I arrived in Newcastle last Thursday morning. Admittedly, this trip was planned a long time before the country shut down, and well, it was more to do with Paddy's Day and alcohol than football. However, the pub we were drinking in is a stone's throw from St. James' Park, and St. Patrick's Day coincided with a North-East derby, Newcastle versus Middlesborough.

The match-day build up is a sight to behold for a football fan. Nothing compares to it in Ireland. As three o'clock approaches, tens of thousands of jersey clad supporters descend on the football stadium to create the spectacle that is live football. And by five o'clock the surrounding pubs are awash with tales and analysis of the afternoon's entertainment.

Although domestic football is supported by the exception rather than the rule in Ireland, it can generate the same excitement with a fraction of the crowd. However, there is nothing more annoying than having to make your apologies to the unconverted, of which there are many, as to why you'd bother to watch National League football instead of Europe's elite on the television. The reason is simple. It's the best we have, and all the Sky Sports in the world couldn't compare to the thrill of being part of the event itself.

The nearest I got to a football related event took place last Friday in UCD. Brian Kerr was the after-dinner speaker at a UCD FC reunion, which was attended by players past and present, as well as some of the big wigs from the FAI. Kerr's speech was delivered in his renowned Dublin vernacular, and told amazing tales of his experience with the successful Irish teams that he has taken charge of over the past few years.

However, despite the terrific stories, Kerr proceeded to have a pop at several people in the hall, not to mention the repeated references to the "Limbo Dancers". Maybe Brian is a fan of Bernard Manning!

Kerr seemed bitter that during his time spent working in the Agriculture department in UCD he was never approached regarding anything related to football. Surely it was common sense not to ask the manager of a competing team for advice on team matters. He also proclaimed proudly that most of his youth team in Malaysia lived between the canal and Tallaght. He said UCD should take note and realise that not many footballers come from Blackrock or Kiliney!! Two of UCD's best players, Tony McDonnell and Aidan Lynch are both products of St. Kevin's Boys, the renowned schoolboy club from Kiliney…. actually I mean Coolock.

Another of Kerr's stories concerned Clive Delaney, a current first team player for UCD, who was part of an underage team that Kerr managed. Delaney scored the winner for Ireland in a tournament third place play-off, which I'm sure is one of his career highlights. However, Kerr finished the story off by saying that Clive played so well because the rest of the team were locked out of their heads. I'm sure Kerr intended this story as a tribute to Delaney so I'll just put it down to the ongoing "foot in mouth" situation.

Nevertheless, Kerr has done wonderful things for Irish football and hopefully in the future he can reproduce some of his recent feats.

Anyway, football resumes this weekend and two international matches within five days will at least partly bridge the gap left by the stalemate of the last three weeks. Here's to six points from our travels to Cyprus and Barcelona.