When the GAA opened up Croke Park to 'foreign games', the greatest fear for most Irish fans was that the England rugby team would come and conquer Headquarters.
Thankfully that emphatically never happened.
But while Ireland did suffer defeats by France, New Zealand (both rugby) and Brazil (soccer), it wasn't until Poland came to Jones' Road in November 2008 that Croke Park truly fell.
We were beaten out the gate that night - on and off the pitch. Giovanni Trappatoni suffered his first loss as Ireland manager, but it will always be remembered as the evening we surrendered 'home' advantage in Dublin 3.
The Polish supporters wiped the floor with the Green Army. Their ticket allocation was in the lower deck of the Cusack, which was heaving from well before kick-off. But they were everywhere. Our second-largest immigrant population had hoovered up the public sale of tickets and Croker looked like it had a dose of the measles with Polskis in red dotted around the stands.
It was a chastening experience to sit on the Hill end of the Hogan Upper looking across as the Poles were doing was we thought we'd patented. Full of passion, song and pride. And there was no aggression in it, regardless of the tut-tut reaction when they threw flares onto the pitch before the game.
On the contrary, they showed great respect to the Irish anthem, gently applauding all the way through before a big bualadh bos at the end:
A then-little-known Lech Poznan striker called Robert Lewandowski banged in the winner in a madcap finish to the game.
And to make matters worse, the Irish team trotted off at the end while the Polish players went over to the supporters for one of those we're-all-in-this-together salutes.
It was a fantastic, heart-warming sight, and an alarming reminder of how far we'd drifted from our own boys during the Steve Staunton era.
At Euro 2012, I was fortunate enough to take in Poland's second and third games and witness their supporters in 'home' mode.
It was incredible. Granted, it was also a perfect storm.
Hosting your first major tournament?
Check.
In a brand-spanking-new stadium in your nation's capital?
Check.
Facing your most-hated rival (Russia)?
Check.
Still have something to play for?
Check.
Most hated-rival's supporters unfurl unbelievably big incendiary flag before kick-off?
CHECK.
Inside the ground, it was wedged - Warsaw packed even (baddum dish).
It's hard to describe the ripple of noise that went through the stadium as this thing was unfurled - especially on the back of a few fisticuffs earlier between fans close to the ground - but suffice to say it was hair-raising stuff.
Cue Russia's national anthem, which was met with this sort of sentiment:
And then a decent game played in an incredibly charged atmosphere. Having come from Ireland 1-3 Croatia and thought ourselves and the Croats had the copyright on the best-fans-in the-tournament, events at the National Stadium fairly put us in our place.
This sort of carry-on was deafening, and non-stop:
The end result, 1-1, left the co-hosts needing a result against the Czech in Wroclaw a few days later.
On this occasion, they showed they'd learned their lesson from the Russkies:
Top marks for the flag, and when it came to banging out their anthem, they're hard-bet.
Polish football support isn't without its darker side, mind. Their domestic game has been renowned for hooliganism and there were ugly scenes of violence in Belfast when Poland played Northern Ireland in 2009.
But it was back the beautiful game when we played them at our own shiny new-ish Aviva Stadium a couple of years ago.
Thankfully we managed a 2-0 victory on that occasion and the night never reached the nadir of Croker in '08.
From Galway to Gdansk, the Poles came in numbers - and with their flares - but in the Aviva we held our own.
The end the night passed off without Irish fans filtering away from the stadium steeped in self-loathing.
Sunday will be our first competitive fixture against the central European who since a traumatic 3-3 draw in Poznan 24 years ago.
That night we effectively blew the best shot we've ever had at an international trophy when Jack Charlton's formidable side dropped a point to the pesky Poles.
Lewandowski, now a superstar with Bayern Munich, will return to the Aviva this weekend to lead the Group D leaders on the field.
While we haven't a hope of winning Euro 2016 - and qualifying will be tough, it would be a start to at least nail down 'home' advantage.
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