Originally Posted by ThatGuy
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Staunton knows all about magic of Croke Park
Wednesday January 18th 2006
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Clans man Stan steeped in Louth GAA tradition - and he has the medals to prove it
Gerry McDermott
BY the time the Irish soccer team gets to Croke Park in March 2007, Steve Staunton intends to have team worthy of the venue.
He knows what's needed because Staunton grew up in a household that was steeped in the tradition of the GAA.
His Mayo-born father Tom played for his native county in Croke Park as a minor, his brother David lined out there as a midfielder for Louth and his brother-in-law, Cathal O'Hanlon, was a permanent fixture in the Wee County forward line for over a decade.
Stephen, David and their younger brothers Thomas and Pádraig have all worn the yellow and green stripes of Dundalk club Clan na Gael with pride and over the years turned their home into a treasure trove of championship medals.
Legend
Staunton only played Gaelic football until he was 17 but in that short space of time he did enough to turn himself into a Louth legend.
His soccer and Gaelic commitments often clashed but he always tried to fit them in and there was no doubting his pedigree when it came to Gaelic football.
He turned up 10 minutes late for an U16 county final against St Mary's Ardee and found the Clans were already in deep trouble. Manager Leslie Toal sent him on as a substitute and Staunton scored 2-8 as Clans won by 2-9 to 1-4. He played for the Clans in the 1985 Louth Senior Football Final when he was only 16 and scored 1-1 as they beat Roche Emmets to win the senior title for the first time since 1959.
He played underage football for Louth and would have been a senior star had Liverpool not signed him in 1986. Even after he joined the Anfield side he continued to turn out for the Clans during the summer months before the GAA club wisely decided that it was too risky.
Since then Staunton has followed Gaelic games as a fan. He'll pop up at the odd Clans match when he is home from England and during the summer he'll make his way to Croke Park, especially if Louth or Mayo are in action.
"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," said Staunton last night.
"I know that the players will appreciate the special nature of Croke Park and we are all looking forward to the experience."
On Monday, Staunton talked about wanting players who will wear the Irish jersey with pride and play with passion. One can picture him standing in the middle of the home dressing room under the Hogan Stand and telling his highly-paid Premiership stars that the lads who play in Croke Park do so for nothing other than the pride of representing their club or county.
The deal to play in Croke Park was done last Friday morning in Dublin hours after John Delaney had got Staunton, Bobby Robson, Kevin MacDonald and Alan Kelly to sign on the dotted line as Ireland's new management team. It could very well be the 24 hours that define Delaney's eventual legacy to Irish football.
Bucket seats
One of Staunton's first jobs, once the contracts are signed, will be to visit Croke Park with Robson, MacDonald and Kelly to decide where they want to position the soccer pitch and how big they want it to be.
With the FAI hoping to put bucket seats on Hill 16, it is likely to be in a central position thus denying us the opportunity of putting one goal right in front of the Canal End and allowing the crowd to suck the ball in or blow it out as required.
The news that Croke Park is now open means that Staunton and the FAI delegation can now head to the Swiss town of Montreux for the Euro 2008 Championships knowing where they stand. The Euro 2008 qualifying campaign will see Ireland in either a seven- or eight-team group which means six or seven home games. The GAA have given the FAI dates in March, October and November and a minimum of six games.
Because international weeks are now designed for double fixtures on a Saturday and Wednesday, the FAI have effectively secured six dates although it is unlikely that all will be taken for competitive action.
After the draw takes place next Friday week, the countries in Ireland's group will get together to thrash out the fixtures. In February 2004, this meeting was held in Dublin and the FAI delegation played hard ball for 10 hours until they ended up with 95 per cent of what they wanted.
This time around they don't have the same freedom. They cannot have home games in June or September 2007, months they always tried to ensure they played at least once in Dublin. And they have got make sure that they can spread their home games over the 14 months of qualifying and don't get forced into playing too many at Lansdowne Road early on in the campaign.
Staunton will want to finish the campaign with a home game, although, as fourth seeds, it will be a difficult ask. Until the balls are drawn from the glass bowls next week and the countries sit around the table to wheel and deal dates everything is ifs and buts.
The FAI are once again trying to host the fixtures meeting and will tempt the other nations with the promise of a visit to Croke Park. Indeed, they might even try to host the meeting in the stadium.
That may happen or it may not. But some things are certain. The Irish soccer team are heading for Croke Park and when they get there expect them, as Staunton pointed out on Monday, to bamboozle everybody
Ironically, our bucket seats are probably safer than some of the permanent seats at Lansdowne. 
Warm-up games probably wouldn't be against top teams though so Thomand Park or Ravenhill would most likely be big enough.
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