Man Utd v Leeds - a historic pre-season encounter at Croke Park

Historically, Croke Park was viewed as a symbolism of Irish nationalism.Not only did the Gaelic Athletic Association's Rule 42 prevent 'foreign' sports - in reality, the 'English' football and rugby - being played in the stadium, but until 1971 anyone who watched or played them could not be a GAA member.The stadium itself was the scene of a brutal reprisal attack in November 1920, when 14 people, including the Tipperary player Michael Hogan, were killed by British forces, and many more were injured.Earlier in the day, Irish Republican Army leader Michael Collins had planned an attack in the south of Dublin that led to the deaths of 14 people, including 12 men considered by Collins to be the backbone of the British intelligence system in the city.The situation regarding GAA-only sport changed around the time reconstruction work at Lansdowne Road – where the Irish soccer and rugby teams played – began in 2007.Amid huge debate, the GAA amended Rule 42 to allow Croke Park to be used for association football and rugby on a temporary basis. Then, in 2010, when Aviva Stadium was opened on the Lansdowne Road site, the policy of allowing use of Croke Park for other games on a case-by-case basis was made permanent."Games like rugby and soccer were seen as being imperialistic or not part of our native culture," explains Peter McKenna, Croke Park's stadium and commercial director, in a chat with BBC Sport."In order to maintain membership, there was the so-called ban. Things change over time, people become more mature and more flexible. So that rule no longer exists, and we have a very strong relationship with the Football Association of Ireland and with the Irish Rugby Football Union."England's rugby team played in the Six Nations twice at Croke Park. The first time was in 2007, when they lost 43-13.Despite concern over the potential reaction to God Save The Queen being played in the stadium, the anthem was impeccably observed, with visiting captain Phil Vickery and his players, plus the English supporters, clearly audible – although the noise they made was incomparable to the Irish anthems that followed. The fact Brian O'Driscoll's side won easily made it, from an Irish perspective, the perfect day.There were complaints, as Sean Kelly, president of GAA between 2003 and 2006, recounted on www.the42.ie this week."I remember one of them carried a placard while wearing a Celtic jersey [that read]: 'No foreign games in Croke Park.' Another one carried a jersey saying, Sean 'Judas' Kelly," he said."Most people accepted it. But to this day, some do not. And even at Congress this year, I went up to two fellas I hadn't seen for a while. One of them shook hands with me. The other said: 'I don't shake hands with you, you let the Brits into Croke Park.' I said: 'That's grand, thanks very much.'"