MEMORIES of a black night for football will come flooding back for Alan Kelly as the Republic of Ireland renew acquaintances with England tomorrow night.
The two nations will meet for the first time in 18 years as part of the Football Association's 150th anniversary celebrations.
However, the game at Wembley will inevitably take Kelly back to the last encounter between the sides, which ended in shameful violence as travelling England fans went on the rampage at Lansdowne Road.
Now the Republic's goalkeeping coach, Kelly was wearing the gloves on February 15, 1995 as the game was abandoned after 27 minutes with the home side leading an England team which included David Seaman, Tony Adams, David Platt and Alan Shearer, through David Kelly's strike and what he witnessed remains painfully vivid.
He said: "It was horrendous, the scenes we saw and more importantly, that the Irish fans experienced that night, something I don't think they had ever seen before, the mayhem that was caused and the potentially life-threatening injuries some of the supporters could have sustained.
"Some of the debris that came down from the stands was truly horrific. Unfortunately, I was on the pitch and saw it turn into a riot.
"David Kelly had scored after 22 minutes and then David Platt scored and it was disallowed, and that seemed to be the start of it.
"I was at the far end, the South Stand goal, and I could see it unfold. The amount of debris, I still can't put it into words what was coming down there were iron bars, there were whole sections of seating.
"The old floodlights at Lansdowne Road, it had a misty quality to it and you could just see it raining down on the people below.
"It was something I never thought I would see in a football stadium, and to be on the pitch and seeing that and worrying for the people below who were experiencing that wasn't great."
Forty people were arrested on the night as England hooligans, swelled by a contingent from the neo-Nazi group Combat 18, caused havoc.
The focus this week will be very different with the FA celebrating and Ireland using an eagerly-anticipated fixture as part of their preparations for the World Cup qualifier against the Faroe Islands in Dublin next Friday evening.
But it will be a chance too for Giovanni Trapattoni's players to test themselves against some of the Barclays Premier League's biggest stars and extend an unbeaten run stretching for four completed games against England since their last defeat in March 1985.
Kelly said: "We know who we are playing against. You know all the players, you see them week in, week out, whether it's playing against them or seeing them on the television, so there are no surprises in terms of who we are playing against.
"I always go back to the occasion, and where do you want to play your football?
"You want to play at Wembley Stadium, you want to play on the big international stage, and to have that opportunity to go on to that pitch and put in a performance and get a result.
"I'm tingling now. I really enjoyed it and looked forward to it back in '95, and I am sure the players are no different now in this day and age."
Defender Richard Dunne could return from a long-term groin injury in the subsequent friendly against Georgia.
Dunne has not played all season but took part in a practice match yesterday and assistant manager Marco Tardelli said: "It's impossible he can play against England, but maybe he could play a few minutes in the next game, I don't know.
"Maybe, it's possible. If he is fit and he wants to play, we will be very happy, but we need to assess him in training."
Glenn Whelan and James McCarthy, who are nursing calf and hamstring problems respectively, were also able to train, but defender Marc Wilson, who also has a calf problem, worked alone with the physios at Watford's London Colney base.