The following is a list of non-Gaelic games played at Croke Park (formerly Jones's Road). The Gaelic Athletic Association formerly prohibited the playing of foreign sports at GAA-owned stadiums under Rule 42 of its rule book.
While this wording remains as the current Rule 5.1(b), a footnote now reads:
In practice the rule was only applied to the sports of football and rugby, which were perceived to be rivals to the playing of Gaelic games.The odd couple: Soccer and GAA remain bitter enemies The Irish Independent. Published on 24-03-07. Retrieved on 24-11-07. Cricket was also banned, but Croke Park is too small for a cricket field. As such, several games of American football have been played with rule 42 in force, as well as a boxing match and a baseball game. The rule was officially relaxed in 2005 for the duration of the reconstruction of Lansdowne Road, to allow for the playing of Republic of Ireland football and Irish rugby internationals.GAA Congress Rule 42 decision welcomed RTÉ.ie. Published on 16-04-05. Retrieved on 24-11-07. The Republic of Ireland football and Ireland rugby internationals moved into the new Aviva Stadium on the former Lansdowne Road site upon its opening in May 2010; the last international in either sport at Croke Park was the rugby team's 2010 Six Nations home fixture with Scotland on 20 March.
On 17 June 2010 the Australia national cricket team had a training session in Croke Park ahead of their One Day International against Ireland.RTÉ report of Australian cricket visit
American football Date Competition Teams Score Notes Attendance Ref 1946 Exhibition game American servicemen returning from World War II 21 November 1953 US Air Force League Burtonwood Bullets vs. Wethersfield Raiders 27–0 USAFE teams based in the UK, playing to raise funds for the Irish Red Cross. est. 40,000 2 November 1996 Shamrock Classic Notre Dame vs. Navy 54–27 38,651 27 July 1997 American Bowl Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Chicago Bears 30–17 30,269 30 August 2014 Croke Park Classic Penn State vs. UCF 26–24 53,304 28 September 2025 NFL International Series Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Minnesota Vikings 24–21 First regular season NFL game in Ireland 74,512
Association football (soccer) Date Competition Teams Score Attendance Notes Ref 24 March 2007 European Championship Qualifier vs. 1–0 72,539 First international goal scored at Croke Park by Stephen Ireland. 28 March 2007 European Championship Qualifier vs. 1–0 71,297 13 October 2007 European Championship Qualifier vs. 0–0 67,495 RTÉ Sport: Republic of Ireland 0-0 Germany 17 October 2007 European Championship Qualifier vs. 1–1 45,500 6 February 2008 Friendly vs. 0–1 70,000 24 May 2008 Friendly vs. 1–1 42,500 BBCi. Published on 08-01-15. Retrieved on 08-01-17 15 October 2008 World Cup Qualifier vs. 1–0 55,833 19 November 2008 Friendly vs. 2–3 61,000 11 February 2009 World Cup Qualifier vs. 2–1 65,000 28 March 2009 World Cup Qualifier vs. 1–1 60,002 10 October 2009 World Cup Qualifier vs. 2–2 70,640 14 October 2009 World Cup Qualifier vs. 0–050,212 14 November 2009 World Cup Qualifier vs. 0–1 74,103 Only Irish competitive defeat at Croke Park. 12 August 2026 Friendly Leeds United vs. Manchester United 1–1 82,300 First non-international match played at Croke Park.
