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The Surprisingly Long List Of Players Who Have Played In Croke Park And Wembley

The Surprisingly Long List Of Players Who Have Played In Croke Park And Wembley
Conor O'Leary
By Conor O'Leary
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NOTE: I am excluding people who are predominantly known for playing GAA due to the frequency at which football and hurling was played at Wembley in the 50's, 60's, and 70's would make this list intolerably long for everybody. I'm sure you'll agree that having 66 sportspeople who played in both is still very intriguing.

Damien Delaney is part of a select group of players. The Irish defender took the field for Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final against Manchester United in Wembley, and was the only player on the pitch who has also played in Croke Park.

Which got us thinking, there can't be too many sports people who have graced the fields of Wembley and Croke Park. It turns out that there aren't - but there is still more than we expected.

We found a whopping 65 players who have played on both pitches - be it in an international game, an FA Cup final, a League Cup final, a Championship play-off game - what have you. Here is the full list

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Irish Football Internationals:

Petrov

For a select few - the first seven players - they played international football in both Croke Park and Wembley after the England friendly in 2014. Damien Delaney and Kevin Moran both played GAA in Croke Park.

But everyone else had to rely on FA Cup final appearances, Playoff appearances (Kevin Doyle, Caleb Folan, Noel Hunt, Dean Kiely and Richard Dunne), or league cup final appearances.

1. John O'Shea
2. Robbie Keane
3. Stephen Kelly
4. Glenn Whelan
5. Sean St. Ledger
6. Shane Long
7. Aiden McGeady
8. Caleb Folan
9. Richard Dunne
10. Dean Kiely
11. Kevin Doyle
12. Damien Delaney
13. Shay Given
14. Paul McShane
15. Noel Hunt
16. Darron Gibson
17. Kevin Moran
18. Denis Irwin
19. Niall Quinn

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International Footballers:

Kevin Doyle
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Of course, all of the countries who played Ireland when the games were in Dublin 1 have international players who would have played in FA Cups, and League Cups.

20. Patrice Evra
21. Ryan Giggs
22. Lassana Diarra
23. Alex
24. Nicolas Anelka
25. Craig Bellamy
26. Martin Skrtel
27. Bacary Sagna
28. Lucas Podolski
29. Per Mertesacker
30. Lukas Fabianski
31. Stiliyan Petrov
32. James Collins
33. Gareth Bale

Rugby Players:

When Ireland played Romania in the World Cup in 2015, it was at Wembley - meaning that any Irish international who was in the national squad when they played in Croke Park also joined the list. Sean O'Brien is the only one included for playing for Leinster against Munster in the Heineken Cup - but he didn't play an international game in Croke Park.

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Leinster also played a Heineken Cup game against Saracens in Wembley - which means some Leinster and Saracens players also made the list.

New Zealand and Argentina played in Wembley during the Rugby World Cup, and both teams had players who played in the November internationals in 2008 in Croke Park.

And the final name in the list is different. In 1999, Ireland played Wales in the Five Nations at Wembley. Among that team, Mick Galwey has also played at Croke Park - with photographic evidence of him at a charity game confirming his place on the list.

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34. Tommy Bowe
35. Keith Earls
36. Eoin Reddan
37. Cian Healy
38. Donnacha Ryan
39. Jamie Heaslip
40. Sean Cronin
41. Paul O'Connell
42. Sean O'Brien
43. Rob Kearney
44. Shane Horgan
45. Shane Jennings
46. Isaac Boss
47. Luke Fitzgerald
48. Johnny Sexton
49. Gordon D'Arcy
50. Leo Cullen
51. Isa Nacewa
52. Nathan Hines
53. Kelly Brown
54. David Strettle
55. Steve Borthwick
56. Conrad Smith
57. Ma'a Nonu
58. Dan Carter
59. Richie McCaw
60. Jerome Kaino
61. Tony Woodcock
62. Kevan Mealamu
63. Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe
64. Marcos Ayerza
65. Juan Manuel Leguizamon
66. Mick Galwey

Galwey

Now it's likely that there are a few more who managed to have done both - so if you think of any, make sure to correct us.

Boxing:

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The late Muhammad Ali is the first boxer that we can see who boxed in both Croke Park and Wembley. The "When Ali in Dublin documentary" chronicled his fight with Al Lewis in 1972, which was nine years after his Wembley bout with Henry Cooper.

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