Gridiron set to touch down at Croker

OFFICIALS on both sides of the Atlantic remain hopeful of confirming American football’s return to Dublin in two years’ time.

Navy and Notre Dame, who met in Croke Park in 1996, are due to return to the Irish capital for a regular season fixture in 2012, with the GAA’s headquarters the likely venue.

The ‘Fighting Irish’ won 54-27 in Croke Park in 1996 and the 2012 meeting is a designated ‘home’ regular season clash for Navy, whose officials have visited both Croke Park and what was at the time still a site on Lansdowne Road.