Croke Park’s stadium and commercial director Peter McKenna says he would love to see Premier League pre-season friendlies becoming regular events at GAA headquarters.

The stadium played host to a sell-out crowd on Wednesday night as Manchester United defeated Leeds United on penalties in what was the first soccer match to be played at the famous venue since 2009.

Speaking to RTE Sport, Mr McKenna says he’s keen for Croker to host similar events in the future and for new revenue streams to put into the GAA.

"I’d love it if we could," he said. "We’re working with a partner, TEG Sport, and that’s what we’ll be charging them with, as part of their connection with us, to see how we do this in a more consistent, proper way.

"Something that’s regular, and can be anticipated and planned for, is a far better style of event."

On filling the stadium for such events, Mr McKenna added: "I think there’s only a small number of teams that can actually make it happen. Manchester United would certainly be one of them. Liverpool and Arsenal have well established fan bases in Ireland.

"The Premier League teams are also notoriously hard to pin down. They are just focused on the next couple of matches and transfers and everything else.

"This is the last thing on their mind so we’re just trying to probe around the edges, and do our best to secure things early so we can fit them into our calendar."

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