When Manchester United and Leeds United meet at Croke Park for a pre-season friendly, the fixture carries weight far beyond the result on the pitch. The Dublin stadium, home to Gaelic games for over a century, has a layered and often painful history when it comes to hosting what were traditionally viewed as "foreign" sports such as football and rugby.
For decades, Croke Park stood as a powerful symbol of Irish nationalism. The Gaelic Athletic Association's Rule 42 explicitly barred sports considered English in origin—football and rugby chief among them—from being played there. Until 1971, the rule went even further: anyone who attended or took part in such games could be denied GAA membership altogether.
The stadium's association with Irish nationalism runs deeper still. In November 1920, Croke Park was the site of a violent reprisal by British forces, in which 14 people were killed, including Tipperary footballer Michael Hogan. The attack came on the same day Michael Collins, leader of the Irish Republican Army, orchestrated operations in south Dublin that resulted in the deaths of 14 men, 12 of whom were identified by Collins as key figures in British intelligence operations in the city.
Given this fraught history, the eventual opening of Croke Park to soccer and rugby marked a significant cultural shift. The change began to take shape around 2007, as reconstruction work started on Lansdowne Road, the traditional home of Irish rugby and football. Facing pressure and practical necessity, the GAA amended Rule 42 to permit temporary use of Croke Park for other sports. When Lansdowne Road reopened as the Aviva Stadium in 2010, the arrangement became permanent, with Croke Park available for football and rugby on a case-by-case basis.
Peter McKenna, the stadium's director of stadium and commercial operations, reflected on the evolution of attitudes. "Games like rugby and soccer were seen as being imperialistic or not part of our native culture," he said. "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."
England's rugby team experienced Croke Park's atmosphere firsthand, playing there twice during the Six Nations, most notably in 2007 when they were beaten 43-13 by Ireland. Despite fears over how the crowd might react to the playing of God Save The Queen, the anthem was respected without incident, audibly sung by visiting captain Phil Vickery, his teammates, and travelling English supporters—though it was drowned out by the more passionate rendition of the Irish anthems that followed.
Still, not everyone embraced the change. Sean Kelly, who served as GAA president from 2003 to 2006, recalled the backlash he faced at the time. Speaking to the42.ie, he described protesters outside matches, including one who wore a Celtic jersey while holding a sign reading "No foreign games in Croke Park," and another displaying a jersey branding him "Sean 'Judas' Kelly."
Even years later, Kelly noted, resentment lingers among some traditionalists. He recalled a recent encounter at a GAA Congress where one former acquaintance refused to shake his hand, telling him bluntly: "I don't shake hands with you, you let the Brits into Croke Park." Kelly's response was simple: "That's grand, thanks very much."
As Manchester United and Leeds United prepare to play on this historic turf, the fixture serves as a reminder of how far Croke Park has come—and how some wounds from Ireland's past have never fully healed.
Based on reporting from BBC Sport.