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Tonights game in Croke Park is a bigger deal than people may think. This is not the same as the Aviva game. A Leeds–Man United rivalry being staged in Croke Park carries far more weight than most English fans realise. What you may not know, is this is a ground where, in 1920, British forces opened fire during a Gaelic football match, killing 14 civilians in what became known as Bloody Sunday. The Hogan Stand named after Michael Hogan a Tipperary player killed that day. For decades afterwards, the GAA enforced a strict ban on “foreign games”, meaning football and rugby were literally prohibited from being played here. That’s why Ireland only played soccer in Croke Park for a short window in the late 2000s while the Aviva was being rebuilt, and why the stadium has almost never hosted the sport. So for two English clubs to play a football match inside Croke Park for the first time. Dropping one of England’s fiercest rivalries into a venue with this kind of cultural and historical significance isn’t just a fixture. It’s a moment loaded with meaning. #lufc – at Meath, Ireland