Croke Park is set to welcome football back to its famous pitch as Manchester United and Leeds United prepare to face each other in a highly anticipated pre-season friendly in Dublin.
The sold-out fixture will be the first football match staged at the GAA headquarters in 17 years, with around 80,000 supporters expected to attend.
The last football game at Croke Park took place in 2009, when the Republic of Ireland lost 1-0 to France in a World Cup play-off. Tomorrow’s meeting will bring two of England’s best-supported clubs in Ireland together for the historic occasion.
Ahead of the match, the British Ambassador’s residence in Dublin hosted a special event celebrating the links between Irish supporters and English football. Former Manchester United defenders Denis Irwin and Wes Brown, along with ex-Leeds striker Michael Bridges, joined young players on the pitch for a coaching session.
British Ambassador to Ireland Kara Owen said the occasion was particularly significant because of the huge following both clubs enjoy across Ireland.
“Tomorrow’s match is completely historic. For the first time ever, two English Premier League teams will be facing off at Croke Park and so I wanted to mark it in some way,” she said.
Owen also highlighted the longstanding connections between Ireland, Manchester and Leeds, pointing to the influence of Irish communities on both cities.
Irwin, who represented Ireland as well as both Manchester United and Leeds, described the game as an important moment for Irish football supporters.
“Ireland has always been supportive of English clubs,” he said, noting the particularly strong fanbases enjoyed by both sides.
The former defender also stressed the intensity of the rivalry between the clubs, despite the match officially being a friendly.
“I don’t think people understand how big a rivalry this is between Manchester United and Leeds, so it should be a great night,” Irwin said.
Bridges expects the competitive nature of the fixture to shine through when the teams meet.
“There’s no such thing as a friendly when these two teams come together,” the former Leeds forward said.
Bridges believes Leeds can continue their positive pre-season form and secure victory in Dublin.
“Leeds have had a good pre-season,” he said, pointing to wins over Sunderland and a 4-2 result against Liverpool in the United States.
“I’m saying Leeds are going to win this. We’re going to lift the Boyle trophy,” he added.
Brown, meanwhile, expects Manchester United to approach the contest with a serious attitude as both clubs fine-tune their squads ahead of the new Premier League season.
“I think it’ll be a little bit more than a friendly. I think both teams will want to win,” he said.
With the Premier League campaign just over a week away, Brown believes players on both sides will see the match as an opportunity to impress their managers.
“The players will really want to show the manager what they’ve got. That’s on both sides, and most importantly, I think they both want to win,” he said.
With Croke Park sold out and thousands of supporters travelling to Dublin, the long-awaited return of football to the stadium promises to be a memorable night for fans of both clubs.