+Ireland's record at Croke Park Competition Played Won Drawn Lost % Won % Lost European Championship Qualifier 4 2 2 0 % % International Friendly 3 0 1 2 % % World Cup Qualifiers 6 2 3 1 % % Total 13 4 6 3 % % Updated 2 June 2021
Baseball Date Competition Teams Score Notes Attendance Ref 1946 Exhibition game Burtonwood Dodgers vs. Mildenhall Yankees 3–4 Teams of American servicemen based in England. This is no time for the GAA to circle its wagons Irish Independent. Maurice Hayes. Published on 15-04-05. Retrieved on 19-01-09. 25 April 1948 Exhibition game USS Fresno vs. USS Johnston & USS Rush 20–5 Two teams from US Navy played a game of softball 21,617
Boxing
Date Fight Result Notes Attendance Ref. July 1923 Bartley Madden v George Christian Madden win Croke Park Boxing Pathé August 1926 Bartley Madden v Tom Heaney Heaney won on points after 20 rounds. The undercard included Battling Brannigan. Dave Hannigan (3 September 2026) "Who was Bartley Madden, Croke Park’s last Irish boxing headliner?" The Irish Times 19 July 1972 / Joe Bugner vs Paul Nielsen Bugner wins by TKO in Round 6 18,725 19 July 1972 Muhammad Ali vs Al "Blue" Lewis Ali wins by TKO in Round 11 A documentary film was made about the fight, When Ali Came to Ireland (2012) 5 September 2026 Katie Taylor vs Flora Pili Taylor won by unanimous decision For WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring female super lightweight titles. 82,000
Rugby union Date Competition Teams Score Attendance Notes Ref 11 February 2007 2007 Six Nations Championship vs. 17–20 81,572 First try scored by Raphaël Ibañez. First Irish try by Ronan O'Gara. 24 February 2007 2007 Six Nations Championship vs. 43–13 81,611 Ireland's first & largest win in Croke Park 2 February 2008 2008 Six Nations Championship vs. 16–11 75,387 23 February 2008 2008 Six Nations Championship vs. 34–13 74,234 8 March 2008 2008 Six Nations Championship vs. 12–16 75,000 15 November 2008 2008 Autumn internationals vs. 3–22 77,500 Ireland's largest defeat in Croke Park 22 November 2008 2008 Autumn internationals vs. 17–3 68,352 7 February 2009 2009 Six Nations Championship vs. 30–21 82,000 28 February 2009 2009 Six Nations Championship vs. 14–13 82,000 2 May 2009 2008-09 Heineken Cup Semi-Final Munster vs. Leinster 6–25 82,208 At the time a World record attendance in club rugby union. 15 November 2009 2009 Autumn internationals vs. 20–20 69,886 28 November 2009 2009 Autumn internationals vs. 15–10 74,950 6 February 2010 2010 Six Nations Championship vs. 29–11 77,686 13 March 2010 2010 Six Nations Championship vs. 27–12 81,314 20 March 2010 2010 Six Nations Championship vs. 20–23 80,313 Last try scored by Tommy Bowe. Last points by Dan Parks (78th min penalty) 4 May 2024 2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup Semi-finals Leinster vs. Northampton Saints 20–17 82,300 Record attendance for a Champions Cup fixture 12 October 2024 2024–25 United Rugby Championship Leinster vs. Munster 26–12 80,468 Record attendance for a United Rugby Championship fixture 6 April 2025 2024–25 European Rugby Champions Cup Round of 16 Leinster vs. Harlequins F.C. 62–0 55,627 14 June 2025 2025 United Rugby Championship Grand Final Leinster vs. Bulls 32–7 46,127 Record attendance for a domestic league final played in Ireland 18 October 2025 2025–26 United Rugby Championship Leinster vs. Munster 14–31 51,859 19 June 2026 2026 United Rugby Championship Grand Final Leinster vs. Bulls 36–7 39,184
+Ireland's record at Croke Park Competition Played Won Drawn Lost % Won Test Match 4 2 1 1 % Six Nations 10 7 0 3 % Total 14 9 1 4 % Updated 26 May 2021
+Leinster's record at Croke Park Competition Played Won Drawn Lost % Won European Rugby Champions Cup 3 3 0 0 % United Rugby Championship 4 3 0 1 % Total 7 6 0 1 % Updated 19 June 2026
Special Olympics Year Dates Competition Type Season # of Sports Notes 2003 21–29 June 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games Special Olympics World Games Summer 23 Watterson, Johnny (1 April 1999). "Games expected to attract 30,000". The Irish Times. Retrieved 23 November 2021.O'Connor, Wayne (6 June 2016). "'He made the Special Olympics a success'". Irish Independent. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
References