Police are mounting a major operation in Belfast tonight for England's World Cup qualifying game against Northern Ireland.
But 18 years after the team last played in the city, when terrorists left a bomb close to the Windsor Park soccer ground, the city's football authorities expect the game to pass off trouble-free.
Up to 1,200 English fans are due to attend, but others without tickets are expected to turn up.
Jim Boyce, president of the Irish Football Association, said today: "We've had talks with the police here and in England and they are perfectly happy with the arrangements.
"It's going to be an absolutely fabulous night, a wonderful occasion for the Northern Ireland public." The match is a 14,000 sell-out.
Bobby Robson was manager of the England team which was caught up in the bomb emergency in 1987.
Police Service of Northern Ireland superintendent, Ken Eccles
British army explosives experts were called in to deal with the device abandoned by the republican Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) at a garage forecourt in nearby Tates Avenue.
But it failed to disrupt the European Champions match, which England won 2-0. Senior IFA officials believe tonight's game could signal the start of a new campaign to revive the old Home International championship which involved England playing in Belfast every other year. The series ended in 1984.
Up to 100 police will be on duty in the city centre and in and around the ground a mile away. Ken Eccles, a superintendent with the Police Service of Northern Ireland who is in charge of tonight's operation, said he was not anticipating any trouble.
He said: "In Northern Ireland public order terms, this is not a huge set-piece operation, certainly not on the scale the English police mounted when Northern Ireland played at Old Trafford earlier this year.
"But it's still a significant one and contingency plans are in place for any eventuality and should anything happen to unravel.
"Pockets of England fans were out and about the bars last night, and they were well behaved. It was a good atmosphere and we want that to continue."
PA