Professional touch down in Croke Park

THIS IS becoming something of a habit. Croke Park was again taken over yesterday by Americans with broad shoulders and 10-gallon stetsons as plans for the first professional American football game in Ireland were unveiled.

Mind you, the stetsons were a bit of a diversion: Garth Brooks and the boys were down on the pitch overseeing the construction of his enormous stage (the banks of speakers are nearly as tall as the new stand) for this week's run of concerts.

But the broad shoulders belonged to players from two of the NFL's oldest and most successful teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Chicago Bears, who will meet in the American Bowl on Sunday, July 27th.

Believe it or not, plans for this game have been in the pipeline for 10 years, and have no relation to the series of US college games that have been played here, most recently last November's clash between Notre Dame and Navy.

Instead, this game is the brain child of Steelers president Dan Rooney, one of the league's most active executives and, more to the point, one of the most high-profile and active individuals on the Irish-American scene.

Rooney is currently a vice-chairman of the International Fund for Ireland, and was instrumental in assisting Dr Tony O'Reilly to establish the fund in 1976 (remember, HJ Heinz is based in Pittsburgh).

Ads Joe Browne, the league's senior vice-president for communications, put it: "This game started as a twinkle in Dan Rooney's eye several years ago, but now it's much more than that. It's a game that has the full support of not only Dan Rooney and Mike McCaskey, the owner of the Bears, but also the other 28 NFL owners and the full endorsement of the league".

Rooney isn't the only one involved with Irish links; McCaskey has made several trips here, and Browne's father was from Clare.

"My cousin Michael used to ask me when we were going to bring an American football game over here to Croke Park," Browne recalled. "I told him that when Clare won the All-Ireland hurling championship at Croke Park, then we'd play a football game here. Clare held up their end, so we're going to play here."

Although this will be a pre-season game, it could in no way be described as a "friendly". Remember, this is the professional game, and the players will not only be competing for places in the season's starting line-ups, many of them will be trying to hold onto their jobs and careers as the organisations prepare to cut their squad numbers.

The organisers expect up to 10,000 visitors from the US and Europe for a game which will cost about £2 million to stage. The principle sponsors are Budweiser, Heinz and Waterford-Wedgwood.

The match, which kicks off at 6.0 p.m., will be televised live in the US by the Fox network. Tickets go on sale this Saturday, ranging from £35-£25 for the Cusack Stand, £20-£16 for the Hogan, £12 for the Nally and £8 for Hill 16. There are reduced rates for children under 14 in the Nally (£6) and Hill 16 (£5).