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Special Events

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  1.  special events

Other Sports

A historic amendment to the GAA’s Rule 42 in 2005  paved the way for Croke Park to host the Irish international soccer and rugby teams during the redevelopment of Lansdowne Road into the Aviva Stadium. 

During that period, we also hosted rugby matches for the provincial rugby teams - with the Heineken Cup clash between Leinster and Munster setting a club competition attendance record of 82,208. The Six Nations and Autumn Internationals welcomed teams from across Europe and southern hemi-sphere sides including South Africa, New Zealand and Argentina.

In addition to the competitive 2008 World Cup home qualifiers, Croke Park also welcomed one of soccer’s most colourful and glamourous teams with a friendly encounter between Ireland and Brazil.

The Croke Park Classic saw the University of Central Florida (UCF) host Penn State, in their American college football 2014 season opener in GAA HQ on the 30th August 2014 - the first time either team played outside the United States.

Croke Park Classic

Croke Park Classic

53,304 fans attended this thrilling encounter, which saw Penn State overcome UCF by 26 points to 24.

The game ended in drama with Sam Ficken's field goal in the dying seconds - winning Penn State the Croke Park Classic trophy. See the full gallery of photographs from the game below.

Croke Park Classic gallery

Soccer

Soccer

The Irish soccer team also played their home fixtures at Croke Park from 2007 – 2009. They welcome opponents including Wales, Slovakia, Germany and Cyprus during the European Championship Qualifying Campaign in 2007, followed by friendlies against Serbia and Poland in 2008.

A glamour tie saw the Irish team welcome Brazil to Croke Park the same year, before the World Cup Qualifying campaign brought Georgia, Bulgaria, Italy, Montenegro and a decisive clash with France to the stadium.

Soccer gallery

Rugby

Rugby

Home fixtures for the Irish rugby team were played in Croke Park for three RBS 6 Nations seasons from 2007-2009. A new world-record club rugby union attendance was set in May 2009 when 82,208 spectators watched Leinster defeat Munster in a Heineken Cup rugby semi-final.

Rugby Gallery