Stunning reports emerged on Tuesday evening that Leeds United and Manchester United are planning a pre-season friendly at Croke Park this August.
The bitter English rivals will reportedly play a friendly at GAA HQ on Wednesday, August 12th, per an exclusive report by Colm Keys of the Irish Independent.
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It would mark a historic occasion, the first-ever soccer fixture at Croker involving two overseas teams, two teams that both boast enormous Irish fanbases. The visit of Leeds United and Manchester United would also mark the first soccer game at the stadium since the 2010 World Cup playoff between Ireland and France.
The friendly has been made possible by the delayed start to next season's Premier League campaign, which has been pushed back to August 22nd due to the World Cup final taking place as late as July 19th.
Of course, it has also been facilitated by the All-Ireland finals taking place in late July, clearing up GAA HQ for August.
However, there is one possibility that could see the Leeds v Man Utd Croke Park friendly scuppered.
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Leeds United v Man Utd in Croke Park
Should Leeds United be relegated to the Championship, their pre-season friendly against Manchester United in Croke Park could be in jeopardy.
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Daniel Farke's side currently sit 15th in the Premier League table, just four points above the relegation zone with seven games to play. They have not won in the league since February 6th, and are right in the mix of a nervy relegation battle.
The 2026-27 Championship season gets underway on the weekend of August 15th, with the first game taking place on Friday August 14th.
That quick turnaround from the scheduled August 12th date could put Leeds' Croke Park fixture against Man Utd in danger, should they be relegated to the second tier.
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Manchester United will land in Ireland next Monday for a four-day training camp, which will take place at Carton House in Kildare. It is expected that details of August's Dublin friendly will be confirmed when United land in Kildare, and that the training camp could be repeated ahead of this summer's game.
Curiously, Manchester United's first Premier League assignment after next week's Irish training camp is the visit of Leeds United to Old Trafford on Monday, April 13th.
Whether any summer training camp is followed by a Croke Park showdown with their bitter rivals could well end up hinging on Leeds' Premier League fate.
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