Croke Park
For some people, the most beautiful building in the world is the Taj Mahal or the Eiffel Tower. But for Declan, it would always be Croke Park. Even though he’d been there countless times, it still blew him away.
‘You ready, guys?’ Brendan asked. ‘This place is the biggest stadium in Ireland – third largest in Europe. I don’t want anyone to get lost before tomorrow’s game so I’ll walk you through how to get to our changing room.’
As they walked in, Declan could hear all the players whispering to each other.
‘I heard it’s named after an archbishop or something.’
‘Didn’t the pope come here?’
‘Saw a hurling match here last year.’
Every now and again, Stewy would nudge Declan to get his attention and point out a plaque or a trophy or a photograph. He’d then explain the significance behind it. But Declan wasn’t really listening. He didn’t need Stewy to tell him anything because he knew it all. He knew about the Hogan Stand and how the stadium once hosted the Special Olympics. The Olympic torch itself was brought there in 2012.
He knew a lot of people on the team probably felt the same way, but he genuinely believed he knew more than anyone about Croke Park. He knew when it was built and that it could hold over 80,000 people. And now he was actually going to play there.
As he looked into the distance, he saw someone studying one of the medals on display. It took him a second to recognise him. ‘Harry?’
‘Huh?’ As Harry turned around, he looked just as surprised to see Declan as Declan was to see him. ‘Dec!’
‘Y-you’re here!’ he gasped. After Harry had left for Poland, Declan hadn’t expected to see him again any time soon. ‘W-what are you doing here?’
‘Did you actually think I’d miss you guys playing in the final?’ he asked. ‘I couldn’t play with you, but there was no way I wasn’t going to see you.’
‘We? Are your family here too?’
Before Harry had a chance to answer, Declan felt a big hand clasp his shoulder and swing him around. ‘Dereck!’ he yelled. He looked down to see that Dereck was still wearing a metal boot on his broken ankle. ‘Still hasn’t healed fully, has it?’
‘I’m off the crutches, though,’ Dereck said. ‘Thank god. Getting in here tomorrow with crutches would be a nightmare!’
By this point, Bushy and Stewy had seen Harry and Dereck and came over. ‘Wow, guys!’ Bushy shouted. ‘What a surprise to see you!’
‘It was meant to be a surprise,’ Dereck said, disappointed. ‘We didn’t want to put you guys under any pressure so we all decided not to tell you we were all coming.’
‘Who’s “all”?’ Stewy asked. ‘There’s only two of you.’
Dereck had that smirk on his face he always had when he had a secret. ‘He can tell you himself,’ he said, gesturing behind them.
Declan turned around and gasped to see Sam. ‘You’re here too!’
‘I’m so proud of you guys!’ Sam said, smiling.
‘Dec, I’ve only been back for a few hours,’ Harry said. ‘But everyone is talking about the match.’
‘Really?’ Stewy and Declan said in unison.
‘Don’t act so surprised,’ Sam said. ‘Everyone’s dying to see you guys playing in Croker. You’ve captured the heart of the county.’
‘Yeah,’ Declan said uncertainly. ‘Now all we have to do is win.’