The pitch is stripped of posts and white lines and drivers on the Jones's Road can stop to peer across the empty stadium. The dark and monolithic Hogan Stand has been reduced to hills of rubble and twisted steel.

Four mighty concrete pillars still stand, though - the foundations of the middle section of the stand, the bones of where the press gang used to converge to eat and grumble and even cover games. The yellow M, painted against the wall to denote the section of the stand, is still visible on one of the pillars.

At night, half-lit by the glow of the Jones's Road and beyond, these looming structures assume a forbiddingly military appearance, proud amid the ruin, sentries to a Croke Park which is fast becoming unrecognisable.

Gone is the grey, sloping roof which threw a famous shadow across half the playing field; sunlight fills the space where past captains and presidents stood and the cramped, steaming tunnel dressing-rooms which housed so many greats have been filled in for good.

"It was still a very sound structure," declares Robert Allen, the Croke Park officer who oversees the work on site.

"At the time it was built in 1959, it was acknowledged as such. A stand with a 16,000 capacity was an impressive thing then." Allen says the old Hogan Stand claimed a very special place in terms of Croke Park folklore but with the completion of the New Stand, on the site of the old Cusack Stand, and the new stand at the Canal End it began to show its age.

Croke Park officials are confident of having the lower tier of the structure which will replace the Hogan Stand open to the public ahead of this year's All-Ireland hurling and football finals. The upper tier of the stand at the Canal End is already well advanced, so the ground's capacity won't be seriously diminished. "We did lose a bit of time during the scaffolding strike and when the cranes were inoperable due to high winds, maybe up to two months in all, but we might be able to recover that in the coming months and generally things are progressing at a fairly impressive rate," says Allen.

When they dismantled the old Hogan stand, the asbestos roof was taken down first and then the seating area was tackled with a ball and chain. Before that, all the benches and memorabilia were removed and will be distributed to various county grounds around the country - souvenirs which will begin to command a real significance by the time this century closes its lids. The soon-to-be-demolished Croke Park office block, only constructed in 1984, still stands and for the very first time bright light bounces off the panes which face the pitch.

"It's just a shell, everything has been removed," says Allen. "It should be knocked within the next fortnight. The administrative officers of the GAA have relocated to nearby Westward House, at least for the time being.

"Once the area has been cleared and the construction of the new stand begins I think people will really be able to visualise the stadium in completion then. In a way, it will resemble the Cardiff Arms Park, with the three new stands joining and curling around the field and the open section at the Hill end.

"In terms of facilities, such as the corporate boxes and catering and dressing-rooms, it is as good as anything in Britain," he adds.

Sales of the corporate boxes in the new structure have already begun, and while they are awaiting completion owners will be accommodated in the corporate sections in the stand at the Canal End. These are already taking recognisable shape.

"It's a fantastically ambitious development which will cost in the region of £130 million in all and what makes it unique is that unlike other stadiums, which just close down for the duration of the work, we have not lost a single game here.

"By the end of 2002, we should be on the verge of the 83,000 capacity with almost all seating, except for the Hill 16 area, so it really is coming together. It's going to be one intimidating, impressive place for a player to run out on to," says Allen.

And standing near centre field, staring up at the gleaming metallic stands and across at the humbled remains of the old Hogan, it is plain that this is no longer the park graced by men like Ring and O'Shea.