Man Utd v Leeds - a historic pre-season encounter at Croke Park

Croke Park hosted the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship final match between Kerry and Mayo last month [Getty Images] A pre-season meeting between Leeds United and Manchester United is nothing new, but it can still be special. The Roses rivals will be meeting for the fourth time in eight summers when they face each other in Dublin on Wednesday. As recently as July 2025 they played out a goalless draw in Stockholm. Their latest encounter is historic because the venue is Croke Park. The 82,300-capacity arena in north Dublin is sold out as it hosts two English clubs for the first time. Association football has not been played at the stadium since 2009. Prior to 2007, it had never been played there at all. A stadium with history Historically, Croke Park was viewed as a symbolism of Irish nationalism. Not only did the Gaelic Athletic Association's Rule 42 prevent 'foreign' sports - in reality, the 'English' football and rugby - being played in the stadium, but until 1971 anyone who watched or played them could not be a GAA member. The stadium itself was the scene of a brutal reprisal attack in November 1920, when 14 people, including the Tipperary player Michael Hogan, were killed by British forces, and many more were injured. Earlier in the day, Irish Republican Army leader Michael Collins had planned an attack in the south of Dublin that led to the deaths of 14 people, including 12 men considered by Collins to be the backbone of the British intelligence system in the city. The situation regarding GAA-only sport changed around the time reconstruction work at Lansdowne Road – where the Irish soccer and rugby teams played – began in 2007. Amid huge debate, the GAA amended Rule 42 to allow Croke Park to be used for association football and rugby on a temporary basis. Then, in 2010, when Aviva Stadium was opened on the Lansdowne Road site, the policy of allowing use of Croke Park for other games on a case-by-case basis was made permanent. "Games like rugby and soccer were seen as being imperialistic or not part of our native culture," explains Peter McKenna, Croke Park's stadium and commercial director, in a chat with BBC Sport. "In order to maintain membership, there was the so-called ban. Things change over time, people become more mature and more flexible. So that rule no longer exists, and we have a very strong relationship with the Football Association of Ireland and with the Irish Rugby Football Union." Ireland and England line up for national anthems before the first Six Nations game to be played between the two sides at Croke Park in 2007 [Getty Images] England's rugby team played in the Six Nations twice at Croke Park. The first time was in 2007, when they lost 43-13. Despite concern over the potential reaction to God Save The Queen being played in the stadium, the anthem was impeccably observed, with visiting captain Phil Vickery and his players, plus the English supporters, clearly audible – although the noise they made was incomparable to the Irish anthems that followed. The fact Brian O'Driscoll's side won easily made it, from an Irish perspective, the perfect day. There were complaints, as Sean Kelly, president of GAA between 2003 and 2006, recounted on www.the42.ie this week. "I remember one of them carried a placard while wearing a Celtic jersey [that read]: 'No foreign games in Croke Park.' Another one carried a jersey saying, Sean 'Judas' Kelly," he said. "Most people accepted it. But to this day, some do not. And even at Congress this year, I went up to two fellas I hadn't seen for a while. One of them shook hands with me. The other said: 'I don't shake hands with you, you let the Brits into Croke Park.' I said: 'That's grand, thanks very much.'" Queen Elizabeth II (centre), with Irish President Mary McAleese (left) and GAA president Christy Cooney at Croke Park in May 2011 [Getty Images] In May 2011, Queen Elizabeth II went to Croke Park as part of her historic visit to Ireland, the first British monarch to visit the country for 100 years. It is a measure of how times have changed that the biggest debate this week is around the prices being charged for tickets on resale sites. "I think it has dissipated," said McKenna over opposition to English-originating sports being played in the stadium. "We're all far more mature with our own national identity. "What happens in war can be awful and you should never forget these things, but you can't live through them. You've got to move on. "The seminal moment was when Queen Elizabeth visited the stadium. That said a lot about how our nations were far more comfortable, walking hand-in-hand as opposed to any other way. "We're all part of a historical narrative and big stadiums like Croke Park have a story to tell. It is important to let them people know about it, but we have to live in the present." Former Leeds and Manchester United defender Denis Irwin (right) was inducted into the FAI Hall of Fame in September 2025 [Getty Images] Leeds United and Manchester United can count on huge support across the island of Ireland. Through the likes of Jonny Giles and Denis Irwin, who both represented both clubs, and former Manchester United captain Roy Keane, there are strong playing links to the Republic of Ireland. In terms of being the first English soccer teams to play at Croke Park, organisers could not have gone much bigger. "Historically we've never had two Premiership teams here or two non-international teams," said McKenna. "To get one of the biggest teams in the world, Manchester United, to break our duck on that is fantastic, and there is a rivalry with Leeds, who have a huge support. 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