I went straight there in my kit, nothing on my feet, and got his autograph. He thought I was joking."McAteer did not go straight into football, which he said had made him appreciate things more. He studied graphic design on leaving school, while playing for Marine reserves. He nearly went on a football scholarship to Tiffin University in Ohio But then Phil Neal, Rioch's predecessor, spotted him. So did Everton, and a battle ensued for McAteer's signature, which Marine hoped the latter would win, because it would bring them more money.

But, after much agonising, McAteer chose to be "a small fish in a small sea". It was not going to stay that way for long.Neal, now manager of Coventry City, remembered what he had seen in the young McAteer: "A fine athlete, got from box to box, two good feet, could cross the ball, although he was trying to run with it a bit too much at that stage. I told him that quality does not have to be beating five people. You can show it in one touch."In the three years since Mc- Ateer joined Bolton, they have risen from half-way down the Second Division to the brink of the Premiership, their progress as a club inseparable from Mc- Ateer's as an individual. And on the way there have been their astonishing Cup successes.All this has helped turn Mc- Ateer into one of the most desirable properties outside the Premiership, valued at about £3m.

If he had decided to be an Englishman, it would surely be more. The Premiership, McAteer said, is where he wants to play, and the way Bolton are going, he may get his wish without having to leave. "I remember the year we got promotion to the First Division," he said "There was a real buzz about the place. I can feel that again now."But for McAteer, no experience can match being a member of the Ireland World Cup team in America: "I look back and think, from Marine to the World Cup in two and a half years. It's almost frightening." McAteer, naturally, was wrapped in the warm embrace of the big family that is the Irish set-up. He, Phil Babb and Gary Kelly, who had all made their international debuts in the match against Russia, formed their own group. "We've done things other people our age have never done, and couldn't even relate to," McAteer said.Andy Townsend, the Republic's captain, said McAteer settled into the squad much more easily than he might have expected of a player coming from outside the Pemiership.