Croker special, says Stan

STEVE STAUNTON has welcomed the prospect of his Republic of Ireland team playing European Championship qualifiers at Croke Park.

The new manager, who won Louth county championship honours as a teenager, said he was delighted that at least three competitive international soccer matches are now set to take place in Croker in 2007.

Said Staunton: “It is a fantastic arena and the prospect of a full house of passionate Irish soccer fans cheering on our lads really whets the appetite.

“I know that the players will appreciate the special nature of Croke Park and we are all looking forward to the experience. This news makes next week’s Euro 2008 draw all the more exciting.”

Staunton will lead the Irish delegation at the draw which takes place in Montreux in Switzerland on Friday week. Ireland’s fourth-place seeding ensures a tough group featuring some of Europe’s best teams and even raises the electric possibility of a game in Dublin against England. But, regardless of the opposition, the novelty value alone of soccer at Croker means the Irish games in GAA headquarters are expected to be sell-outs.

Without the standing terrace of Hill 16, capacity for soccer internationals would be 70,000 but if the decision is made to install bucket seats on the Hill - an initiative for which the terrace is equipped - the ground will be able to accommodate an extra 5,000 for the Euro qualifiers.

Of course, full houses at Croker would definitely be guaranteed if Staunton and his Irish team could get their qualifying campaign off to a positive start at Lansdowne Road later this year.

March, October and November of 2007 are the designated months for the European Championship games at Croke Park but there could be more games depending on the number of teams in the qualifying group and how the fixture list pans out when it is agreed by the participating countries next month.

The GAA’s remit going into discussions with the FAI did not include friendly games but now that a basic deal has been reached it would be something of a surprise if the terms of the deal weren’t extended into 2008.

Reaction from soccer to the temporary move has generally been positive. Shay Given, who is expected to take over the Irish captaincy under Staunton, has welcomed the chance to play in GAA headquarters.

Like his manager a gaelic football devotee, Lifford-born Given saw Donegal playing an All-Ireland semi-final there three years ago and was impressed with the stadium.

“It’s a wonderful arena,” he said. “I never got to play gaelic at Croke Park so it would be nice to play soccer there.”

Portsmouth’s Andy O’ Brien has spoken of looking admiringly at the stadium from the Irish team bus en route from their Malahide hotel base to Lansdowne Road.

“For all of us, the possibility of playing there would be a fantastic opportunity,” he said.

However, in an interview in this paper recently, Damien Duff raised one reservation about the move, pointing out that, precisely because it was out-dated and uncomfortable, Lansdowne Road was not the most salubrious place for the superstars of world soccer to visit.

Whilst acknowledging that Croke Park was “a beautiful stadium”, Duff observed: “The likes of Thierry Henry didn’t like coming to Lansdowne Road but he’s going to like coming to Croke Park.”