Published Monday, 05 March 2012
The Sinn Féin politician made a low key appearance at Windsor Park. (© Pacemaker)
The senior Sinn Féin politician took to the director's box for the low-key appearance at the Stetanta Cup match - which eventually ended in a 1-all draw.
There was no blaze of publicity as Mr McGuinness took his seat late and left early, with a few sports journalists reporting on the game discovering the off-pitch development.
"It was his first visit to Windsor Park since the Irish Cup final in 1964, where he watched Derry City beat Glentoran," Mark McIntosh from the Sunday Mirror told UTV.
Nearly fifty years on, it’s about time he was here.
Mark McIntosh, Sunday Mirror
"He didn't want to talk about that too much because his mate Peter Robinson, of course, is a Glentoran fan."
The Windsor visit comes in the wake of First Minister Peter Robinson's trip to Armagh to attend his first GAA match - the DUP leader was accompanied at the McKenna Cup final by Mr McGuinness.
And last August, Sinn Féin Sports Minister Carál Ní Chuilín watched Northern Ireland play the Faroe Islands at Windsor Park.
Mr McGuinness has already told UTV, in an interview in January of this year, that he would also like to go to a Northern Ireland match - having declared: "I've always said I'll support anybody wearing a green jersey."
After Monday night's trip to Windsor, Mark McIntosh said that was something which had come up again.
"He said he's going to be wanting to come to a Northern Ireland game quite soon," the reporter added.
"The sports minister's already been, so it'd be nice if Martin McGuinness could turn up with Peter Robinson for a Northern Ireland game soon."