Fans advised to arrive early

With all the hype and publicity, the sell-out crowd and the guarantee of lots of noise under bright lights there's a rock 'n' roll feel about Saturday night's National Football League opener at Croke Park - and that's reflected with several bands playing support before the headline act which is Dublin against Tyrone.

The half-time act will be worth catching too with the Cumann na mBunscoil game exclusively featuring schoolchildren from 18 different nationalities, designed to showcase the changing trend in the next generation of players.

Like any big concert the first piece of advice is to get there early: "We're making the strongest possible appeal to all ticket holders to come early," said GAA press officer Feargal McGill. "There are no further tickets on sale at this stage, which means a crowd of over 82,000, so to put it bluntly, anyone arriving after 6.30pm for the 7pm start can expect delays.

"For that reason we're opening the turnstiles at 5pm, and there will be plenty going on after that, including the official ceremony to mark the first turning-on of the lights at 6.10pm. So there's plenty of reasons to get into the stadium early."

The schedule of pre-match performances starts with the Dublin Gospel choir at 5.40pm, followed by the "Ceremony of Light" which will see the switching on of the floodlights by GAA president Nickey Brennan at 6.10pm. Galway band The Saw Doctors will perform from 6.20pm before the game starts at 7pm.

Patrons are also being asked to take extra care entering and exiting the stadium: "This is the first time Croke Park has staged a match in the darkness, under lights," added McGill. "It's no different to the hosting of a concert, which has been done here several times before, but it does create a slightly different dynamic to the stadium."

The half-time show also promises to be special, according to Gerry Grogan of Cumann na mBunscoil: "This was something we'd been thinking about for a while, and we just decided to go for it after one of our competitions before Christmas, where every school had two or three or more children of different nationalities on their team.

"I've no doubt we'll be seeing some of these children on Dublin minor or senior teams in the next 10 or 15 years, and I also think people will be very surprised at the tremendously high standard some of them have already. The children will also be marching in the pre-match parade . . ."

Among the countries being represented are Angola, Nigeria, Iraq, Lithuania, New Zealand, Kosovo, Congo, Poland, Albania, South Korea, South Africa, Algeria, Romania, Libya, Philippine Islands, Spain and Liberia.

The Hill 16 capacity of around 11,000 has been reduced by about 200 for safety reasons, but a capacity of just over 82,000 remains.

It has to be confirmed whether the special yellow football will be used - which apparently is easier to see under lights. Central Council agreed the ball could be used provided agreement was reached between the two participating counties.

Patrons are reminded to note students (with appropriate ID) and senior citizens who have purchased tickets for the Davin (Canal End) and Cusack Stands can only claim a refund at stiles in Block D of the Cusack Stand on entry. It should also be noted Clonliffe College car park will be open on Saturday evening.