The Republic of Ireland’s friendly clash with England takes place at lunchtime (1pm) on Sunday, but it is impossible to look at this game without first looking back and then forward.
Retrospect will take us back 20 years to the remarkable night when trouble on the terraces spilt on to the pitch, forcing the abandonment of an international football match between these old adversaries.
Beyond Sunday’s game sits a must-win home Euro 2016 qualifier for Ireland, with the Scotland clash taking place just six days after the England encounter.
But first up is the visit of Roy Hodgson’s side and while it will, no doubt, attract a bumper crowd and even more revenue for the FAI, it brings with it a whole host of distractions that really are not needed ahead of such a vital game on Saturday week.
Where to start?
Probably 27 minutes into a game back in 1995 when Ireland were leading 1-0 thanks to a David Kelly strike.
The notorious England away support took over proceedings as they lobbed lengths of archaic upper west stand seating over the balcony into the unsuspecting Ireland supporters.
Twenty years on and those wood and iron benches are long gone - replaced by a shiny new stadium, inadvertently part-funded by Thierry Henry’s infamous handball. While times have changed and relationships between the countries have improved dramatically, an element of England’s away support remains stuck in the past, as proved on the terraces in recent international fixtures.
Precautions are certainly being taken across the water: many of England’s known hooligans have been warned not to travel to the game and will have to sign in at their local police station on the day, and the lunchtime kick-off is another sign that the Irish police are intent on avoiding a repeat of the events of 1995. While the players were taken off the pitch after 27 minutes then, Garda Síochána's international encounter was only kicking off.
England are among the most vocal when it comes to tackling football’s current issues, nowhere more so than in their strong "show racism the red card" campaign. However, their association may rue the decision to agree to such a potentially incendiary fixture if punishment ends up coming down the line for misbehaving supporters.
The game itself will be a tough test for Martin O’Neill’s Ireland side and while the manager will be cautious not to show his hand too much to Scotland boss Gordon Strachan ahead of the Euro qualifier, he will certainly be looking for a performance and a result to carry on from the second half of the Poland draw to take into that vital game with our Celtic cousins.
Despite the end-of-season feel to these games, O’Neill has enjoyed plenty of time to work with his squad and the behind-closed-doors clash with Northern Ireland was also a worthwhile exercise as many players have been inactive for some weeks and lack competitive action.
The Ireland boss will be looking for a solid performance against England and while the starting XI may not offer too much in terms of selection for the Scotland game, the atmosphere and occasion should be similar to what the players can expect a week on Saturday. O’Neill will also be looking to put a system in place that can be continued into the qualifier.
There will be many areas of interest in Sunday’s friendly, with the manager having several options in every area of the pitch.
Will O’Neill keep faith with inexperienced left-back Robbie Brady, who endured a real game of two halves against Poland? Former favourite Stephen Ward is back in contention and with players like Paul McShane showing excellent club form, the manager has options in the middle of the defence and could possibly push Marc Wilson out left.
The midfield against Scotland will be key for Ireland, so the manager may err on the side of caution when naming his central unit for the England game as James McCarthy has had an injury-interrupted season and is vital for the qualifier.
The perennial question remains when looking at Ireland’s attacking options. Is Robbie Keane an automatic starter or will we see his role change to that of an impact player over the coming months?
Shane Long, Jonathan Walters and Wes Hoolahan have all shown good end-of-season form, and Daryl Murphy will surely be utilised at some stage to see if he can maintain that goalscoring streak that served Ipswich well all season.
England come in to the game in rude health: they lead their qualifying group and already have one foot in next summer’s championships with five wins from five Group E games.
The England boss has also rewarded hard-working, if unfashionable, players in his squad with lots of the attention on the call ups of Tom Heaton, Jamie Vardy and Charlie Austin.
When you see England having to delve into the squads of Burnley and QPR – all of the aforementioned trio were relegated this season – you would have to question the potential of the current squad.
But the quality is also present with a large number of players plucked from Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City.
And while all the focus is on that game 20 years ago, there is no doubt that the current England boss will be looking another ten years further back as that was the last time that England beat Ireland, a 2-1 win at Wembley in 1985.
Since then, Ireland won the Euro 88 clash in Germany 1-0, while there has been four 1-1 draws, not to mention the abandoned game, which Ireland were also winning.
England can afford to experiment to a certain extent but will be looking to maintain a winning streak ahead of their qualifier with Slovenia.
They will be confident of victory but Roy Hodgson’s side are very much in transition and have yet to establish many aspects of their team since everything revolved around Steven Gerard and Frank Lampard for the past decade.
It will be interesting to see whether players like James Milner, Jordan Henderson, Jack Wilshere and Ross Barkley can cement their places ahead of next summer, while there will be major competition for attacking roles with Theo Walcott, Raheem Sterling and Danny Wellbeck all vying to start alongside Wayne Rooney.
Familiarity of players, combined with England’s ongoing rebuilding will make this game a lot closer than it looks on paper and, with Ireland keen to impress the vocal home support and the manager ahead of the Scotland game, it is very hard to see the Boys in Green not making this a very even contest.
Verdict: Too close to call. 1-1
