STANDING ROOM ONLY

BY Croker pencilled in for UEFA showpiece if British football fans descend on capital

CROKE PARK has been booked as a spillover venue for May’s Europa League final - as UEFA sweats over the possibility of a Liverpoolrangers clash.

The game will take place at the 50,000 capacity Aviva Stadium on Wednesday, May 22 but European football’s governing body is exploring options for ticketless fans to view the game on big screens and fears that the 82,300 that Croke Park can accommodate won’t even be enough.

The possibility of Rangers playing such a major fixture in Dublin would rightly leave UEFA officials nervous, with their UEFA Cup tie with Bohs at Dalymount Park in 1984 sparking riots, while the Glasgow giants’ ‘away’ leg against Shelbourne in the same competition 14 years later was switched to Tranmere Rovers’

Prenton Park given that the risk of staging it at Tolka

Park was too great.

Liverpool are virtually assured of a quarter-final spot after a 5-1 first leg win over

Sparta Prague while Rangers are well placed to move into the last eight after drawing 2-2 at Benfica, with the return leg at Ibrox tomorrow night.

UEFA chief Theodore Theodoridis insists Croke Park is “already reserved” and this was confirmed by a GAA spokesperson, who added that the booking is dependent on Liverpool reaching the final.

Theodoridis (left) said: “One of the biggest challenges for us this year could be the Europa League final. Under certain conditions, because of the potential teams that could qualify, this might end up being the most challenging for us.

“We know they will bring a number of supporters without tickets and then there is the issue of potential public viewing venues.

“There are a couple of pairings – I won’t speculate on the names but you are clever enough to work it out – that would be extremely challenging to find ways to accommodate everybody that will be present for that game.

“We have already reserved Croke Park as a potential public viewing venue, but that could not be enough.

“The biggest problem we have now is whether Croke Park would be big enough – because we think we would need more alternatives for public viewing for the people who will be in Dublin.”