The match between Manchester United and Leeds United at Croke Park will be the largest crowd ever at a soccer game in Ireland.
All 82,000 tickets for Wednesday evening’s game, priced between €50 and €155, have been sold – and some have made their way on to the black market at seven times the going rate.
The crowd and the ticket prices are in inverse proportion to the importance of the event. The BoyleSports Cup is a preseason friendly, one of the last pit stops before the proper business of Premier League begins in a fortnight.
In advance of the game, British ambassador to Ireland Kara Owen hosted a reception celebrating the close footballing ties between Ireland and England. She is a Liverpool fan and diplomatically stated: “I’ll be hoping for a United win.”
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Nothing speaks to the ambivalence that a lot of Irish people have towards England more than attitudes to Premier League football. A lot of Irish football fans who purport to despise the England football team will spend their weekends fretting and stressing over the result from their favourite Premier League team. It was ever thus.
The Premier League, the world’s richest and arguably best league, is a form of English soft power that has helped to forge relations between England and Ireland even in the bleakest of political times.
“Having two clubs with massive Irish following playing in Croke Park is a thrill,” Owen said.
“It is one of the things that brings people together across our two islands. These passions run super deep. We’ve got thousands of Irish people going over next weekend, and I absolutely love that it is part of the relationship between Ireland and Britain.”
Irrespective of the result, there is one certain winner – the GAA. Croke Park has always been freighted with significance far beyond the sporting following the events of Bloody Sunday in November 1920 when British troops shot dead 14 people. The GAA imposed its infamous ban on “foreign games” until 1971, and the end of Rule 42 – which prohibited the opening up of GAA grounds to other sports – took many years before coming to fruition in 2005.
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That was then, this is now.
“The GAA is a very confident, outgoing organisation now,” said its president, Jarlath Burns. “We know that many GAA people also support soccer clubs, like myself. I’m an Arsenal fan. I go over to the Emirates whenever I can.
“These things are not mutually exclusive. People have a right to support whatever sport that they want.”
Burns said the GAA would receive a substantial fee for hosting the game, but declined to say how much. He stressed, however, that the FAI would also get a cut as it helped to host the game through Uefa.
“Croke Park is a financial dynamo for us,” he said. “It brings in between €13 million and €14 million every year ... which is our coaching and games budget.
“When I look at Man United vs Leeds United ... I see a contribution to our coaching budget. I also see an opportunity for those who love Premier League games to come to one of the biggest stadiums in the world.”
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The British embassy invited three former stars – Denis Irwin, formerly of both clubs, Wes Brown, formerly of Manchester United and Michael Bridges, once of Leeds United – to coach local schoolchildren before the game.
Irwin began his career at Leeds United as an apprentice before moving on to Manchester United. Widely seen as one of the best left backs of his generation, he also earned 56 caps for Ireland.
Both Uniteds were unique, he said, with Leeds a one-club city while the Manchester version was a global brand.
“They both have fanbases all over the world. They have always been loyal fans with great support in Ireland as well, which should make for an unbelievable night.”
Irwin was one of the last Irish players to play for one of the big clubs. In the 25 years since he retired, the Premier League has become the world league and opportunities for Irish players at the highest level have narrowed.
“In our day in the 1980s, you were English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh and a few Scandinavians. Now you have players from all over the world. The Premier League is the biggest league, so the opportunities aren’t the same,” he said.
