a reversible 16-page supplement spoofing Star Wars when it previewed a match between rival clubs Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday.

The supplement as run under the name ‘Steel Wars’ due to the match being known as the ‘Steel City derby’.