FURTHER details of next summer's proposed American football match in Croke Park have been released. It had emerged from last Saturday's Central Council meeting that the last weekend in July has been reserved for an exhibition involving the Pittsburgh Steelers.

If arrangements are finalised, the match will be one of the American NFL's official pre season matches of which there are a limited number and some of which are played around the world, anywhere from London to Tokyo.

These pre seasons are taken quite seriously and can attract capacity attendances in the US as well as in the other venues around the world where they are staged.

A well known Pittsburgh Irish American, Dan Rooney, and his family are owners of the Steelers and believed to be particularly keen on staging a match in Dublin. The Rooneys have owned the Pittsburgh franchise for all but six months of its existence, going back to 1933.

Opposition is likely to be provided by the Chicago Bears, whose franchise also has Irish American connections. Virginia McCaskey and her son Michael hold an 80 per cent share with the balance held jointly by Andrew McKenna and Patrick G Ryan.

The date, July 27th, had been originally requested last year and the permission of the Leinster Councils had been sought as the provincial, football final normally took place on that Sunday.

Next year, however, the reformed All Ireland hurling championships will include quarter finals between the beaten finalists in Leinster and Munster and the Connacht and Ulster champions. This additional round is scheduled for July 27th.

Last month's American football colleges match between Notre Dame and the Navy was a success from Croke Park's point of view with around 30,000 attending, about two thirds of whom had flown in from abroad. Hopes are obviously high that a similar influx would be attracted by the pre season match.

Suggestions that the American football at Croke Park would entail the re scheduling of the hurling quarter finals for Saturday 26th have been denied by Croke Park. "There wouldn't be time to prepare the pitch for American football within a day of the hurling quarter finals," said a spokesperson yesterday.

When the quarter finals were initially envisaged, the intention was that they could be played outside of Dublin, either separately or as a double bill. The venues won't be finalised until the identities of the beaten provincial finalists are known.

Another non GAA event in the pipeline for next year is the Garth Brooks concert which is scheduled for May 16th and 17th. Brooks filled The Point for eight nights on his last visit to Dublin and is seen as one of the very few musical acts capable of filling a large outdoor venue in Ireland on their own.