Yet another helping of history, Croke Park again giving shelter to the homeless waifs and strays of Irish sport, this time to the folk from Association Football.

The rugby boys have been and gone, taking their goalposts with them, and yesterday it was the turn of former Louth Gaelic footballer Steve Staunton to lead his "soccer" players on to the turf of Croke Park.

Dublin was well represented - Robbie Keane, Richard Dunne, Damien Duff and Anthony Stokes, to name but four of the boys in blue - but Staunton had home-county company in the shape of Ian Harte and Nick Colgan, while Stephen Hunt (Laois), Kevin Doyle (Wexford) and Paul McShane (Wicklow), nursing his ankle on the sidelines, completed the Leinster contingent.

Munster, hopelessly outnumbered, could have done with some reinforcements, as Waterford (John O'Shea), Tipperary (Shane Long) and Limerick (Steve Finnan) were hardly helped by Cork (Stephen Ireland) delaying its arrival from Manchester, where it was receiving treatment for an injured ankle.

So it was three-a-side against Ulster - Monaghan (Jonathan Douglas), Derry (Darren Gibson) and Donegal (Shay Given) - until Aiden McGeady (Donegal grandfather) and Lee Carsley (Cork grandparents) made it four apiece.

Not, the historians reassured us, that this was the first time those of the soccer persuasion had set foot on the turf. Leinster played Munster at the ground in 1900, they told us, with Cliftonville and the gloriously named Freebooters (of Sandymount) meeting in an Irish Cup final the following year.

But both matches took place at the City and Suburban Racecourse, and it wasn't until 1913 that the Gaelic Athletic Association bought the ground.

So, in that sense, Saturday will be a soccer first at Croke Park, certainly in international terms.

And if the soccer pitch might, at first sight, seem like a mere postage stamp in Croke Park dimensions, Staunton was busy embracing and admiring his squad's new surroundings.

"It's absolutely fantastic to be out here, to be looking up at the stadium, the stands, they're empty now, but they'll be full on Saturday," he said, surveying the scene. "It's going to be nice to see 67,000 Irish fans in here, waving flags and going mad."

What was the players' reaction to the stadium?

"They were delighted, they were chuffed to be going in to the dressingrooms. I think Mick Byrne forgot himself. It was good, they enjoyed it, hopefully come Saturday they'll have got it all out of their systems and they'll be able to concentrate on the game. Most of the boys who were born and bred in Ireland know what it's all about. As long as we don't start soloing with the ball and playing Gaelic we'll be fine.

"The advantage for us playing here will be the 67,000 screaming fans in the stadium. But what goes on outside the white lines on that pitch on Saturday won't effect the players, they'll have to get on with their performance, and once we get the crowd behind us we'll be okay," he said.

When asked about the quality of the surface, which didn't quite look pristine, Staunton put himself in to diplomatic mode.

Is the surface as good as you've seen?

"For Gaelic, soccer or what?"

Soccer.

"It's probably better than Lansdowne Road at this time of year. It'll be a lot better come Saturday. It's not cut up, it's just a little bit ropy after the rugby, it's nothing we haven't dealt with before. The people here at Croke Park will make sure it's right by Saturday."

Staunton, like his father, Tom, achieved the distinction, in his youth, of playing in Croke Park, but his debut ended in defeat, Louth losing to Kildare in a Leinster under-16 Championship final. Nothing less than victory, on his managerial soccer debut at the old ground, is likely to suffice.

As he looked around him and imagined "67,000 Irish fans in here, waving flags and going mad", you got the feeling he didn't need telling.